Crystal Palace weigh Sage’s future after Liverpool defeat

Crystal Palace’s 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool on November 8 left the club bottom of the Premier League after 10 matches and intensified reports that manager Pierre Sage could be dismissed. Palace had not publicly confirmed a decision by November 10, and Sage remained in charge after the match.

Fabrizio Romano posted on November 9 that Sage was on the verge of being sacked. Several reports repeated his post, but those reports do not independently establish that Palace had decided to dismiss the Frenchman. Other accounts described internal discussions or said the club was prepared to part company with him. One report said Thomas Frank had moved to the front of Palace’s thinking, while others listed him among the candidates under consideration.

Sage, appointed in June, said after the Liverpool match that his priority was finding an effective solution for the team and club. He said Palace would make a decision if it no longer believed in him. Asked whether he expected to remain manager after the international break, Sage replied, “Better than you, I think.”

The defeat was Palace’s fourth consecutive league loss. They had won two, drawn one and lost seven of their opening 10 matches,...