Sage in or out

[Teddy Eagle]

Yes, if the new manager plays that formation, i will hang up my Scarf and hat, 57 years watching is enough, UD Lanzarote for me, if that happens.

The club who are looking at Sage as their next manager?

 

[JHB]

Whoever becomes manager, if he looks at our decent squad, and says, i know i will play 3 at the back, with wingbacks, and 2 in CM, shoot him.

It is a bad system. It really is. My son is a Brentford fan and I took him to watch them beat Forest yesterday. It will be of no surprise to anyone that both Brentford goals came from them playing a wide player into space behind the wing back. It’s just such an easy system to play against.

 

[park the bus]

Selhurst Park meeting room. In attendance Steve Parish, his PA, and Sean Dyche:

SP: "Welcome to Selhurst Park Sean. You don't mind if I call you Sean? You can call me Steve. I think you know why I called you in for a little tete a tete today?"
SD: Well it's not rocket science Steve is it now? You're in the merde and you need someone with experience to help you find a way out of it."
SP "Very quaintly put Sean. I like your direct manner, if not you style of football, but needs be. When can you start?"

 

[Dogburger]

Sage has been sold down the river,notice Parish goes quiet when things start going tits up, I wouldn’t blame Sage for resigning but he seems a very honourable man.

He wont resign .

As you say Parish goes quiet when things are not going too well and he goes very quiet when he know its on him as to the reasons why .

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Selhurst Park meeting room. In attendance Steve Parish, his PA, and Sean Dyche:

SP: "Welcome to Selhurst Park Sean. You don't mind if I call you Sean? You can call me Steve. I think you know why I called you in for a little tete a tete today?"
SD: Well it's not rocket science Steve is it now? You're in the merde and you need someone with experience to help you find a way out of it."
SP "Very quaintly put Sean. I like your direct manner, if not you style of football, but needs be. When can you start?"

SD: This is a nice office. I'll have this.
SP: But it's mine.
SD: Was yours. Now do one.
SP: Of course. Sorry Sean.
SD: Still here? Now go and walk my whippet and send in Canvot.

 

[dynamicdick]

I don’t think it matters whether Sage stays or goes. The squad is so lightweight and threadbare by Premier League standards, and we seem to have an ambitionless board who aren’t interested in investing the requisite amount to bring the squad up to scratch.
We struggled to take on a recognised manager/head coach in the summer, and I don’t see that there are too many out there that would want to risk their reputation now. I might be wrong of course. It’s only my opinion, for what it’s worth.
But I do get the impression that all of the recruitment is down to Messrs Parish and Hobbs, which does not inspire me with any confidence at all. If you’re asking a manager/head coach to get us out of this current mess then surely he needs to have some input into the recruitment.

I disagree that the squad is light and threadbare and as said before we have a lot more depth than last season. It’s up to the manager and coaches to implement a structure that makes us hard to beat first and foremost plus have the capabilities to counter. Getting the best out of players and importantly motivating them. In the background we have made some poor decisions one of which seems to be Guessand, why get him back and with it a loan fee of a few million I guess for him to be out of favour, given also the French football knowledge of Sage or was he part of the acquisition conversation?
My two exits would be Sage and Hobbs without delay.

 

[Eaglehamster]

I'm more or less resigned to us being relegated. I just can't see anyone getting a good enough team out of the players we presently have.

My great fear is this continues in the Championship. If it can happen to Leicester it can just as easily happen to us.

 

[JHB]

I disagree that the squad is light and threadbare and as said before we have a lot more depth than last season. It’s up to the manager and coaches to implement a structure that makes us hard to beat first and foremost plus have the capabilities to counter. Getting the best out of players and importantly motivating them. In the background we have made some poor decisions one of which seems to be Guessand, why get him back and with it a loan fee of a few million I guess for him to be out of favour, given also the French football knowledge of Sage or was he part of the acquisition conversation?
My two exits would be Sage and Hobbs without delay.

This is it in a nutshell.

