Palace Week in Review, Monday 2nd November: Sage Under Growing Pressure as Tottenham Defeat Follows Carabao Cup Cheer
It's been a week of real contrasts for Palace, with a fine Carabao Cup run overshadowed by a tough afternoon in north London that has left Pierre Sage's position under scrutiny. The Eagles travelled across the capital to Craven Cottage in midweek and edged out Fulham 1-0 thanks to an Eddie Nketiah finish, sending Palace into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals (Sky Sports) (CPFC.co.uk) (Sky Sports) (Sky Sports). CPFC.co.uk even hailed it as a record-breaking night at Craven Cottage (CPFC.co.uk), and Sage was able to reflect afterwards on a half-time switch and what he called a 'beautiful' moment in the win (CPFC.co.uk). The club have since been looking ahead to the quarter-final draw (CPFC.co.uk) (CPFC.co.uk), while fans were asked to vote for their Player of the Match (CPFC.co.uk) and the captain spoke about his return to the side (CPFC.co.uk).
The mood shifted on Saturday as Palace made the trip to Tottenham and came away with a 2-0 defeat, with Jean-Philippe Mateta sent off inside the opening ten minutes leaving the Eagles to play the vast majority of the game with ten men (News Shopper) (Sky Sports) (News Shopper). Archie Gray and Paul Van Hecke scored the goals for Spurs as Palace dropped into the relegation zone (Sky Sports) (Sky Sports) (News Shopper). Evening Standard and Sky Sports both noted it continued a miserable afternoon for Sage's side after the early setback (CPFC.co.uk) (The Eagles Beak). A former Premier League referee has since given his verdict that VAR were right to back the decision to send Mateta off (GiveMeSport).
That result has intensified the questions over Pierre Sage's future. The Guardian and Sports Mole both report that Sage has been given more time by the Palace board despite an underwhelming start to his tenure, though his position remains under serious pressure (Sports Mole) (The Guardian). Sky Sports say Sage is confident he can turn the Eagles' form around (Sky Sports), and he himself vowed 'I will never give up', insisting he would be first on the training pitch on Monday despite the loss at Spurs (News Shopper) (ESPN) (The Independent). Evening Standard describe a sack looming over Sage after the Tottenham defeat, with the manager making what they call a sack admission of his own (Evening Standard) (Evening Standard). Sage also used his pre-match media duties to speak about Doucouré, De Zerbi and the backing he has had from supporters, including a reported visit to see Roberto De Zerbi (CPFC.co.uk) (Sky Sports). Elsewhere, GiveMeSport claim progress has been made in lining up a replacement should the club move on from Sage (GiveMeSport), while Mitchell has called for everyone at the club to stick together through the difficult spell (CPFC.co.uk).
On the pitch, Palace will have been boosted by Timber's comments on the club's ongoing search for consistency (CPFC.co.uk), with team news updates provided on Mateta, Sarr, Strand Larsen and Timber ahead of the Spurs game, and two changes made from the previous league outing (CPFC.co.uk) (CPFC.co.uk). Alvaro Arbeloa also spoke ahead of the Fulham cup tie about not underestimating the Eagles (CPFC.co.uk).
In the transfer columns, TeamTalk report Palace are readying themselves to battle for a Serie A defender valued at around £25m in January (TeamTalk), while the same outlet separately claims Nottingham Forest are preparing to rival Manchester United for Mateta, with suggestions he could leave Selhurst Park in the new year (TeamTalk). These remain reports rather than confirmed moves.
Away from the first team, Palace's youngsters have been busy: the U21s suffered a heavy 2-5 loss to Southampton (CPFC.co.uk) but the U18s made it five unbeaten with a spirited performance away at arch-rivals Brighton despite finishing with ten men (CPFC.co.uk), ahead of which Potter had spoken about respecting that rivalry (CPFC.co.uk) (CPFC.co.uk). The U21s now preview a big EFL Trophy knockout qualification game (CPFC.co.uk). Off the pitch, young Eagles took part in a London Fire Brigade workshop (CPFC.co.uk).
In the women's game, Palace Women were in Carabao Cup-style action against London City Lionesses (Sky Sports) (Sky Sports) before heading to Brighton Women (Sky Sports), while Palace's wider community links continue with CPFC.co.uk's matchgoers' guide for travelling fans (CPFC.co.uk).
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
