The first managerial sacking of the Premier League season appears to be only days away.
Premier League clubs who start the season poorly usually don’t start panicking and looking for a new manager until at least October. However, it seems like Crystal Palace are about to sack Frank de Boer.
The Dutch manager has experienced a very difficult start to his time with the London club. Palace have lost all three of their games in the league so far this season. They have conceded six goals and failed to score in the defeats. De Boer’s side also lost at home to Huddersfield Town and Swansea City, teams that they would expect to be competing with to avoid relegation, and suffered an away loss to Liverpool.
According to Matt Lawton, writing in The Daily Mail, Palace will “almost certainly” sack the Dutch manager if the team lose to Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday. The club are said to have contemplated sacking De Boer during the international break, as the relationship between the manager and Palace chairman Steve Parish is reportedly “at breaking point.” Ed Malyon of The Independent also reports that the former Ajax coach is on the brink and he is prepared to change his tactics for Sunday’s game to hold onto his job.
De Boer has used a 3-4-3 formation so far, and attempted to deploy a possession based style of play. However, the transition from the direct style of former manager Sam Allardyce has not been a smooth one for the Palace players. De Boer will reportedly instruct his team to play in a more orthodox 4-3-3 formation against Burnley.
The former Barcelona defender won four league titles with Ajax between 2010 and 2014, but his managerial career hasn’t gone to plan since leaving the Netherlands. De Boer was sacked as Inter Milan manager after just 85 days last season, and his reign at Selhurst Park could end in a similar manner.
When De Boer was appointed in June, Palace chairman Steve Parish said there had been 37 managers on their shortlist to replace Allardyce, who retired at the end of last season.
“I talked to all the potential managers and said: we need an evolution over a period of time,” Parish said. Yet, less than two months later, De Boer looks like he’ll be on his way out of the club. Even if they beat Burnley, Palace will most likely sack De Boer sooner rather than later if they’re having doubts about him already.
The club are reportedly interested in trying to coax Allardyce out of retirement, while Roy Hodgson has also been mentioned as a potential replacement for De Boer.
