Crystal Palace have sacked manager Pierre Sage after just 16 games.
Sage, appointed in June on a three-year contract to replace Oliver Glasner, leaves Palace at the bottom of the Premier League table after winning just two of his 10 league games in charge.
The Palace is working on an agreement to bring Thomas Frank as his substitute. The Dane has been out of work since being sacked as Tottenham manager in February.
An 81-word Palace statement confirmed Sage’s sacking on Thursday afternoon, which confirmed that “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 the last game of the Sage 3-1 at home to Liverpool on Sunday, have the worst defensive record of any team 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 in the Premier League in the summer.
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Watch free highlights of Crystal Palace’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in Pierre Sage’s last game
Frank the leading candidate to replace Sage
Frank emerged as the main contender to take over at Palace after Sunday’s defeat by Liverpool. He was on the list of names the club considered in the summer before appointing Sage.
Other candidates who had been on the Palace’s radar include Frank Lampard, Sean Dyche, Victor Pereira, Kim Hellberg, Vitor Matos AND Tony Popovic.
Sky Sports News also revealed that Jens Berthel Askou AND Ole Werner had been under consideration.
Werner was last in charge of RB Leipzig until he was sacked in June 2026, and Berthel Askou is currently in charge of Toulouse, having joined from Motherwell in the summer.
Thomas Frank looks set to join Crystal Palace as manager
Frank enjoyed great success at Brentford during his seven-year spell between 2018 and 2025, taking the Bees into the Premier League and then establishing them as a top club, finishing ninth 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 as Igor Tudor and then Roberto De Zerbi replaced Frank as manager.
Frank failed to win over the Tottenham faithful, with his short tenure littered with setbacks including drinking from a coffee cup bearing the insignia of rivals Arsenal.
Sage’s latest interview: ‘We haven’t had our rewards’
Pierre Sage’s latest Crystal Palace interview with Sky Sports:
“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 getting this goal (against) after a shot in transition, it’s really difficult against Liverpool because they have a lot of speed and are really efficient in transition.
“That’s why we struggled more in the second half. We tried to make it 1-1 but we left a lot of 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 like (if) you’ve done nothing.
“I am very frustrated, especially for the fans and the players, because I think we are capable of doing better.”