Frank de Boer is still clinging to his job at Crystal Palace after talks with the chairman, Steve Parish, but will have to demonstrate a willingness to adapt his approach if he is to retain his position much beyond the current international window.

Palace are actively seeking to strengthen their first-team squad this week and hope to beat West Bromwich Albion finally to secure Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool for around £25m, but their business is being played out amid the turmoil of a dismal start to the campaign and with serious doubts having surfaced over the suitability of De Boer’s summer appointment on a three-year contract.

The Dutchman has overseen only three Premier League matches, all of which have been lost without a goal scored, but discontent is simmering in the ranks and the hierarchy have been left questioning whether he will bend his methods sufficiently to instigate a revival. De Boer’s inflexibility to date over his tactical outlook, married as he is to 3-4-3, and desire to have Palace playing more possession-based football have come across as naive in such an unforgiving division, particularly given the 47-year-old had taken the job promising “evolution, not revolution” when it came to the playing style.

Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat by Swansea, when the manager began again with three at the back only to yield and tweak the formation at the break once chasing a deficit, provoked a furious reaction among the hierarchy and pushed an already tense relationship between manager and owners to breaking point. There was dismay, too, that the Dutchman chose to criticise his players for displaying a “lack of courage” in his post-match media duties.

Yet, when the dust settled, talks are understood to have taken place on Monday with the question posed again as to how he intended to turn things round.

There is an acceptance that all managers need time to put across their ideas and philosophy, particularly when coming to a new league, and discarding De Boer after less than 10 weeks in charge would constitute an acceptance of the failure of a month-long recruitment process mounted over the summer. Yet Parish and Palace’s American major shareholders, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, will expect to see clear evidence that the former Ajax and, briefly, Internazionale manager is willing to adapt his approach, from training ground to games, to suit the players at his disposal in the period ahead if he is to retain his position. In that context, the team’s next match – at Burnley on 10 September – feels pivotal.

Transfer targets were also due to be discussed on Monday with Palace’s squad left feeling dangerously thin by summer departures, with the input of Dougie Freedman, appointed as sporting director last week, and the chief scout Tim Coe. Freedman, who spent 22 months as Palace’s manager in the Championship, would most likely step in on an interim basis if De Boer and Parish ultimately decide to go their separate ways.

Sakho spent a successful loan spell at Palace last season, when he was instrumental in Sam Allardyce’s team hauling themselves away from trouble, before succumbing to a knee ligament injury in the run-in. The France international is out of favour at Liverpool and has been available all summer, albeit for a fee of £30m. West Brom had suggested they would be willing to meet that asking price, potentially once Jonny Evans had departed the Hawthorns for a similar fee, but the 27-year-old has apparently set his heart on a move to London.

Leicester City asked about his services this week but Palace remain favourites to re-sign the player, particularly if Liverpool are willing to accept a deal worth nearer £25m including add-ons. There is a desperate need, too, for a back-up striker to be secured before Thursday’s cut-off, while a goalkeeper could join on loan.