Pierre Sage's spell at Crystal Palace comes to an end

Crystal Palace have sacked head coach Pierre Sage after just 16 matches in charge.

Sage, who led Lens to a surprise second-place finish in Ligue 1 last season, was appointed during the summer transfer window after Oliver Glasner left for Nottingham Forest.

However, the French coach's time in London fell well short of expectations. Palace are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table after 10 matchweeks.

Although they reached the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, Crystal Palace won only one of their four UEFA Europa League matches and their defensive frailties stood out. The London club recorded five wins and three draws in all competitions under Sage, but conceded 30 goals. Across Europe's top five leagues this season, only Sage's former side Lens (31) have conceded more.

Palace have the highest expected goals against (xGA) figure in Europe, at 29.6 in all competitions, and are the worst side in the Premier League for league goals conceded (24), expected goals against (21.9), shots faced (189), goals conceded from set pieces (7), headed goals conceded (7) and the proportion of time spent behind (54.4%).

The club announced that it had also parted company with Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa and Sandy Guichard, members of Sage's coaching staff. In its official statement, the club thanked Pierre and his staff for their efforts in south London, wished them well in their future careers and said an update on the process of appointing a new head coach would be provided in due course.

Palace, who face Coventry City on 21 November after the international break, plan to have their new head coach in place by then. Thomas Frank has emerged as the leading candidate for the vacant post. The Danish coach, who made his name by taking Brentford into the Premier League for the first time in their history, has been out of work since his eight-month spell at Tottenham ended in February.