Crystal Palace need to hold their nerve after appointing a new manager who is having a rocky start to the season.

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The appointment of Pierre Sage as the new Crystal Palace boss, replacing the departed Oliver Glasner, always felt like a bit of a risk, and it’s already going pretty badly wrong.

A late winner for Ipswich on Saturday condemned his team to a 3-2 defeat, leaving them with just 3 points from their opening 4 games.

Football Insider had former Man U scout Mick Brown on hand to give his thoughts – he thinks Sage is safe for now. But he’s also identified their defending as a major issue – they’ve conceded 11 in four games.

Former Man U says Palace won’t be worried yet

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

“I don’t think Crystal Palace will be particularly worried at the moment,” Brown told Football Insider, perhaps a little hopefullly.

“It was a good win against Fulham, they played well going forward, and there are plenty of positives for them to build on even from the games they’ve lost this season.

“But… how poor they have been defensively, and that is something that has got to change,” Brown continued.

“At the moment, they’ve got time to resolve these issues and that’s something the manager will be working on in training, I have no doubt, but those changes need to happen soon.

“From the club’s point of view, they need to see progress being made towards fixing the problems, and that should come over the next few weeks.

“If they keep conceding goals, though, and they don’t look like putting a stop to it, that’s when they might have a decision to make.”

Sage may be safe, but fans and owners will want to see progress being made.