Sage responds to questions over his Crystal Palace future after loss to Newcastle

Pierre Sage says he believes he still has the backing of Crystal Palace’s hierarchy despite the growing pressure following a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United.

Palace have picked up just seven points from their first eight league games.

Asked whether he feels he has the support of those running the club, Sage replied: “I think, yeah.

“The question is, do you think? And my reply is, yes, I think.”

Palace were booed by sections of the support after another disappointing result, but Sage insisted his focus remains on the players rather than the noise surrounding his position.

“It’s normal that a person loses patience when you lose, because everybody wants to win, and us first,” Sage said.

“We want to win, we do the job to win, but today it was not the case, in this period it was not the case.

“I don’t have to convince the people around the club, I just have to convince the players to do their best and to compete and to continue their improvement.

“After that, this kind of decision of what we are talking about is to the chairman, to the owners, this kind of person.

“For me, the noise around the team, the noise around the club, it’s only noise.”

Reflecting on the defeat, Sage felt Palace were punished for a short period in which their level dropped.

“A game of football is imperfect, because there’s a lot of mistakes,” he said.

“Every player makes mistakes, every coach makes decisions that are not in line with what we need these days.

“And it’s always a frustration to not achieve the perfect things.

“In our period, we have to be perfect to win, and today we missed 15 minutes.

“In my position, I just have to create the conditions to be close to perfection with the team, in concentration, in play, in the way of defending, in the way of attacking.

“But today we missed only 15 minutes, but it’s sufficient for our opponent to win.”