Crystal Palace Sack Pierre Sage as Club Sits Bottom of Premier League

Crystal Palace sacked manager Pierre Sage on Thursday after five months in charge, with the club sitting bottom of the Premier League table.

The decision followed a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, which marked the south London side’s fourth league loss and left them with seven points from 10 matches. Palace are two points outside the safety zone and hold the worst defensive record in the top flight after conceding 24 goals.

Sage arrived in June from Lens to succeed Oliver Glasner, who led Palace to victory in the FA Cup, Community Shield, and Conference League. Palace agreed to pay Sage 18 months of a deal worth about £4m a season in compensation, having already spent more than £4m to buy him out of his contract with Lens.

Thomas Frank, who was sacked by Tottenham in February, is in advanced talks to succeed Sage. Palace’s next Premier League match is away against Coventry City on November 21, following the international break.

Sage’s tenure was hindered by squad departures and injuries. Key central defenders Marc Guéhi moved to Manchester City in January and Maxence Lacroix joined Chelsea in the summer, with neither adequately replaced despite bringing in £72 million. Sage fell out with the board over their failure to sign adequate replacements for the departed defenders.

Sage’s losing run began with a 5-0 defeat by rivals Brighton & Hove Albion on October 11, after which Sage said he felt “shame” and did not know if he would be given time to turn the club’s fortunes around. “Three members of Pierre's coaching staff – Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa and Sandy Guichard – have also left the club,” Palace said in a statement.

Alternatives to Frank include former Nottingham Forest managers Sean Dyche and Vítor Pereira.

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