Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer fears he could be sacked this weekend

Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer fears he could be sacked as early as the weekend, as he prepares to hold talks with the board.

The Dutchman, who signed a three-year deal at Selhurst Park this summer, has endured a nightmare start to his Premier League career, with Palace losing their first three games of the campaign and failing to score.

The former Ajax and Inter Milan manager held talks with Palace chairman Steve Parish late on Monday (28 August), but he is expected to meet the board again this weekend and, according to the Mirror, fears he could be handed his P45.

De Boer's tactical rigidity has so far won him few friends in south London and the Dutchman has been told he would have to adopt a more flexible approach from now on.

The Dutchman's preferred 3-4-3 line-up and possession-based football are understood to have been dismissed as too naive an approach. Palace were embarrassed in a heavy 3-0 beating by newly-promoted Huddersfield Town on the opening weekend and showed more resilience during a narrow loss at Liverpool but their defensive frailties were exposed once again over the weekend during a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Swansea City.

Earlier this week, Palace reportedly considered re-appointing Sam Allardyce, only for the former Palace and England manager to swiftly rule himself out of a return to the Premier League.

Allardyce, who steered Palace to safety last season before retiring from management at the end of the campaign, said he had no interest in resuming his managerial career for the time being.

"I've been relaxing this summer watching the interesting transfer market and being associated with any club at this early stage of the season would not be of any interest to me at the moment," he told Jim White on talkSPORT.

Despite his side's abysmal start to the campaign, De Boer could find solace in the transfer market, after Palace managed to sign Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool on deadline day.

The Frenchman was instrumental in helping Palace to avoid relegation last season, before returning to Anfield at the end of his loan spell. While Sakho did not feature in Jurgen Klopp's plans, Liverpool held out for a £30m fee and rebuffed Palace's opening bid of £22m plus £3m in add-ons, before eventually agreeing to let the Frenchman go for £26m.

The fee makes the 27-year-old the second most expensive player in Palace's history after Christian Benteke, who joined the Eagles from Liverpool for £27m last summer. However, the south Londoners saw their attempts to sign Everton's Oumar Niasse frustrated.

The Senegal international had been identified as the ideal back-up for Benteke and was scheduled to have a medical late last night, but will now remain at Goodison Park until January at least.