Let’s look at the squad and where it should be strong. Well we have a lot of wide players and two big centre forwards (when not getting themselves suspended). That might suggest you play with width and get crosses into the box. We have a couple of normally ok centre halves but some raw and inconsistent ones as well. That might suggest you play two in the middle at the back and give them cover in midfield. We have a normally excellent passer of the ball in midfield but one who is not great physically or as a ball winner. That suggests you play him with one or two ball winners so he has space to play.

In short it is screaming for 4 at the back, 4 or 5 in midfield with wingers played as wingers.

343 is pretty much the worst system you could have for this group of players especially the Sage version of it which seems almost designed on purpose to expose the back three, leave Wharton isolated in midfield and provide no service to the striker.

 

[dynamicdick]

This is it in a nutshell.

Let’s look at the squad and where it should be strong. Well we have a lot of wide players and two big centre forwards (when not getting themselves suspended). That might suggest you play with width and get crosses into the box. We have a couple of normally ok centre halves but some raw and inconsistent ones as well. That might suggest you play two in the middle at the back and give them cover in midfield. We have a normally excellent passer of the ball in midfield but one who is not great physically or as a ball winner. That suggests you play him with one or two ball winners so he has space to play.

In short it is screaming for 4 at the back, 4 or 5 in midfield with wingers played as wingers.

343 is pretty much the worst system you could have for this group of players especially the Sage version of it which seems almost designed on purpose to expose the back three, leave Wharton isolated in midfield and provide no service to the striker.

Disasi played at West Ham in a back 4 with him on the left of the central two as he is predominantly left footed. This means they had balance which, admittedly didn’t stop them going down but my point is and as you say he for one is not suited to a back three so make best use of the strengths of players at your disposal.

 

[Username]

He wont resign .

As you say Parish goes quiet when things are not going too well and he goes very quiet when he know its on him as to the reasons why .

What exactly do you think Parish should he saying right now in public instead of ‘going quiet?’

He can’t win that battle. Stay out of it and he’s gone quiet. Back Sage and people will moan he’s clueless. Be more critical of the team and he’s undermining the manager.

 

[Willo]

Disasi played at West Ham in a back 4 with him on the left of the central two as he is predominantly left footed. This means they had balance which, admittedly didn’t stop them going down but my point is and as you say he for one is not suited to a back three so make best use of the strengths of players at your disposal.

Axel Disasi is right-footed.
He can be deployed at right-back if necessary and he had games in this position under Unai Emery at A.Villa in season 2024-25.

 

[jackosperoni]

This is it in a nutshell.

Let’s look at the squad and where it should be strong. Well we have a lot of wide players and two big centre forwards (when not getting themselves suspended). That might suggest you play with width and get crosses into the box. We have a couple of normally ok centre halves but some raw and inconsistent ones as well. That might suggest you play two in the middle at the back and give them cover in midfield. We have a normally excellent passer of the ball in midfield but one who is not great physically or as a ball winner. That suggests you play him with one or two ball winners so he has space to play.

In short it is screaming for 4 at the back, 4 or 5 in midfield with wingers played as wingers.

343 is pretty much the worst system you could have for this group of players especially the Sage version of it which seems almost designed on purpose to expose the back three, leave Wharton isolated in midfield and provide no service to the striker.

Spot on! The system is flawed. Witness OG and Sage’s results this season. Go to 4-2-3-1, secure the middle, make the channels much more difficult to attack and sort out the defending from set pieces. Back post headed goals are becoming embarrassing.

 

[Canterbury Palace]

I really wanted it to work with Sage but it is beyond a project now, we have to secure our safety and, importantly, it's not too late. We're only five points off seventh so if we could string 2/3 wins together the situation would look far rosier, the question is whether Sage is capable of doing that.

I've written in multiple threads about how he has been dealt a harsh hand and, whatever happens, the future of Hobbs in particular needs to be considered. However, short term we have to deal with the squad we have.

Our biggest weakness is clearly in central defence. We do not have enough good options there to justify playing 3 at the back anymore.

However, in midfield we have Wharton, Timber, Doucoure, Lerma and Kamada all fighting for two spots. It seems pretty clear to me that we need to sacrifice a defender and add in a midfielder to help protect them and to give us greater control. It would also mean Tyrick Mitchell could just defend, which he's best at, and it would put the emphasis on our many wide forwards to provide the chances.

