Vieira chose to man mark certain players out the game today and for the most part it worked really well, with Grealish the only one able to regularly get free. Players like Foden who have been on fire of late were put in a box and struggled to make an impact. Schlupp was constantly on Gundogan and Rodri had Lokonga to deal with. Once Ahamada came on it was clear he should have started ahead of Luka who was clumsy, careless and reckless. Ahamada had the energy and speed to carry the ball forward, albeit he does look to be a little out of control sometimes.

This was a carbon copy of a Hodgson game plan and it almost got us a point, but as someone who hated the last 18 months of Roy's tenure I hope this tactical plan doesn't last much longer. Brighton are not City and we need to be braver. A win at the Amex could be a real turning point. Another defeat and the pressure grows on Vieira. I still support Pat, but sometimes I just wish we could do a Biesla and take the game to one of the annoying big clubs and their smug fan boys in the studio.

Bournemouth beat Liverpool today. We never ever looked like winning today and that is the massive difference. We are running scared everyone else is trying their bollox off.

The sooner we get into the bottom three, the sooner PV is replaced with a competent manager, and the sooner we have a chance to avoid relegation.

2017 Feb. (Van Aanholt) Palace 1 - 0 Middlesboro
2018 Jan. (Sako) Palace 1 - 0 Burnley
2019 May (Batshuayi, Batshuayi, OG, Van Aanholt, Townsend) Palace 5 - 3 Bournemouth
2020 Feb. (Van Aanholt) Palace 1 - 0 Newcastle

It’s not so much the relegation that upsets me, it’s the way we are playing and set up.

My sons and I go to every home game and quite a few away games. There were times this season when we played exciting football, there was a real buzz around the place, sense of belief with both the players and the supporters. This has completely gone!

Tactically, the the way PV has set up the team does not work anymore. His plan B or C just does not make any difference - and you can see the players are nervous, lacking confidence and starting to realise the prospect of being demoted is very real.

I appreciate that we have had very little in the way of luck, but for goodness’s sake stop using some of his favourite players and try something different.

I've come to conclude that Vieira is out of his depth at this level. Certainly the criticisms of his tenure at Nice are valid here. He's not helped by a few fly by night players who put little effort into the game yet walk away with a full salary. Nor is he helped by the piss poor recruitment system that got them here in the first place. Thing is with Vieira is I can't see him taking us any further, he is very one dimensional in his approach and appears to lack an alternative plan.

Edited by southnorwoodhill (12 Mar 2023 8.26am)

For me this is the mark of a good manager. All managers have a vision of how they would like their team to play but sometimes when you are in a rut you have to be pragmatic and have a plan B. PV will be judged on his ability to dig us out of a hole.

One more point