FRANK’S CLINGING ON

CRYSTAL PALACE manager Frank de Boer insisted last night that his club are ‘still with the project’ which saw him get the job, after his players showed signs of their potential in an undeserved fourth defeat.

Palace are set to accelerate their search for a new manager this week, with Sam Allardyce and Roy Hodgson two of the leading candidates.

However, the Dutchman said he had ‘good contact’ with chairman Steve Parish, who watched the match with former Palace forward Mark Bright, and insisted he had finally witnessed what he wanted from his players.

‘I will sign for every game if we create that amount of chances against any opponent,’ De Boer said. ‘We did what we wanted to do, to be dominant, to be the aggressor in the game and create chances and we did.

‘As a manager you cannot expect more but football is about making goals in the end. We showed spirit. It was quite dynamic what we showed. That gives me hope for the future.’

The pre-match observations of De Boer did not augur well for an individual who needed to rally his players. He said his club had been lacking pre-season games. ‘We played four games and normally I like to play six, seven games,’ said De Boer. De Boer played down the idea that he had changed systems — despite stating beforehand that he had altered things to make his players feel more comfortable. He also said he had deployed a 4-3-3 in the second half of the defeat by Swansea and insisted that long balls, a major part of Palace’s game here, had been used in the 1-0 loss at Liverpool. ‘We can still do better choosing between playing it on the ground or playing it to Christian [Benteke]. If you analyse our players, the 5-23 is the best system to play.’ The warmth of Burnley manager Sean Dyche’s exchange with De Boer at the end suggested he felt for him. ‘I don’t think any manager wants sympathy,’ Dyche said. ‘I thought they were the better side. They deserved something [and] I told him so.’