Pierre Sage
French football coach (born 1979)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pierre Sage (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ saʒ]; born 5 May 1979) is a French professional football manager who is currently the manager of Premier League club Crystal Palace. He has previously managed French clubs Lyon and Lens.
|
Sage in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pierre Sage | ||
| Date of birth | 5 May 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Lons-le-Saunier, Jura, France | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Crystal Palace (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1985–1997 | CS Belley | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2003 | CS Belley | ||
| 2003–2005 | Oyonnax Plastics Vallée | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2013 | Chambéry | ||
| 2023–2025 | Lyon | ||
| 2025–2026 | Lens | ||
| 2026– | Crystal Palace | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early life
Pierre Sage[1] was born on 5 May 1979 in Lons-le-Saunier, Jura.[2]
Managerial career
Early career
Sage spent his entire footballing career with CS Belley as an amateur footballer from the age of 6 to 24, and started educating with them at the age of 16. At the age of 24 he moved to Oyonnax Plastics Vallée where he started as a technical manager.[3] In 2003, he moved to Châteauroux to work as a scout for a season. In 2004, he worked as a technical director of PL Vallée, before moving to FBBP01 as a team manager in 2007. His first stint as a senior manager was with Chambéry in 2013.[4] He returned to team management under Sedan in 2016, before going to Lyon-Duchère in 2018 as assistant manager.[5]
Lyon
In 2019, he had his first stint as a youth coach with Lyon in 2019, before moving to Red Star as an assistant manager.[6] In July 2023, he returned to Lyon as the manager of their academy. On 30 November 2023, he was appointed as the interim manager of Lyon after Fabio Grosso was sacked.[7] On 11 January 2024, he was confirmed as manager of Lyon until the end of the season, where they qualified for the UEFA Europa League.[8][9] Later that year, on 3 July, he signed a new contract with Lyon until 2026.[10] He was sacked on 27 January 2025 after a series of bad results.[11]
Lens
On 2 June 2025, Sage signed with Ligue 1 side Lens on a three-year deal.[12] In his first season with the club, he led them to reach the Coupe de France final, their first appearance in the final since 1998.[13] He also secured a second-place finish to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.[14] On 22 May 2026, Sage guided Lens to their first ever Coupe de France title, with a 3–1 victory over Nice at the Stade de France.[15]
Crystal Palace
On the back of his success at Lens, Sage was appointed manager of Premier League team Crystal Palace in June 2026 on a three-year contract.[16]
Managerial statistics
- As of match played 22 May 2026[17]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Chambéry | 21 February 2013 | 30 June 2013 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 53.85 |
| Lyon | 30 November 2023 | 27 January 2025 | 56 | 32 | 11 | 13 | 100 | 71 | +29 | 57.14 |
| Lens | 2 June 2025 | 15 June 2026 | 40 | 27 | 5 | 8 | 85 | 42 | +43 | 67.50 |
| Crystal Palace | 15 June 2026 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | — |
| Total | 109 | 66 | 19 | 24 | 203 | 124 | +79 | 60.55 | ||
