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If you're a Crystal Palace supporter, you can be forgiven for not knowing who you are going to get as your manager.

First, Roy Hodgson retires. Then you think you might get Nuno Espirito Santo. When that falls down, you are pretty sure it's going to be Lucien Favre, the former Borussia Dortmund manager.

Even the club are certain it will happen. Only, at the final moment, it doesn't. And suddenly, Patrick Vieira is the man in charge: a legend on the pitch but still learning in the dugout. It is the biggest test of his managerial career following roles at Manchester City's academy, New York City and Nice.

Patrick Vieira's appointment as Crystal Palace manager is a change in direction for the club

His last job at the French club ended after two-and-a-half years with his team 11th in Ligue 1. A gamble, no doubt.

With Hodgson, you knew what you would get. Pragmatic, not much flair, but safety. With Vieira, it's not quite as clear.

Those who have worked with him speak of a man with high standards.

Someone with strong beliefs about how his teams should play: out from the back, dominant, winning it back quickly.

Palace were more of a pragmatic side under the guidance of former manager Roy Hodgson 

They talk of a studious, hungry manager. A sponge. One who observes other coaches and tries to soak up the aspects of their game that make them successful.

He has followed Marcelo Bielsa, Jurgen Klopp, Maurizio Sarri and how Gian Piero Gasperini turned Atalanta into a unique attacking outfit. Pep Guardiola too. 'Pep is a guy he admires but is not the only one,' said Christian Lattanzio, Vieira's assistant at Manchester City, New York City and Nice.

'He doesn't have a coach who is his idol. Patrick is not a clone. He has his own way of looking at football.

'He likes to see what people do to have success and why, and see whether they can fit into how his teams play.' There are few who know Vieira's methods better than Lattanzio, his right-hand man all the way through.

Vieira respects and admires many managers including Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola

Lattanzio saw Vieira finish his playing career at City before pursuing a coaching career.

'Patrick was complete,' he said. 'He's a guy who, if you told me he was going to become a coach, I'd say yes. If you told me he was going to go into the media, I'd say yes.

'Can he go upstairs and work with the management group? I'd say yes. He can do a lot of things.'

One of them is a belief in giving those around him a voice. At City, Vieira made sure he learned all the names of his players before he started coaching them. He has spoken of how important it is to feel close to his squad.

Vieira insisted on learning the names of his players before he coached them whilst at Man City 

And he is also a man of principle, encouraging his players to walk off the pitch in 2014 when teenager Seko Fofana was racially abused.

He set standards. At half-time during a game in the 2018-19 season, he told his players at half-time: 'If I could, I would substitute you all apart from three of you. I don't care about the score.'

He brought in a stricter fines system at City's academy. A week-and-a-half wages for fighting in training, others for being late or wearing the wrong tracksuit or trainers. 'He was very demanding but in a good way with them,' says Lattanzio. 'Now, Angelico is right back for Leipzig. Jason Denayer is doing well at Lyon, Brahim Diaz at AC Milan. Many players who played under him made the grade.

'It is not easy to do that. It's true that we had youngsters with talent but it's also true that you need to give them something more. Patrick was great at that.'

AC Milan forward Brahim Diaz (left) developed under Vieira's guidance during his time at City 

Vieira knows that he still has much to learn. In a way, he's seen all his previous jobs as development.

'Going to New York and Nice allowed me to try things, to be more clear about things and the system I want to use and what I want from the players in that system,' Vieira told beIN Sports last year.

'I have a big picture about how I want to play the game.'

It is interesting he says that. It was Viera's continually shifting set-up that went a way to costing him his job at Nice. 'The coach hasn't yet found the formula to get the best performance possible,' said midfielder Wylan Cyprien after a 4-0 defeat to Dijon in August 2018. Less than a year later, goalkeeper Walter Benitez said that 'the overall idea of the coach is not to lose the ball too quickly, to keep it, to play and to have possession'.

Vieira must get the best out of Palace's talented attacking players like Wilfried Zaha

The hope for Palace is that he's found clarity. In his new job, he must instil his philosophy into a side used to pragmatism under Hodgson.

He has got the attacking talent such as Wilfried Zaha and the injured Eberechi Eze but has to find a way to link them. The hope is that Conor Gallagher, on loan from Chelsea, and Michael Olise from Reading will help that.

Christian Benteke recently spoke of his excitement of working under Vieira: 'He explained to me his identity, how he wants us to play as a team, and it's quite exciting, because as a forward, when your manager wants to be front foot, and to create chances, that's what you want to hear.'

The season kicks off for Palace next week at Chelsea. We will soon see if their gamble pays off.