Crystal Palace have sacked Pierre Sage after sixteen games, which means the club has taken less time to decide a manager was wrong than most people take to find a parking space at a retail park. Sixteen games is not a managerial reign. It is a long weekend with a tactics board.
The statement arrived with the solemnity of a funeral notice for a goldfish. The club thanked Sage for his commitment and professionalism, two words that in football press releases translate roughly as “we are about to do something unforgivable and would like it noted that we were polite about it.” They wished him every success for the future, a remarkable sentiment to deliver about a man you dismissed before the Christmas decorations went up.
The board’s reasoning rests on the club sitting bottom of the table. Bottom after sixteen games. Nobody in that building seems willing to say the obvious thing, that a squad, a recruitment policy and a boardroom all share responsibility for where a team sits. Ownership has found the one person who can be removed with a single email, and they have pressed the button with the enthusiasm of someone reaching for the last biscuit.
Frank is reportedly in advanced talks. Naturally. Nothing says stability like a replacement lined up before the old manager has finished packing his notepads. Palace are not so much changing manager as swapping coats in a revolving door, and the door is spinning faster than the league table.