Crystal Palace sack Pierre Sage after 16 matches

Crystal Palace have dismissed Pierre Sage after five months and 16 matches in charge, BBC Sport reported on Thursday. The club are bottom of the Premier League, and former Brentford and Tottenham manager Thomas Frank is in advanced talks about taking over.

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Palace confirmed that coaches Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa and Sandy Guichard had also departed. The club thanked the outgoing staff and said it would provide a further update on its search for a manager. Frank's appointment had not been confirmed in the statement reported by the BBC.

Sage leaves with five victories in all competitions. Palace have won two of their opening 10 league games and conceded 24 goals, the division's worst defensive record. Their Europa League campaign has brought one victory in four matches.

Sunday's 3-1 home defeat by Liverpool was the immediate backdrop to the change. According to the Press Association's match reporting, carried by the Express & Star, that result completed a run of four consecutive league losses and put Palace in last place for the first time since December 2017, almost nine years earlier.

The Liverpool match had offered Palace opportunities before the visitors took control. They struck the crossbar, had a goal disallowed for offside and made Alisson Becker produce several saves. Alexis Mac Allister nevertheless opened the scoring in the 40th minute from a set-piece, before Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak also scored for Liverpool. Eddie Nketiah's reply came from a stoppage-time penalty.

Speaking after that defeat, Sage had maintained that solving the team's problems mattered more than his own position. In comments reported by the Press Association, he said he remained focused on finding solutions and improving Palace's play. He also acknowledged that results were below the level he wanted when he joined the club.

Palace return to league action away at Coventry on 21 November, after the international break, according to BBC Sport. The club's managerial search therefore continues during that pause in domestic fixtures.