Crystal Palace sack Pierre Sage and in advanced talks to appoint Thomas Frank

Sage goes after 16 games with club bottom of table

He is the favourite to take over at former club Lens

Pierre Sage has been sacked as Crystal Palace’s manager after 16 games, with Thomas Frank in advanced talks to succeed him.

The Frenchman, appointed in mid-June to replace Oliver Glasner, has gone after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat by Liverpool left his team bottom of the Premier League. Frank, out of work since his dismissal by Spurs in February, has emerged as the main candidate to succeed Sage. He spoke to Palace in the summer and is keen for a new challenge after a successful spell at Brentford. it is hoped that he will take charge before next Saturday’s trip to Coventry.

The decision to sack Sage was made on Sunday evening but negotiations over compensation for the rest of his three-year contract delayed his exit. A further complication was that Sage has emerged as the favourite to take over at his previous club, Lens, after they sacked Yannick Cahuzac on Tuesday. The Lens owner and president, Joseph Oughourlian, has remained in close contact with Sage and is understood to have held talks about a return. That would mean Palace could avoid paying some compensation to Sage, having spent more than £4m to buy him out of his contract when he replaced Oliver Glasner in the summer.

Palace, who confirmed that Sage’s backroom staff would also depart, said in a statement: “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. An update on the process of appointing a new manager will be provided in due course.”

Sunday’s defeat was Palace’s fifth in an eight-match run which also included a painful 5-0 hammering by their arch-rivals Brighton. Their only victory in the sequence came in the Carabao Cup at Fulham and they have lost four league fixtures in a row.

Palace have seven points from 10 games, their league victories having come against Fulham and Nottingham Forest, and have conceded the most goals in the division: 24. They have been juggling domestic matches with the Europa League, where they sit 21st in the 36-team table.

“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,” Palace said in a statement.

Sage signed a three-year contract after leaving Lens, where he won the Coupe de France and qualified for the Champions League in his final season.

Alternatives to Frank include the former Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche, who also has his backers at Palace, and Vítor Pereira, another former Forest manager.

Palace have lost their two main central defenders this year, Marc Guéhi moving to Manchester City in January and Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea in the summer. Two loans players – Axel Disasi and the teenager Honest Ahanor – were signed as replacements. Palace did not land one of Sage’s top targets, winger Malick Fofana.

Sage is understood to have fallen out with the board over their failure to sign what he regarded as adequate replacements for Guéhi and Lacroix. The Palace chair, Steve Parish, was unhappy with Sage’s treatment of Jaydee Canvot, another centre-back, after the France Under-21 international was dropped from the squad for September’s home defeat by Ipswich, and expressed displeasure after Adam Wharton was substituted in that match.