Liverpool Manager Andoni Iraola
Liverpool Manager Andoni Iraola
Liverpool left Selhurst Park on Sunday with a win by three goals to one, but the result carried far heavier consequences for Crystal Palace, who now sit bottom of the Premier League after a complete round of games for the first time since December 2017.
The south London side have won just two of their ten league matches this season, and their defence has shipped 24 goals, the worst record in the division, while a run of only one win in eight games across all competitions has left supporters bracing for change.
That change now looks certain, because The Athletic reports that Palace are set to sack manager Pierre Sage after only 16 games in charge, which would make the Frenchman the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season.
Pressure on Sage has grown steadily since rivals Brighton thrashed Palace by five goals to nil in October, and although the Palace hierarchy chose to give him more time, believing he deserved at least the Europa League trip to face Besiktas and the league meeting with Newcastle United that same week, the defensive failings and the repetitive nature of the goals his side conceded still alarmed the board.
A draw with Besiktas preceded a defeat at Newcastle, and Palace then needed a late equaliser to draw with Hoffenheim in the Europa League on Thursday, before the Liverpool loss looks set to seal his fate despite an improved performance.
Speaking after the match, Sage insisted that he did not “have to convince anyone” that he was the right man to turn things around, and he accepted that the club would make a decision if his work failed to convince them, adding that the most important thing was finding “an efficient solution for the team and club”.
Palace intend to name his successor during the upcoming international break, and the club are considering Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche, who left Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest respectively in February.
Vitor Pereira, who left Forest this summer, and Tony Popovic, the former Palace defender who spent five seasons at the club as a player and now manages Australia, also feature among the potential options, while Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has admirers within the club.
Palace handed Sage a contract running for three years in June after he guided Lens to second place in Ligue 1 and the first Coupe de France triumph in their history, yet he inherited a squad that had lost Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi in recent seasons.
The club then sold Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea and Daniel Munoz to Forest this summer, and although Palace kept Mateta and Ismaila Sarr and brought in 11 new players, including Anan Khalaili and Quinten Timber on deadline day, the rebuild never clicked.
Sage said that working in England was his “dream”, and only five months into that dream, his time at Selhurst Park appears to be coming to an abrupt end.
Read more: Andoni Iraola admits he is very upset despite Liverpool’s win at Crystal Palace
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