Crystal Palace dealt second blow after Pierre Sage sacking as they miss out on rarely-seen outcome

Crystal Palace announced that they had sacked Pierre Sage after just five months in charge, with the club bottom of the Premier League.

This decision came shortly after Manchester United sacked their manager, Michael Carrick, making Sage the second managerial sacking of the Premier League season.

Crystal Palace are now in the process of bringing in his replacement; it briefly looked as if Sage had already landed on his feet by becoming the manager of a Champions League side, but their decision to appoint a different head coach has changed the situation.

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Pierre Sage misses out on immediate managerial return

Sage struggled to get to grips with the role at the Eagles as they won just two of their opening 10 games and also have the worst defensive record in the league, conceding 24 goals.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Palace are also 21st in the 36-team Europa League table, with one win from their four matches.

He previously led Lens to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 and a first French Cup triumph in their 120-year history.

Lens announced that they had parted company with Yannick Cahuzac after the club’s humiliation against Como in the Champions League and the defeat to Marseille in Ligue 1, as reported by L'Equipe.

It was reported by The Guardian that, had Sage been re-appointed by Lens, it would have potentially prevented Palace from having to pay a significant compensation fee - which was put forward as a possible reason behind their delay in sacking him.

However, Lens instead appointed former Middlesbrough midfielder Didier Digard as their new manager instead late on Friday night, meaning the Eagles have nowhere to turn in that particular respect.

At present, Lens are sitting 11^th in Ligue 1, but they are only seven points off Paris FC, who sit third.

They still have a chance of winning silverware with the French Cup later in the year, when they will defend their title.

In the Champions League, they sit 33^rd in the League of 36 teams, so they may have given themselves too much of a hill to climb ahead of the knockouts, but there is a chance despite their challenging fixtures.

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Pierre Sage’s time at Lens

Sage only spent one season at Lens, and that was the last campaign, in which he transformed the club's fortunes.

Across his 40 fixtures in charge of the club, he had a 67.5% win percentage, which saw them challenge for the Ligue 1 title and lift the French Cup.

Meanwhile, prior to this, he was Lyon manager, helping to steady the club after the sacking of Fabio Grosso, before being sacked in the following season for a series of poor results.

Sage wasn't quite able to return the club to its former glory years of the 2000s, when they won seven league titles between 2001 and 2008.