Angus is an experienced football journalist at Football FanCast, specialising in Premier League reporting, opinion writing and in-depth football analysis. Since graduating from Southampton Solent University in 2022, he has developed extensive experience covering the English game, producing thousands of articles across a wide range of clubs and competitions.  

Before joining Football FanCast, Angus led VAVEL's Brighton & Hove Albion department, gaining valuable experience in club-specific reporting and editorial leadership. He subsequently joined Football FanCast through Snack Media's academy, now part of Valnet, and has progressed into the publication's Opinions and Features team.
 

As one of Football FanCast's longest-serving writers, Angus has covered numerous major developments across the Premier League, combining breaking news experience with detailed features and considered opinions. His work draws on years of reporting to provide context behind performances, transfer activity and the wider issues shaping English football.

Ahead of Crystal Palace's Carabao Cup tie against Fulham, Pierre Sage spoke openly of the challenges he and his Eagles side have faced this season.

In the Premier League, the results haven't been good enough, and Crystal Palace have conceded more goals (19) than any other team in the division. Oliver Glasner's shoes were always going to be hard to fill, but frustration has hardened to doubt, and Sage needs to turn things around quickly, lest chairman Steve Parish be forced into ringing the first managerial change in the English top flight this term.

Palace won at Fulham on Wednesday evening, of course, advancing to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. Sunderland will travel to Selhurst Park in that one.

Why Sage can be optimistic after Fulham win

Crystal Palace needed to win that one. Next up in the Premier League, they have Tottenham Hotspur in north London before hosting Liverpool.

However, Sage has earned a reprieve here, and he will take great solace in the travelling Eagles' show of support at Craven Cottage. Crystal Palace supporters sang Sage's name after that 1-0 win, something Parish will certainly have noted as he allows the former Lyon and Lens manager to thread a deeper connection with the club.

It was a promising performance. Palace allowed Fulham to retain the lion's share of possession, secure against the bluntness of the home side's attacking play.

That said, it was only Fulham's wasteful finishing in the first half which prevented Palace from falling behind, and defensive fragilities are likely to peg the south Londoners back all season.

That said, it also feels like Palace are missing a talismanic presence in attack. After selling the likes of Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze in recent years, perhaps that's only natural.

Are Crystal Palace missing a talisman?

Crystal Palace still have Jean-Philippe Mateta at the front of the ship, but it's clear the experienced striker would like to explore a move away from Selhurst Park at the first given opportunity, nearly a year on from his winter transfer to AC Milan falling through during his medical.

Mateta is a strong focal frontman, but he doesn't boast the same kind of presence that Eze emitted when zipping about at Crystal Palace under Oliver Glasner's wing.

Eze, 28, signed for Arsenal in a £67m deal in 2025. He won the Premier League, but hasn't perhaps captured the same magical level that defined his title-winning spell at Palace.

Still, though Palace need more oomph in attack - Ismaila Sarr's season has thus far been disrupted by injuries - there is no question that defensively, something needs to change.

With that in mind, it looks like a certain Crystal Palace veteran is quickly asserting himself as their new most important player.

Crystal Palace have found their most important player since Eze

Sunderland have had some superstars in the past. Eze and Olise and the like. However, the Eagles are currently in something of a pragmatic moment, and with that in mind, Dean Henderson could prove quite the difference-maker now that he is back from injury.

Henderson, 29, has played 120 times for Crystal Palace, instrumental throughout their rich title-winning period, but his season has thus far been hampered; he has been nursing an ankle problem.

Henderson had missed ten consecutive games due to an ankle injury, but on his return to the starting line-up, showed exactly why he is such a difference-maker.

Between the sticks, there are few better on English soil, and Henderson showed that against Fulham, making four saves and keeping a clean sheet. It was the manner of the saves which illustrated his ability, however, far beyond that of Walter Benitez, who has struggled in the Three Lions international's place over the past few months.

Benitez, 33, only has a 56% save success rate in the Premier League this season. He has been unconvincing. Last season, Henderson saved 67.3% of the shots he faced, and his command and distribution reaches beyond that of the Argentine shot-stopper besides.

Sage was renowned in France for his stylish attacking play. His Lens team challenged Paris Saint-Germain for the Ligue 1 title last season, going punch-for-punch with the opulent Parisian superpower.

Crystal Palace will rediscover their midas touch in front of goal, but for now, they need stability to take root at the deeper end of the field. In that, Henderson's return to full fitness could be pricesless - just as he showed during a first-class display against Fulham at Craven Cottage.