Crystal Palace enter their record breaking fourteenth consecutive Premier League season after experiencing the most successful period in the history of the club.
The wave that the club and fans alike have been riding this last 12-18 months has been hard to describe and put into words. We will always cherish the memories and the experiences that we have all felt and encountered forever, but it is time for another new chapter in South London.
It has been a summer of change which is not yet over with new boss Pierre Sage working with the owners to finalise a squad of players to take on the new campaign. There will yet be outgoings and incoming as Palace look to balance the books within the new financial rules which has replaced the old Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) with two systems; Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) and Sustainability and Systemic Resilience (SSR).
Now is not the time to get into the granular detail of the financial rule changes, but it is important to understand that they will have an effect on the business that the club is involved in across the summer until the transfer window closes at 11pm on 1 September, and again in the January transfer window.
The Eagles have done little business in the market so far other than to bring in Spanish defender Oscar Mingueza on a free and encouraging Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada to sign a new deal to stay at Selhurst Park for another season. But who is Pierre Sage and why did Palace choose to appoint him to replace Oliver Glasner?
Sage joined the Eagles in June by signing a three-year deal. He joined from RC Lens where he won the Ligue 1 Manager of the Year after guiding the club second spot in the league and winning the Coupe de France. Before the switch to RC Lens, Sage spent years working through amateur levels, scouting, and various youth and assistance coaching roles in France before becoming head of the youth academy at Olympique Lyonnais, and then first-team manager in November 2023, guiding them to a Coupe de France final and UEFA Europea League qualification despite some challenging times at the club which ultimately saw him sacked in January 2025.
The 47-year-old Frenchman never achieved a professional career as a player, spending his entire time as an amateur. As a manager, he favours an aggressive pressing style in a 3-4-2-1 formation which focuses on high turnovers.
It could well be considered a gamble to appoint the Frenchman who has only been cutting his managerial teeth at the top level for less than three years, but his impressive stint at RC Lens last season that saw the club from the North of France gave Paris Saint Germain a run for their money for the French title, which earned him plenty of plaudits not least Manage of the Year.
It remains to be seen how the Sage does in South London, but he has big boots to fill, with former manager opting to take the managerial position at Nottingham Forest which continues to add some spice to a rivalry that has been building since the events of last summer.
The changes in and around the club are expected to continue. After losing Ebere Eze last summer, Marc Guehi in January, Maxence Lacroix has now been unveiled by Chelsea. Away from personnel, the much-anticipated work has begun on the Main Stand which will continue for some time to come. We also bid a fond farewell to Nathaniel Clyne, Jefferson Lerma, with several others expected to enter the loan market.
There is always an element of trepidation with so many changes in and around Selhurst Park, but you must remember that it worked out well the last time it happened when a certain Austrian came in to replace Roy Hodgson. This one does feel quite different, and perhaps it is the success that we have been enjoying of late which heightens expectation, but the Premier League is unforgiving and while the club will be keen to balance the books, Sage does need to be equipped with the tools to take on the Premier League and another European campaign that guarantees at least eight games in the league format.
Last season, the squad was barely big enough to play what turned out to be 60 games in all competitions, and it is any wonder how the players managed such a lengthy, tiring season. They did and while league form suffered towards the latter stages, to add more silverware to the cabinet was quite astounding.
New stand (buffering), new kit, new management, new players – regardless of the journey we are about to encounter, we are keen to see how this new Palace look on the pitch when we kick off the new season on Merseyside. There is no doubting that however it looks at that point with several weeks still to go until then, we will be backing the Frenchman, his staff and players as we always do.
