Manchester United and Crystal Palace parted ways with managers Michael Carrick and Pierre Sage, respectively, within two hours of each other on Thursday, November 12.
Both Premier League clubs used the international break to address horrific starts that have left them in the relegation zone.
Manchester United confirmed Carrick’s departure following a sporting review led by director of football Jason Wilcox and co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
United sit 18th in the table with just eight points from their opening 10 league matches, marking the club’s worst start to a top-flight campaign in four decades.
Carrick, who was handed the role permanently after an interim spell, won only one Premier League fixture this season—a 5–2 victory over Ipswich Town on August 30.
He subsequently presided over an eight-match league winless run before the club’s hierarchy opted for a change.
Less than two hours later, Crystal Palace announced the dismissal of Sage, ending his five-month tenure after just 16 matches in all competitions.
Appointed in mid-June on a three-year deal to replace Oliver Glasner after guiding RC Lens to a second-place finish in Ligue 1, Sage leaves Palace rooted to the bottom of the Premier League in 20th place with seven points.
Three members of his French backroom staff—Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa, and Sandy Guichard—also departed Selhurst Park.
Both dismissals followed steep defensive collapses across October and early November. United conceded 20 goals in 10 league games and 30 across all competitions, highlighted by a 3–0 home defeat to Bournemouth and a 4–4 draw against Aston Villa on Sunday.
In that Villa match, United conceded twice inside the opening four minutes and needed two stoppage-time goals just to salvage a point.
Palace experienced a similar breakdown, shipping a league-worst 24 goals in 10 matches. Following an October 11 victory over Nottingham Forest, the Eagles suffered four consecutive Premier League defeats, beginning with a 5–0 thrashing by rivals Brighton & Hove Albion and culminating in Sunday’s 3–1 home loss to Liverpool.
While Palace progressed to the EFL Cup quarter-finals, they sit 21st in the 36-team Europa League standings with just one win from four matches.
Off-field friction also strained Sage’s position, with the manager reportedly frustrated by the board’s failure to sign adequate replacements for departed central defenders Marc Guéhi and Maxence Lacroix.
Both clubs have moved swiftly to secure experienced replacements ahead of the Premier League’s resumption on November 21.
Manchester United are finalizing a two-and-a-half-year contract with United States men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
The Argentine is expected to oversee the USMNT’s CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final ties against Haiti on Saturday and Tuesday before officially taking charge at Old Trafford ahead of United’s trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on November 22.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace are in advanced negotiations with former Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank, with club officials hoping to finalize his appointment in time for Palace’s next league fixture away at Coventry City on November 21.
