Patrick Vieira cut adrift at Crystal Palace without faith to build his era

“A nything is possible,” said Patrick Vieira after Crystal Palace thrashed Everton 4-0 a year ago to book their place in the FA Cup semi-finals and stretch their unbeaten run to six matches. Two weeks later, he was being touted as one of the managers of the season after masterminding a 3-0 win at Selhurst Park against his former club Arsenal that lifted Palace to ninth and dented Mikel Arteta’s hopes of a top-four finish.

Twelve months on and with his Palace reign over after a disastrous start to 2023 that yielded no victories, Vieira must be wondering how it has come to this. The co-owner Steve Parish spent 24 hours making his mind up after defeat against bitter rivals Brighton on Wednesday left Palace in real danger of being sucked into the bottom three in their record 10th successive season in the Premier League, and concluded he had no option but to push the button on Friday morning, a little over 48 hours before Vieira was due to face the league leaders at the Emirates.

Vieira acknowledged this month that Parish’s experience in building a sustainable club “has to be listened to”. Relegation is not an option for Parish, who has seen the danger grow even though the team have occupied the same position as they finished last season – 12th – since losing to Tottenham at the start of January. Sunday will bring the 12th successive fixture Palace have played against clubs above them. They have scored only four goals and steadily allowed the chasing pack to reel them in.

Palace picked up home draws against Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool but the manner of performances persuaded Parish and his board it was time to act. Vieira’s side are ranked lowest in the division in terms of distance covered this season and