Crystal Palace are moving quickly to find Oliver Glasner's successor, and it looks like Lens manager Pierre Sage is firmly in the frame. The south London club are set to hold talks with the Frenchman, according to BBC Sport, as they look to keep their Premier League project ticking along nicely.
Sage has done a genuinely impressive job at Lens, which is no small feat when you consider the resources available to him compared to most clubs around him in Ligue 1. He is the kind of manager who gets more out of his squad than the sum of their parts, which is exactly the sort of thing Palace need. They are never going to be a club swimming in money, so having a coach who can develop players and build a coherent style of play matters enormously.
Glasner did well at Selhurst Park, it has to be said. He came in, steadied the ship, and got Palace playing some genuinely enjoyable football. Replacing him was always going to be a tricky job, and Palace deserve some credit for not just panicking and throwing money at a big name who might not fit the club at all.
Sage is an interesting choice because he is not the finished article in terms of top-level experience, but then again neither was Glasner when he first started turning heads. Palace have form for backing managers who might fly under the radar a little, and more often than not it has worked out for them.
The worry, as always with these kinds of appointments, is whether a manager can make the jump from a club like Lens to the Premier League without a stepping stone in between. The pace and intensity of English football can catch people off guard, and Sage will need time to adjust. Whether Palace will give him that time if results go against him early on is another question entirely.
Still, on the face of it this looks like a sensible, considered approach from a club that tends to do things the right way. Let me know your thoughts.