Crystal Palace and Manchester United turned Thursday into one of the most ruthless days of the Premier League season when both clubs dismissed their managers within hours of each other, a move that shows how little patience owners and boards now have for slow starts.
Palace parted ways with Pierre Sage after 16 matches in charge, and they also removed his assistants Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa and Sandy Guichard, after a run of results that left the club rooted to the bottom of the table.
Sage, who arrived in June on a three-year deal to succeed Oliver Glasner, collected only two wins and a draw from his 10 league games, watched his side concede 24 goals, the most in the division when he left, and lost four straight league matches, the last of them a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
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The pressure had built since a 5-0 thrashing by Brighton last month, and the club’s hierarchy reportedly grew steadily more worried before it finally acted.
At Old Trafford, United confirmed that Michael Carrick had gone after the team slid into the relegation zone, having won only three of its first 15 games in all competitions, with just one victory in the opening 10 league matches.
The decision stands out because Carrick took over in January, won 12 of his 17 matches to steer United to a third-place finish, and signed a two-year contract in May.
Within six months, a manager who delivered a top-three finish became a casualty of a poor start, and reports already link the club with former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino as his successor.
For Palace, the search for a new manager now begins with the club promising an update “in due course”, and the next appointee will inherit a squad that needs urgent repairs at the back. For United, the choice of a replacement will show whether the club wants a quick fix or a long-term project.
Both clubs have shown that a single bad run can erase a good season, and every manager in the league will notice.
