Crystal Palace sack Sage after 16 matches

Pierre Sage was appointed by Crystal Palace in the summer on a three-year contract, replacing Oliver Glasner; the former Lyon and Lens boss won just two of his 10 Premier League games in charge and the Eagles sit bottom of the table; Palace working to bring in Thomas Frank as replacement

Crystal Palace have sacked manager Pierre Sage after just 16 matches.

Sage, appointed in June on a three-year contract to replace Oliver Glasner, leaves with Palace bottom of the Premier League table after winning just two of his 10 league matches in charge.

Palace are working on a deal to bring in Thomas Frank as his replacement. The Dane has been out of work since he was sacked as Tottenham boss in February.

An 81-word Palace statement confirmed Sage's dismissal on Thursday afternoon, which confirmed "three members of Pierre's coaching staff - Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa and Sandy Guichard - have also left the club" and added, "an update on the process of appointing a new manager will be provided in due course".

Palace, who lost Sage's final match 3-1 at home to Liverpool on Sunday, have the worst defensive record of any side in the Premier League this season, having conceded 24 goals in the competition.

Sage's predecessor Glasner had presided over the most successful period in Palace's history, winning the FA Cup, UEFA Conference League and Community Shield.

However, key players from that era of success left with him in the summer - including Maxence Lacroix and Daniel Munoz - and yet the Eagles were the lowest spenders across the Premier League in the summer.

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Frank emerged as the leading contender to take over at Palace following the defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. He was among a list of names the club considered in the summer before appointing Sage.

Other candidates that had been on Palace's radar include Frank Lampard , Sean Dyche , Vitor Pereira , Kim Hellberg , Vitor Matos and Tony Popovic.

Sky Sports News also revealed that Jens Berthel Askou and Ole Werne r had been under consideration.

Werner was last in charge of RB Leipzig until being sacked in June 2026, and Berthel Askou is currently in charge of Toulouse, having joined from Motherwell in the summer.

Frank had great success at Brentford during his seven-year spell between 2018 and 2025, getting the Bees into the Premier League and then establishing them as a top-flight club, reaching a ninth-place finish in 2023.

He then moved to Tottenham last season to replace Ange Postecoglou as head coach, but was sacked after less than eight months in charge with the club in 16th place, five points above the relegation zone.

Spurs only sealed survival from relegation on the final day of last season, after Igor Tudor and then Roberto De Zerbi replaced Frank as head coach.

Frank failed to win over the Tottenham faithful, with his short tenure littered with setbacks, including drinking from a coffee cup which carried the badge of rivals Arsenal.

"I always say the same thing about what we deserve and what we have.

"We start really well, we create a lot of chances but without scoring and taking this goal [against] after a set-piece with the consequence of transition, it's really difficult against Liverpool because they have a lot of speed and are really efficient in transition.

"That's why we suffered more in the second half. We tried to make it 1-1 but we left too much space and they took it.

"Football is about efficiency. If we create these chances, it's a good step. But the next step is to score. If not, it's as [if] you did nothing.

"I'm really frustrated, especially for the fans and the players, because I think we're able to do better."