Crystal Palace Fire Pierre Sage With Club Bottom and Turn to Thomas Frank

Crystal Palace have sacked manager Pierre Sage after 16 games in charge, leaving the club bottom of the Premier League. Former Brentford and Tottenham manager Thomas Frank is in advanced talks to take over, according to the BBC, The Guardian and Sky Sports.

The Guardian reported that the club hopes to have a new manager in place before Palace travel to Coventry on Nov. 21. Palace said an update on the appointment would come in due course.

How Sage's short spell unravelled

February: Frank is sacked by Tottenham after just under eight months, with the club 16th in the Premier League and five points above the relegation zone, the BBC reported. He has been out of work since.
June: Palace appoint Sage, 47, on a three-year contract to replace Oliver Glasner, who led the club to its first FA Cup title and a Europa Conference League win. Sage had previously guided Lens to a second-place finish in France's Ligue 1 and to a French Cup victory.
Oct. 11: Palace are winless in the league from this date, according to the BBC. Their run of defeats began with a 5-0 loss to rivals Brighton.
Nov. 12: Palace confirm Sage's departure, along with three members of his coaching staff: Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa and Sandy Guichard. It came four days after a 3-1 home defeat by Liverpool, Palace's fourth straight league loss.
Nov. 21: Palace are due at Coventry in the Premier League after the international break.

The record that cost him his job

Palace have seven points from 10 league games, with wins over Fulham and Nottingham Forest, according to The Guardian. They have conceded 24 goals, the most in the division. In the 36-team Europa League table they sit 21st with one win from four matches, the BBC said.

Sage won five of his 16 games in all competitions, the BBC reported. After a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham he told Sky Sports the situation was “a disaster.”

Behind the decision

The Guardian reported that the board decided to sack Sage on Sunday evening, but talks over compensation for the rest of his contract delayed the announcement. The paper said Palace spent more than £4 million to buy Sage out of his previous contract.

The Guardian also reported that Sage has become the favorite to return to Lens, which sacked its manager, Yannick Cahuzac, on Tuesday. Lens owner Joseph Oughourlian is understood to have held talks with him. If that happens, Palace could avoid paying some of the compensation.

The Guardian said Sage is understood to have fallen out with the board over replacements for defenders Marc Guéhi, who left for Manchester City in January, and Maxence Lacroix, who joined Chelsea in the summer. Palace signed Axel Disasi and Honest Ahanor on loan but missed out on winger Malick Fofana, one of Sage's top targets. The paper added that chair Steve Parish was unhappy with how Sage handled defender Jaydee Canvot and with the substitution of Adam Wharton in a September home defeat by Ipswich.

The BBC said some people inside the club felt sympathy for Sage, pointing to injuries and to the absence of forwards Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr. It said the absences stemmed from a mixture of fitness issues and personal matters tied to both players' wish to leave. Sky Sports noted that Palace were the lowest spenders in the Premier League this summer.

Why it matters for Palace supporters

Palace are bottom of the league while also playing in the Europa League, so the new manager inherits a heavy schedule. After Coventry, Sky Sports lists a Europa League home game against Real Sociedad on Nov. 26. Premier League games then follow at home to Hull on Nov. 29, at Chelsea on Dec. 2 and at Aston Villa on Dec. 5.

Frank built Brentford into an established top-flight club during a seven-year spell from 2018 to 2025, Sky Sports said. The Guardian reported that other names mentioned as alternatives include Sean Dyche and Vítor Pereira. Sky Sports said Frank was among the candidates Palace considered in the summer before they chose Sage.

Sage is the second Premier League manager sacked this season. Manchester United dismissed Michael Carrick on Thursday, the BBC reported.

What happens next

Palace have not named a successor. Sky Sports said the club is working on a deal for Frank, and The Guardian said it hopes he will be in the dugout at Coventry on Nov. 21.

Around Prague, based on reporting by BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports

Cover photo: FromMorningToMidnight / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

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