Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage insisted it had not gone “from the dream to the nightmare” despite their fourth straight Premier League defeat consigning them to the basement of the table for the first time in nearly nine years.
The last time the Eagles occupied the bottom spot was in December 2017, and their 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Selhurst Park piled even more uncertainty on the Frenchman’s future.
Ex-Lyon boss Sage once again reiterated that the team was the priority, not his job, and suggested he felt more secure in his role than overall sentiment suggests he might be.
“It’s not from the dream to the nightmare,” said the 47-year-old, when reminded of his long-held ambition to manage in the English top flight.
“I’m not feeling this. I’m just in my job, and focusing on my job, and what I have to do to find the solution.
“I was really happy to sign here, to join this club. Especially for the moment, the results are not at this level, and I know I have to push more on those things, especially in our way of playing, to make that move.”
Pressed as to whether he still expects to be sitting in the manager’s seat after the international break, he replied: “Better than you, I think.”
Sage’s side showed promise in the first half, when they had a goal chalked off for offside, hit the crossbar, and forced the impressive Alisson Becker into several good saves.
But they conceded Alexis Mac Allister’s 40th-minute opener in frustratingly familiar fashion — from a set-piece — and were too easily caught in transition, letting in goals from Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak before Eddie Nketiah clawed back a second-half stoppage-time penalty.
Sage suggested any direct correlation between Palace’s league position and the future of his contract might be overblown, adding: “You can create the link between these two things, but I think the link is about the situation of the team, not only to be at the bottom of the league.
“Today my job is not the most important thing, as I always said from the beginning. The most important thing is to find an efficient solution for the team and the club.”
Andoni Iraola was pleased by his side’s response to Wednesday’s Champions League loss at Fenerbahce.
Liverpool moved into fourth, and will take on Palace’s fellow strugglers Manchester United after the international break.
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Iraola said: “I think it is now more or less one quarter of the season. I think it’s clear we still have room to improve. We need to become a better team.
“But I think now, especially away from home, we have been very, very solid. I think this win helps to get ready again against United.
“You see yourself in a better place, but we know we still need to improve.”
The Reds boss revealed Dominik Szoboszlai was “not 100%” going into the international window, and was not sure if he would be fit for duty with Hungary.
