Crystal Palace Consider Sacking Pierre Sage as Thomas Frank and Sean Dyche Emerge as Candidates

Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage is in serious danger of losing his job just five months into his reign, with the club bottom of the Premier League going into the international break.

Sunday’s 3-1 defeat by Liverpool was Palace’s fourth league loss in a row. Sage’s side have won just two of their 10 league games this season. The club have held internal talks to decide his future and who might replace him.

Former Tottenham and Brentford boss Thomas Frank is seen as a strong candidate, while ex-Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche also has some support inside the club. Both are out of work and could start straight away. If Sage goes, the Frenchman would become the first managerial casualty of the Premier League season.

Palace have taken just seven points from 10 league games and have the worst defensive record in the division, with 24 goals conceded. In the Europa League they are 21st, which is currently enough for a play-off place, with only one win from four matches.

Sage was appointed on a three-year contract in June, after Oliver Glasner left at the end of last season. The 47-year-old said after the Liverpool game that he was not feeling the pressure of a fall from grace.

“It’s not from the dream to the nightmare,” he said. “I’m not feeling this. I’m just in my job, and focusing on my job, and what I have to do to find the solution.

“The results are not at this level, and I know I have to push more on those things, especially in our way of playing, to make that move.”

Sage previously led Lens to second place in Ligue 1 and to their first French Cup triumph in the club’s 120-year history. He has struggled to match the success of Glasner, who now manages Nottingham Forest and led Palace to a first FA Cup title and a Europa Conference League triumph.

Palace have not won in the league since 11 October. The slump began with a 5-0 loss to rivals Brighton, after which Sage said he felt “shame” and admitted he did not know whether he would be given time to turn things around.

There has been some sympathy behind the scenes. Injuries hurt his plans, and the absence of Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr, because of fitness and personal issues linked to both players’ wish to leave, did not help his start. Even so, three more league defeats have followed. Against Liverpool, Palace hit the bar and had a goal ruled out.

“We have to be more competitive,” Sage said on Sunday.

“At the moment, we create some things, we expect a lot of things, but we don’t have the results expected.”

Palace’s next league game is away at Coventry on 21 November, after the two-week international break.