Crystal Palace could be the first Premier League team to blink when it comes to what has been dubbed by many as ‘the sack race.’ Multiple news outlets are reporting that Pierre Sage is close to losing his job, and the only likely delay is that Palace are yet to decide who will take over. 

Former Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank appears to be the frontrunner for the position.

The pressure on Sage increased drastically following a devastating 5-0 defeat at the hands of arch rivals Brighton at the start of October, a month that looked likely to be pivotal with eight games for Palace, of which they would win just one. 

After a 3-1 defeat at home to Liverpool, despite playing well for large parts, Palace find themselves rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and as the gap between themselves and the surface of the relegation zone increases, this decision had to be made. 

There are many reasons why Pierre Sage can be labelled unfortunate when considering his time with Crystal Palace. The club failed to sufficiently back him in the summer window, relying on botch-job, plaster over style signings to fix the galactic holes left in the squad from the sales of key players. 

The World Cup caused mass disruption to Palace’s pre-season, and the injury issues have been detrimental too, Sage yet to have the luxury of picking a fully fit Ismaïla Sarr for his side. 

There are a whole host of other factors, including individual errors in games, red cards etcetera etcetera, but the bottom line is that Palace, whilst potentially developing slowly, haven’t been able to turn their form around and the site of 20th place listed alongside the club’s name for the first time seems to have pushed the needle that bit further. 

A hesitance to change the style drastically enough to make a change, along with one of the worst defensive records in Europe, let alone the Premier League, is down to Sage though. He’s not been able to work with what he has, and it’s reached a point where it doesn’t look like that will happen any time soon. 

Sage had spoken after Sunday’s defeat and claimed that he does not need to prove himself to anyone, a line he has pushed previously when asked about the security of his future in South London.

“If my job is the way to convince people the best thing, then they just have to believe in that…If that’s not the case, then they will take a decision.”

“Today my job is not the most important thing. The most important thing is to find an efficient solution for the team and club.”

It’s an unfortunate ending for a manager that a lot of fans wanted to do well, but ultimately it looks as if Palace will have to lean on the crutch of Premier League experience when selecting their next manager. 

There are numerous reports that Thomas Frank is set to come in as Sage’s replacement. The Danish manager was remarkably successful at Brentford before a tough spell at Spurs somewhat tainted his name. 

However, there is no doubt he is a good manager, and one who is used to working within a tight transfer budget, which will come as a delight to Steve Parish. 

More importantly than anything though, he knows the league. Frank understands what it takes to win Premier League games, and in the same breath, his style of play is also very fluid and entertaining. 

It feels like the right chance for Palace to make the change with the international break technically underway, and with two huge Premier League clashes coming swiftly after the next two weeks, with games against both Hull and Coventry now must wins.