Crystal Palace give Frank De Boer one more game to save his job

Frank De Boer
Frank De Boer is on the brink at Crystal Palace

Frank de Boer appears to have one more game to save his Crystal Palace job after the Dutchman took training on Wednesday.

Palace chairman Steve Parish has held talks with De Boer, following the club’s dismal start to the season in which they have lost all three Premier League games without scoring a goal.

It is understood that Palace have thought long and hard about sacking De Boer during the international break, with the 47-year-old needing to indicate a willingness to change his approach to stand any chance of clinging on to his job.

But it seems De Boer will now get Sunday’s trip to Burnley to demonstrate that he can adapt and improve results, otherwise he will almost certainly be sacked.

De Boer is considering ditching the three-man defence he has played in the Premier League so far and reverting to a 4-3-3 formation to try to save his job at Turf Moor.

Frank De Boer has struggled to make his ideas work at Crystal Palace
Frank De Boer has struggled to make his ideas work at Crystal Palace Credit: ACTION PLUS

The fact he took training on Tuesday and Wednesday was seen by many players as an indication the 47-year-old will at least get the Burnley game.

De Boer’s weekly press conference, which had been set for Thursday, has been moved back to Friday to accommodate a new training schedule.

Unless he is sacked in the next 24 hours, De Boer will face awkward questions from the press regarding his team’s terrible start, his future and his relationship with Parish.

Dougie Freedman, who returned to Palace as Sporting Director on August 21, would be the favourite to take over from De Boer on an interim basis if Palace lose at Burnley.

Drank De Boer speaks to Scott Dann during defeat to Liverpool
Drank De Boer speaks to Scott Dann during defeat to Liverpool Credit: AFP

De Boer has received support from his former assistant at Ajax, Jaap Stam, who said: “The club made the decision to get Frank because of his way of working and how he wanted to play.

“As a manager to go to England to work and get success straight away is very hard. Sometimes as a manager you need to have time to build something and create a certain atmosphere within the group that gets results.

“The only thing is; are we patient enough and do you get the time? That's not always the case.”

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