Pierre Sage attributed Crystal Palace's 2-0 loss at home to Newcastle to a lapse in concentration lasting 15 minutes and maintained that he is still the appropriate person to guide the club based in south London. "We lost focus for 15 minutes after coming out of the halftime break," the Frenchman stated. "If you allow your opponent to take charge without applying pressure or responding, it becomes challenging."

Palace has allowed 19 goals across eight matches, holding the poorest defensive statistics in the Premier League, a stark difference from the previous season when Sage's Lens team boasted the second-best defensive numbers in Ligue 1. "When we give up so many goals... you can view that through our playing style and the quality of our performance, particularly on defense," Sage commented.