Sage is beginning to remind me of Glasner in his refusal to adapt the system despite mounting evidence that it isn't working.

I don't really want him but, at the point, I think we should try to get Thomas Frank in. He plays a 4-3-3 and would organise us. We just need to be safe. So I am reluctantly Sage Out now. But I'm also Hobbs out. And increasingly, for the first time ever, Parish out.

 

[PalazioVecchio]

If its Sage Out, then its Parish out too. I'm sick and tired of our revolving-door for managers and players.

 

[BromleyMonkey]

If its Sage Out, then its Parish out too. I'm sick and tired of our revolving-door for managers and players.

Sadly it looks like it’ll be sage out and we’ll end up with another dinosaur fire fighter to keep us in the division

 

[MarkA333]

The thing is, it’s miserable watching Palace play at the moment. The truth is that having sold Eze, Olise, Guehi, Lacroix and Munoz…..we lost the backbone of our team and then reinvested that money in JSL and Brennan. Think how much better we could have spent that 200 million.

Pino is lightweight.
Mateta is out for three games.
JSL is a donkey.
McNeill is hard working but useless.
Wharton looks shot to pieces.
Kamada can’t do everything on his own.
Mitchell has lost the plot.
The rest of the defence are just not good enough or injury prone.
Henderson is a giant and deserves to have a better team around him.

All in all….this points to our recruitment team.

 

[JHB]

The thing is, it’s miserable watching Palace play at the moment. The truth is that having sold Eze, Olise, Guehi, Lacroix and Munoz…..we lost the backbone of our team and then reinvested that money in JSL and Brennan. Think how much better we could have spent that 200 million.

Pino is lightweight.
Mateta is out for three games.
JSL is a donkey.
McNeill is hard working but useless.
Wharton looks shot to pieces.
Kamada can’t do everything on his own.
Mitchell has lost the plot.
The rest of the defence are just not good enough or injury prone.
Henderson is a giant and deserves to have a better team around him.

All in all….this points to our recruitment team.

The recruitment hasn’t been great. Why did we sign so many lightweight number 10s when it was the one position we had well covered? However the fact you’ve just listed off players with international or premier Legaue expire who seem to have become worse this season maybe points to an issue with the manager and coaching set up doesn’t it?

We could definitely have invested better. The only summer signing who has impressed when he has played is Chilwell who we got on a free. We are where we are now thought. We can’t change history. The question is whether Sage is the right person to get the most out of this group. The evidence so far is he is making them worse, not better

 

[Lanzo-Ad]

The thing is, it’s miserable watching Palace play at the moment. The truth is that having sold Eze, Olise, Guehi, Lacroix and Munoz…..we lost the backbone of our team and then reinvested that money in JSL and Brennan. Think how much better we could have spent that 200 million.

Pino is lightweight.
Mateta is out for three games.
JSL is a donkey.
McNeill is hard working but useless.
Wharton looks shot to pieces.
Kamada can’t do everything on his own.
Mitchell has lost the plot.
The rest of the defence are just not good enough or injury prone.
Henderson is a giant and deserves to have a better team around him.

All in all….this points to our recruitment team.

No, it implies that the manager is completely s***e and couldn't find his backside with both hands.

 

[doombear]

If the board is thinking of replacing Sage (and have a replacement lined up) they might consider the Liverpool game a lost cause and let Sage carry the can for the loss then bring in the new bloke with the next break available to put his plans in place with a new coaching staff.

That's seems the sensible thing if the board have made that decision, especially with the six-pointer Coventry and Hull matches being the next two league games after the International Break. I do expect us to beat Hoffenheim on Thursday (even under Sage) but whoever is in charge is unlikely to get anything out of Liverpool.

 

[Lanzo-Ad]

i think i mentioned 3-4-2-1 was a crap system 2 and a half years go, and i also may have mentioned to roars of laughter that Glasner is a complete buffoon as a football manager 😛 😛 😊😉