Crystal Palace bottom after four defeats, Pierre Sage set to be sacked

Pierre Sage is set to lose his job as Crystal Palace manager, according to The Athletic. The 3-1 defeat suffered on Sunday against Liverpool — the fourth consecutive loss in the Premier League — has hastened the decision of the London club, which sits bottom of the table with just seven points from ten matches, a situation unseen since 2017.

Under the direction of the 47-year-old French coach, the Eagles have won only two matches since the start of the season and conceded 24 goals, the worst defence in English football’s top flight. The Athletic reports that the club will look to name his successor during the next two-week international break. Among the candidates mentioned are Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche, both without a club since February after leaving Tottenham and Nottingham Forest respectively. The names of Vitor Pereira, Tony Popovic and Frank Lampard are also being discussed.

Quizzed after the match, Sage displayed a calm demeanor. “I always have confidence in myself, because if I wasn’t doing my job and if I wasn’t investing myself 100% in what I have to do, that would be a serious mistake,” he said, adding that he did not need “to convince anyone”. He also downplayed the question of his future: “Today, my position is not the most important thing. The most important thing is to find an effective solution for the team and the club.”

Arriving at Crystal Palace this summer on a three-year contract, Sage had left RC Lens with a Coupe de France and a second-place finish in Ligue 1 the previous season. His start in the Premier League, a championship he had described as the “best in the world”, could therefore end prematurely after just ten matches.