Simon Jordan has claimed on TalkSport that Patrick Vieira was sacked by Crystal Palace as the players stopped responding to him and his coaching staff.
The Lowdown: Palace are in dire straits
It was perhaps of little surprise to those connected to Palace when Steve Parish made the decision to sack Vieira following their poor run of form, but he certainly wasn’t helped by a horrific run of fixtures.
Despite sitting in mid-table, Palace are yet to play a team below them in the Premier League this calendar year, so Vieira was always fighting a losing battle when trying to pick up points, while he managed to do so against the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle United with valuable home draws.
Parish clearly had a plan in place for life after Vieira as he’s moved swiftly to bring Roy Hodgson out of retirement and hand him the task of keeping Palace in the Premier League, with the 75-year-old handed the job until the end of the season.
The Latest: Players seemingly downed tools behind the scenes
Former club owner Jordan has claimed that a lot of the Palace players stopped responding to the coaching staff in training sessions, which would not have helped Vieira’s cause. He told TalkSport that Hodgson, meanwhile, should manage to turn things around.
He said: “I think the players will look upon it as the Patrick Vieira situation was running its course. The coaching staff, from what I understand, weren’t the greatest and the players weren’t responding to them – which I don’t think is great, but it is what it is.
“I think they’ll respond to Roy Hodgson because I think most people do. I think he’ll get a tune out of them – enough of a tune to get them out of the current situation they’re in.”
The Verdict: Players must now start responding
It’s certainly not a good view from the outside looking in if the players had seemingly stopped responding to what was being asked of them by Vieira and his coaching staff, but it does perhaps shine some light on their woeful performances.
Not too long ago, Palace went on a torrid run which saw them fail to register a shot on target for three successive games, which was a damning indictment of how their season had negatively turned around in 2023 under Vieira.
However, judging by Hodgson’s last stint as a manager with Watford, it doesn’t appear that Palace will suddenly start to become a free-flowing attacking machine, as the Hornets scored just 11 times in the 18 games he was in charge of.
That said, Palace are by no means in as dire a situation as the Championship side were, and Hodgson has kept the Eagles’ heads above water plenty of times in the past, which will surely have been the main reason behind Parish sealing his return.
About the Author
