Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish insisted the temper round his membership stays optimistic following Patrick Vieira’s sacking, and threw his full religion behind former captain Paddy McCarthy to guide the facet in opposition to Arsenal.
A membership assertion confirmed McCarthy will occupy the supervisor’s seat when Palace journey to fulfill the Premier League leaders on Sunday, with the under-21s coach set to be supported by his assistant at that stage Darren Powell and retained first-team goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely.
Palace have held onto twelfth place for 9 straight weeks however their current run of kind, 12 matches throughout all competitions with out a win and simply 5 targets, finally compelled possession’s hand after groups decrease down the desk closed the hole to go away the south London facet simply three factors away from the relegation zone.
“The players are fine and everybody is looking forward to Sunday, really,” Palace co-owner Parish instructed Sky Sports.
“The feeling is good. You know, everybody loved Patrick, genuinely. The players had all the time in the world for him. You saw from the performances he never lost the players at all, they were all running and playing for him.
“I think things just weren’t happening, so the mood was good, it was fine, but obviously we’re hoping that there’s a bit of fresh impetus, a few different ideas, maybe we surprise the opposition a little bit doing something different.
“We’ve got good players, we’ve got a good squad, we’ve got good lads. They follow Patrick and they will follow Paddy and they will follow Darren and they will do the best for the football club.
“Everybody is positive and wants to do their best and believes that we can win football matches. I’m not going to tell you it’s amazing today because Patrick is gone, because Patrick is a great guy and people loved working with him.
“I’m sure he will go on and be as successful as he was last year for us somewhere else, and he will maybe learn from the bits where it lost its way a little bit, and I really hope he does. It’s just football, isn’t it?”
Palace are the one Premier League staff with out a win in 2023 and Vieira’s substitute – whether or not short-term or everlasting – could have simply 11 video games to safe their survival within the prime flight, although eight are in opposition to sides at the moment decrease down the desk.
Parish was adamant it could have been “disrespectful” to interview anybody whereas Vieira was nonetheless in cost, however confirmed the method to anoint a successor was now underway and that the membership have a number of targets in thoughts.
Vieira’s predecessor Roy Hodgson is among the many reported favourites to take cost, if maybe simply till the tip of the season.
The 75-year-old former England supervisor introduced his retirement on the finish of the 2020-21 marketing campaign after 4 years on the helm of his boyhood membership, briefly rising to teach Watford for the latter half of 2021-22 earlier than as soon as once more stating he was completed with the Premier League.
Some counsel he may very well be quickly coaxed again a last time, and certainly may very well be the best match for a membership who may want a well-known, stop-gap resolution who may shortly settle in, guarantee Palace’s survival, and permit them extra time to seek for Vieira’s everlasting successor in the summertime.
Other names within the hearsay mill embrace Jesse Marsch, out of a job since he was let go by Leeds final month, former Nice and Borussia Dortmund boss Lucien Favre, and Ralph Hasenhuttl, who parted methods with relegation-battling Southampton in November after virtually 4 years in cost.
While Palace at the moment occupy the identical spot by which they completed final marketing campaign, the underlying numbers look starkly totally different – their whole of 21 targets in 27 video games this season is fewer than any Premier League staff apart from Wolves, Everton and Southampton (20) and barely half of their tally, 37, on the similar stage final time period.
