Sage could argue that the breakup of the team responsible for Palace’s first major honours—the 2025 FA Cup and last season’s Europa Conference League title—helps explain his difficult beginning in south London.
Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, Maxence Lacroix, Daniel Munoz and Guehi have all left Selhurst Park since the summer of 2024.
The club has also felt the impact of influential sporting director Dougie Freedman’s exit in 2025.
Alongside Sage, Freedman’s successor, Matt Hobbs, is facing growing scrutiny.
However, allowing 17 goals across seven Premier League fixtures suggests that Sage’s own decisions are at least partly responsible for the situation.
Defensive discipline has been central to the team’s identity in recent years. Previous managers Glasner and Roy Hodgson built structured sides that gave their attacking players a dependable platform.
A rate of nearly 2.5 goals conceded per match is far removed from the foundations of the club’s recent achievements, prompting serious concern among senior decision-makers.
At their current rate, Palace are projected to let in 92 goals this season. No team has recorded a higher total since Sheffield United conceded 104 and finished last in 2024.
Changes in personnel have contributed to the defensive decline, with the departures of Guehi, Lacroix and Munoz within six months representing substantial setbacks.
Of the three central defenders who began Sunday’s 5-0 defeat by Brighton, Jaydee Canvot is only 20 and Honest Ahanor is 18.
Even so, there is a strong belief within the club that Sage’s tactics and overall strategy have played an important role in their defensive struggles.
Some supporters also believe the club’s defensive recruitment during the summer has done little to improve matters.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben Chilwell and Oscar Mingueza joined without transfer fees, while Axel Disasi and Ahanor were brought in on loan deals.
One mitigating factor is that Palace are understood to have faced considerable challenges meeting Uefa’s financial regulations, restricting their activity in the transfer market.
The need to remain within Uefa’s limits was among the factors behind Munoz’s £22m transfer to Nottingham Forest.
Those financial constraints, however, do not reduce the seriousness of Sage’s current position.
Upcoming matches away to Besiktas in the Europa League and at home to Newcastle in the Premier League give Sage a chance to shift the atmosphere around the club.
A pair of encouraging results would strengthen the Frenchman’s hopes of establishing sustained improvement.
If both games end in defeat, though, Palace could decide that the time for patience has run out.
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