Frank de Boer has been sacked as Crystal Palace manager after five games and 77 days in charge.Former England boss Roy Hodgson will replace him, BBC Sport understands.
The Eagles are 19th in the Premier League after losing 1-0 at Burnley on Sunday – and failed to score in their four league matches under De Boer.
His is the shortest Premier League managerial tenure in terms of games, and the 47-year-old’s past two jobs have lasted a combined 162 days.
Announcing the Dutchman’s departure on the club website, Palace said: “We would like to thank Frank for his dedication and hard work.”
Former Ajax boss De Boer only took over this summer, succeeding Sam Allardyce, who left after helping Palace avoid relegation last season.
He was sacked by Inter Milan in November 2016 after 85 days.
Prior to that he had won the Eredivisie four years in a row, between 2011 and 2015.
| Shortest-serving full-time managers in English football | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Games in charge | Time in charge |
| Frank de Boer (Crystal Palace) | 4 (2017) | 77 days |
| Les Reed (Charlton) | 7 (2006) | 40 days |
| Bob Bradley (Swansea) | 11 (2016) | 84 days |
| Chris Hutchings (Bradford) | 12 (2000) | 141 days |
| Paolo di Canio (Sunderland) | 12 (2013) | 175 days |
His only win as Palace manager came in the EFL Cup against Ipswich Town.
Should Hodgson take the job on a permanent basis, he will be the club’s seventh permanent manager in six years.
Palace chairman Steve Parish was at Turf Moor on Sunday, and said afterwards: “It’s a terrible start but we have to stick together.
“People are frustrated, I’m frustrated, so are the management and players. We know we are better than this.
“I’m defending everyone at the club who is working their backside off to turn this around. Football teams lose games. It happens.
“Who has the better squad, us or Burnley? We had a much weaker squad when we finished 11th. The buck stops with me; I’ve never run away from that.”
Speaking earlier this month, Parish had said De Boer’s start had “not been great” and football was a “results-based business”.
De Boer made two major signings at Palace, paying £26m for Liverpool centre-half Mamadou Sakho and signing Ajax defender Jairo Riedewald for £7.9m.
He also recruited full-back Timothy Fosu-Mensah and midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan from Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.
| Frank de Boer’s league record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | Scored | Conceded | Win percentage | Points per game |
| Ajax | 187 | 124 | 45 | 18 | 431 | 158 | 66.31% | 2.23 |
| Inter Milan | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 36.36% | 1.27 |
| Crystal Palace | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0% | 0 |
Hodgson ‘can’t wait to get started’
Hodgson has not managed in the Premier League since leaving West Brom to become England manager in 2012. It is said he ‘can’t wait to get started’.
This will be his first job since quitting as manager of the national side after Euro 2016, when England were knocked out by Iceland.
The 70-year-old started his playing career at Palace and has previously managed Blackburn, Fulham and Liverpool in the Premier League.
| Roy Hodgson’s Premier League record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals for | Goals against | Win % |
| Blackburn Rovers | 52 | 18 | 13 | 21 | 71 | 74 | 34.62 |
| Fulham | 94 | 31 | 24 | 38 | 95 | 105 | 34.04 |
| Liverpool | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 27 | 35 |
| West Brom | 50 | 18 | 13 | 19 | 67 | 72 | 36 |
| Total | 216 | 75 | 54 | 87 | 257 | 278 | 34.72 |
What lies ahead for Palace?
This is Palace’s fifth successive season in the top flight. They finished 11th in 2013-14, 10th in 2014-15, 15th in 2015-16 and 14th last season.
Palace host Southampton on Saturday before Huddersfield visit for an EFL Cup third-round tie on Tuesday, 19 September.
The Eagles will then face the current top three in the Premier League.
They visit Manchester City on 23 September and Manchester United on 30 September before hosting Chelsea on 14 October.
Palace are the first top-flight team since Preston in 1924-25 to lose their opening four league matches without scoring a goal.
| Crystal Palace’s permanent managers since 2013 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Time | Matches | Won | Drew | Lost | Win ratio |
| Keith Millen also acted as caretaker manager on three occasions. Figures include all competitions (up to and including 10 September, 2017) | ||||||
| Frank de Boer | June – Aug 17 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 20% |
| Sam Allardyce | Dec 16 – May 17 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 37.5% |
| Alan Pardew | Jan 15 – Dec 16 | 87 | 35 | 13 | 39 | 40.2% |
| Neil Warnock | Aug 14 – Dec 14 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 17.6% |
| Tony Pulis | Nov 13 – Aug 14 | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 42.9% |
| Ian Holloway | Nov 12 – Oct 13 | 47 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 31.9% |