Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has returned to the dismissal of Alan Pardew this season.
Seeing the late defeat against Manchester United in December was what convinced him a change of manager was needed at Selhurst Park.
"I think it was probably the United game where we were one-all, it was going to a draw, and then we lost the game 2-1," the Eagles chairman explained to BT Sport.
"I just felt that we were mentally fragile. I think that we tried to change the way that we wanted to play and it got us into trouble. I don't think we were quite ready to do it. I just felt that as successful as Alan had been here, and he had been very successful as I've constantly said, he kept this team in the division two seasons running and got to an FA Cup final, in 100 years of history that is almost the most successful manager we have had other than Steve Coppell.
"It was a really difficult decision but I just felt that we had lost our way and it was difficult for the incumbent people to find clarity and to find a way to get back.
"I think once you have gone away to a certain playing style and that is away from what made us successful, I think it's quite difficult for you to turn that back or to find a third way [of playing], or maybe a combination of those two things."
Source: tribalfootball.com