Sage: 'I want to share this with the fans' as Crystal Palace's European debut lifts the mood
Pierre Sage has big shoes to fill at Crystal Palace. Replacing Oliver Glasner, who won three trophies in the space of 12 months, was always going to be difficult, and there had been some talk of disquiet behind the scenes following the new manager's decision to drop teenager Jaydee Canvot at the weekend.
With Saturday's defeat by promoted Ipswich still fresh, and Palace having conceded 11 goals from their opening four Premier League matches, the Europa League visit of Lech Poznan arrived at a delicate moment. A 4-0 win delivered the kind of evening that can change a mood around a club.
It is a measure of how quickly things have moved on in south London that Palace did not even have the chance to stage a parade to celebrate their Conference League triumph. But after a difficult start to the new campaign, the captain Dean Henderson had urged supporters to "park the negativity" when he signed a contract extension on Wednesday.
There have also been concerns about the atmosphere at Selhurst Park after the disbanding of the influential supporters' group the Holmesdale Fanatics, making the response of the home crowd to a European debut — one that was denied to them last season — all the more important.
A first trophy-replacing night at Selhurst Park
Sage was open about what the occasion meant to him, pointing to the club's Conference League journey as the standard he wants to match.
"I saw a lot of videos about the fans, especially during the journey in the Conference League last year," he said. "They were incredible and I want to share the same thing with them this year."
Palace's debut win was built on a Poznan error — a disastrous throw-in from Terry Yegbe that allowed Yéremy Pino to score — before Chris Richards headed in a deep Adam Wharton corner and Jørgen Strand Larsen converted a penalty following a foul on Pino by Radoslaw Murawski, who was later sent off for a reckless challenge on Canvot. Eddie Nketiah came off the bench to add a late fourth.
Sarr's mixed reception and a stronger bench
Ismaïla Sarr's first appearance of the season was greeted with the odd boo after his hopes of a move to Liverpool were dashed in the transfer window, though the reception for the Senegal forward was largely positive. His return, alongside Nketiah's impact as a substitute, offers Sage attacking depth that will be tested in the coming weeks.
The immediate challenge is domestic. Palace travel to face in-form Leeds on Sunday before a reunion for Sage with his former club Lyon next month in Europe, and the defensive vulnerabilities exposed both by Poznan's early chance and in their Premier League fixtures remain the biggest question mark over his tenure.