Ange wasn't given a free reign and this is why he is going to get sacked.
He went against the club hierarchy and went rogue to win us a trophy. Him and the players blocked out all noise and got it done. Now Ange is paying the price and will be sacked. All our previous managers would not have rotated as heavily in the league around the Knock out games and we probably would have gone out to AZ or Frankfurt but would have finished top half in the league.
Remember 2023/24 ???
When Ange was furious at fans and journos, (paraphrasing) 'How dare you ask me to play understrength and lose a game, so Woolwich title can be denied'.... Where did that angry Ange go, who wanted us to have the winning mentality to win at all cost ???
For me , it seems Ange is doing double talk now that his job is in jeopardy. Otherwise, his preaching in Woolwich vs City game of 2024 is not what he followed in 2024/25.
Ange was given a free reign.... Had he not been given, how could he have done that ? Club could have easily sacked him atleast 5 times over the season....They didnt , did they.?
Who said that, you need to rotate heavily ....and only then you can win a cup ?
Like, did Palace do now in FA Cup ?
Or Newcastle while playing league cup ?
Except the game before the final, every other rounds, they did play as much strength as possible in PL.
Btw, since you talk about AZ...we did rotate the previous game and we did lose in first leg vs AZ.
Lets be honest here - By March, most of his players were back and Ange had every possibility of going full strength in 2 competition...he chose not to do it.