Patrick Vieira sacked as Crystal Palace manager

Arsenal legend, Patrick Vieira was on Friday, March 17, sacked by Crystal Palace after 20 months in charge.

The sack came after Vieira oversaw a winless run of 12 matches. The South London club has not won any match in 2023 and they were facing an immediate danger of relegation given the resurgence of teams towards the bottom, such as Everton and Bournemouth and there’s just five points separating Southampton in 20th and Palace in 12th.

Palace has not confirmed who will replace Vieira or take charge of Sunday’s Premier League game against Arsenal at the Emirates.

Ex-Leeds boss Jesse Marsch and former Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl are the early frontrunners for the job, but a permanent successor is unlikely to be in place before this weekend’s match against Arsenal.

Vieira’s backroom staff, Osian Roberts, Kristian Wilson, and Said Aigoun, have also left Selhurst Park. Dean Kiely will remain as goalkeeping coach.

Palace chairman Steve Parish said in a statement;

“It is with enormous regret that this difficult decision has been made.

“Ultimately, results in recent months have placed us in a precarious league position and we felt a change is necessary to give us the best chance of retaining Premier League status. That said, Patrick’s impact since joining us in the summer of 2021 has been significant, and he is held in the highest regard by myself, and all of his colleagues.

“He led the team to a Wembley FA Cup semi-final and respectable 12th placed finish last season playing some exciting football, which was a challenging and crucial campaign for the club given the changes we made to the squad prior to his arrival.

“Patrick has given his all to the club, and we all thank him and his team for their service. We also wish Patrick, Osian, Kristian and Saïd the very best for their futures.”