Crystal Palace sack Pierre Sage after 10 league games with club bottom of the table

Crystal Palace have sacked Pierre Sage after five months in charge, with the club bottom of the Premier League and holding the division's worst defensive record.

The decision came on Thursday 12 November 2026, four days after a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool on Sunday 8 November. That was Palace's fourth successive league loss and left them on seven points from 10 matches, with two wins.

According to ESPN, it was the first time Palace had been bottom of the Premier League after a complete round of matches since 2017.

"Crystal Palace Football Club can confirm that Pierre Sage has left his role as Manager," the club said. "Three members of Pierre's coaching staff -- Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa and Sandy Guichard -- have also left the club."

The statement added: "The club would like to place on record its thanks to Pierre and his staff for their efforts during their time in South London, and wish them well for the future."

ESPN reported that Palace acted roughly an hour after Manchester United dismissed Michael Carrick, making the pair the first two Premier League managers sacked in the 2026-27 season.

A defence that never held

Sage lasted 10 league matches and 16 in all competitions, according to BBC Sport and ESPN. The numbers at the back explain most of it.

Palace have conceded 24 league goals, more than anyone else in the division. Sky Sports reported that seven of those came from headers, three more than any other team.

Sage's answer was to keep the ball. "My idea is that the best way of defending is to have the ball, because then you cannot concede," he said, in comments carried by Sky Sports.

It did not work, though the problem was not entirely of his making. Sky Sports noted that Palace conceded 26 goals in Oliver Glasner's final 16 matches of last season, so the leak was there before Sage arrived. ESPN reported that the defence was then weakened further by the departures of Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea and Daniel Muñoz to Nottingham Forest.

There were difficulties at the other end too. Ismaïla Sarr, who scored 21 goals in 45 matches last season, has barely featured because of a recurring groin injury, Sky Sports reported. The same outlet said Palace's league scoring fell to 0.71 goals per game when Sarr was unavailable in 2025-26, and that Jean-Philippe Mateta was sent off 13 minutes into his second Premier League start since August.

Why the appointment looked right in June

Sage was hired in June 2026 as Glasner's replacement, and on paper he was a sound choice. He came from Lens, where he finished second in Ligue 1 and won the Coupe de France.

Sky Sports reported that the cup win in May 2026 was the first French Cup in Lens's history, and that the league finish matched the club's best in more than two decades. Before that, ESPN said, he had steered Lyon away from relegation trouble and into European competition.

ESPN also reported that Sage was partly chosen because he used the same 3-4-3 formation as Glasner, which suggested a smooth handover.

The handover was anything but. Glasner had won three trophies in two years, according to ESPN: the FA Cup, the Community Shield and the Conference League. Sage inherited the expectations that came with that, but in a squad that ESPN said had lost Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guéhi in recent years.

ESPN added that Palace had not built a squad deep enough for a schedule that mostly demanded a match every three or four days because of the Europa League. Results in Europe were no better than at home, with one win from four matches.

Frank in the frame

Palace have moved quickly on a successor. BBC Sport reported that Thomas Frank, the former Brentford and Tottenham manager, is in advanced talks to take over. The same outlet had reported on 8 November that the club had already held internal talks about Sage's future and a potential replacement.

Officially, Palace are saying little. "An update on the process of appointing a new Manager will be provided in due course," the club said.

Whoever takes the job inherits a side at the foot of the table, with seven points, a defence conceding more than two goals a game and a European campaign still to manage alongside it.