Patrick Vieira has been fired as manager of Crystal Palace amid an 11-game winless skid dating back to the beginning of 2023, the club confirmed on Friday.
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Vieira was appointed to replace the retired Roy Hodgson ahead of the 2021-22 season, in which the Frenchman guided Crystal Palace to a 12th-place finish. Under-21 head coach Paddy McCarthy will take charge of Sunday’s clash with Premier League leaders Arsenal (10 am ET).
It is an interesting time to change managers, to say the least, with Crystal Palace sitting in 12th place in the Premier League table (11 games left to play), yet the Eagles are only three points above the bottom-three as a measly five points separate last-place Southampton and Palace at the top of the relegation battle.
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Crystal Palace have scored just 21 goals in 27 Premier League games this season (4th-fewest, behind Wolves, Everton and Southampton, all of whom have scored 20), and only Bournemouth (22.1) rank lower in xG (24.0 for Palace). Defensively, no side currently in the bottom half of the table has conceded fewer goals (34).
Crystal Palace statement on firing Patrick Vieira
“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 a 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.”
Patrick Vieira fired by Crystal Palace originally appeared on NBCSports.com