Crystal Palace Dismiss Pierre Sage After Ten Games Bottom of Premier League

What happened

Crystal Palace have relieved Pierre Sage of his duties as manager, with the club bottom of the Premier League on seven points from their opening ten games. Football365 reported the dismissal, describing it as having been coming, in the manner of Michael Carrick's departure at Manchester United.

Report details

Sage had arrived in the summer having been named Ligue 1 manager of the season after running Paris Saint-Germain implausibly close in the title race as Lens boss. At the time of his appointment he framed the move in characteristic terms, saying that when people told him he would not play in the Champions League, he answered that he would play the Champions League every weekend in the Premier League. He also said upon taking the job that he was coming to the conclusion the train would not pass again, and insisted in his final press conference that it was not a case of going from the dream to the nightmare.

The defensive numbers behind the decision were stark. Palace have conceded the most goals in the division this season, 24, more than they had shipped in the first ten games of any league campaign since 1980/81. They sit bottom of the expected points table and have conceded the most shots (189), the most shots on target (62) and the most shots from inside the six-yard box (25).

Palace chiefs had been attracted by Sage's more intense, attacking style, having previously opted for more defensively-minded coaches, but the report says they suffered through his dogmatic belief that attack is the best form of defence, as well as other factors beyond his control. The club sold Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea for £52m and Daniel Munoz to Nottingham Forest for £22m in a scramble to meet UEFA's squad cost ratio rules, and the 11 players signed in the summer were a mixture of bargain-bin buys, loans and inexperienced young talent. Chadi Riad was seriously injured against Everton on the opening day, while Jean-Philippe Mateta and Dean Henderson also spent significant time on the sidelines, leaving Sage with a real lack of leaders in his side.

Succeeding Oliver Glasner was, per the report, the most difficult challenge ever faced by an incoming Crystal Palace manager. The Austrian won the club their first piece of major silverware and three trophies in total. While Sage felt like a natural progression on the basis of playing the same formation, it never felt like he had the same authority as his predecessor: Glasner arrived after a decade of management across spells at LASK, Wolfsburg and Frankfurt, whereas Sage had less than three seasons of top-job experience at Lyon and then Lens. The report adds that landing Glasner had been a coup for Palace after Roy Hodgson, and that replacing Glasner with top summer target Andoni Iraola ahead of Liverpool would have been an even greater sign of upward trajectory.

Palace are now set to revert to a more functional style under Thomas Frank, who is in advanced talks to take charge and, according to the report, is wanted to save them from relegation. The report says the fans valued Sage's sincerity and backed him to the end, and it suggests a manager with wisdom befitting his name will reflect on his time at Palace more with pride that he made it to the Premier League than with regret that it did not work out.