Good post.
But maybe a more interesting question than 'Would we have won these 3 games under Vieira' is 'would we have won these 3 games under the old Roy?'
We seem so much more adventurous than under his previous managership. I know we have had an injection of new players - but Roy also seems to have changed his approach to games.
Long may it continue.

The thing that maddened me under PV was that we had plenty possession and plenty attack but the final pass was always rubbish. Direct to defender and then back to trying to get the ball back.

We are now putting in more dangerous passes leading to more shots [as opposed to none].

Same players.

You tell me if that is down to playing weaker teams who are not set up as good defensively, or down to better coaching?

You are right about his backup boys, the fact is that if a manager is top class he will get a top job, whatever colour he is, just like a player, unfortunately, Vieira, Ince, Campbell etc haven't been very good.

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn

The 'old Roy' was rotating whichever of his 35 year old centre backs were fit alongside a central midfielder... He had Ayew, Riedewald and Luka in his top 7 appearance makers in his last season.

Some of it was turgid but he played the way that was sensible with the team he had.

26th January 2010 - Enter Administration
2nd May 2010 - D-Day 1 - Survival at Hillsborough
1st June 2010 - D-Day 2 - Survival at Lloyds
7th June 2010 - CPFC2010 exchange contracts.

For whatever reason, mostly lack of investment, Roy's last tenure got very stale by the time he left. PV was a breath of fresh air last season, but again, maybe just because of better investment. It all went off the rails this season, to the point where we were as bad as we were under FdB, maybe worse.

We hadn't won a home match since October. We didn't win any match in what, 10+ tries? No shot on goal in 3 straight games, a new record. Worst running stats in the league by far, no one else close. Named on one website as the worst club to watch in all of Europe, and no argument from any of us fans. How much worse could it get?

All things considered, it seems obvious now that Roy is a significantly better PL manager than PV is. True, we've had some good fortune in the 3 games under Roy, and we had some sh-t luck in some games under PV. That being said, would anyone seriously argue that they want to go back in time and retain PV, and not replace him with Roy? Hiring Roy was a difficult, uncomfortable, and absolutely correct decision.

Edited by Wilbraham413 (19 Apr 2023 3.53am)

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

Thanks for the link. It makes sense. I did some research and of the new "ball" players Roy only had Eze (injured by the end of course). Signed with or after PV:

Andersen
Guhei
Doucoure
Olise

That's a substantially different team to Roy's last one and identical to the one that had zero shots, zero patterns of play and zero wins in a load of games and has just won three on the bounce. Throw in the dressing room nonsense and the verdict is in.

Crooks is an idiot.