Crystal Palace sack Pardew - reaction

So, what is coming up later this evening on BBC Radio 5 live?

At 19:00 GMT, Caroline Barker brings you all the day's sports news, including the latest on Alan Pardew's sacking as Crystal Palace manager.

Then, the attention switches to rugby union and Matt Dawson and Paul Grayson review the year in the sport from 19:30.

From 20:30, Darren Campbell meets Watford captain Troy Deeney to find out how he got involved in sport before a lookback at 21:30 at Andy Murray's rise to become world number one.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes artificial surfaces affect the quality of football played on them.

While the Northern Irishman accepts the reasons clubs in Scotland opt for 3G pitches rather than natural grass, he insists they are not ideal for players or supporters.

"I've yet to see a good game on a plastic pitch," he said. "Any coach or manager will tell you it's always a different game on a plastic pitch."

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What are your thoughts on Pardew getting the sack at Crystal Palace? 

Ed Quoththeraven: Pardew's record has been too awful for too long. He had loads of opportunities to improve and didn't take them

Kris Jefferson: Why so much sympathy for Pardew? Palace had worst 2016 in top 4 divisions! Sack inevitable

Matt Scott: Harsh on Pardew. Very harsh. A real demonstration of how ruthless and ludicrous football is.Hope he gets another job in the PL

Jonathan Paice: Harsh to sack Pardew when his team aren't even in the relegation zone! Crazy times. At least he has Xmas off with family now.

Some mixed views here. Tweet us yours at #bbcsportsday

Former England manager Sam Allardyce is the bookmakers' favourite to get the Crystal Palace job and ex-Eagles chairman Simon Jordan would welcome the appointment.

"Sam Allardyce is an experienced manager – I think he should still be England manager. I like him, know him well, I think he might be a good fit," Jordan tells BBC Radio 5 live.

"He knows his way around, Sam is as good as it gets at guaranteeing a team doesn’t get relegated. There’s not exactly a plethora of top quality of managers around there, and Sam is a top, top manager.

"If you look at the performance of the team from January, they tanked. The FA Cup final muddied it. They let him (Pardew) spend a lot of money in summer and he earned that. Generally around November you know what the team is doing, maybe I would have gone (sacked him) a month earlier."

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It was only last May when a happy Alan Pardew guided Palace into the FA Cup final against Manchester United.

In case you had blocked it from your memory, he celebrated Jason Puncheon's goal which put them into the lead at Wembley, in a memorable fashion.

Manchester United went on to win the final, 2-1 after extra-time.

Some more quotes from former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan after the Eagles sacked manager Alan Pardew.

In an interview on BBC Radio 5 live, Jordan is asked why current chairman Steve Parish backed Pardew two weeks ago.

"A chairman’s job in this instance is to galvanise people, it would have been strange for him to criticise him," said Jordan. "I think the American owners are the people who are pulling these strings, and coming into the January window, they probably didn’t trust Pardew (to make the right signings).

"If you’ve got the wrong guy in place, it’s even worse business [in January]. This isn’t panic, it’s a reaction to results that people could have seen six weeks ago."

Swansea City manager Bob Bradley admits his future could depend on his next two games against West Ham on Boxing Day and Bournemouth on New Year's Eve.

The Swans are second from bottom in the Premier League having won only two of Bradley's 10 matches in charge.

Asked if his hopes of keeping his job rest on those results, he said: "Maybe. I never know how that works and I don't spend much time thinking about it.

"I said before that I knew it was a challenge. That's football."

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More reaction to the news that Crystal Palace have sacked manager Alan Pardew.

This time it comes on BBC Radio 5 live where former Eagles chairman Simon Jordan is about to be interviewed.

You can listen to that here.

Watch now as BBC Sport correspondent David Ornstein is discussing Crystal Palace's decision to sack manager Alan Pardew.

We are live on the Match of the Day Facebook page and in the video below.

Some more comments on Crystal Palace's decision to sack manager Alan Pardew.

Derheaphster: I think it's diabolical. He got them to the FA Cup Final last season. I wish these owners experienced managers' hard work.

Alex Rosling: Don't understand why anyone would sack someone three days before Christmas. It's crazy. Merry Christmas Alan!

Desmond Oguda: Really gutted for Alan Pardew, didn't deserve the sack, the players let him down. Hope he comes back stronger.

England Rugby League’s proposed trip to Dubai at the beginning of January to take part in a warm weather training camp has been cancelled.

The Rugby Football League say they and the England coaching staff came to the decision after holding discussions with Super League clubs, some of whom were against the plan.

The team will now focus on the mid-season Test in May and preparations for the World Cup in late 2017.

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At about 1pm Crystal Palace tweeted this...

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At 3pm he was sacked.

Palace chairman and co-owner Steve Parish has told BBC Sport: “I’m not going to blame other people [American co-owners]. Relegation is so costly and I feel with no blame attached we got ourselves in a rut and need a change. We hope a change will change things.

"Even the most one-eyed opposition supporter would accept we've been on the end of some appalling [referee] errors over the last few games.

"We all bought into the decision to play a more expansive style of football. We all believed in it. That hasn't worked. It's no-one's fault. The players have been running their socks off for Alan, the spirit is good.

"But now we’re going to wind the dial back the other way. We’re talking to a number of people to make sure we get this right, nothing has been agreed.”

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Former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison has given his thoughts on the sacking of Alan Pardew.

We've been asking for your views on the dismissal of the Crystal Palace manager.

Stephen Cox: It was inevitable. Pardew's language has become increasingly defeatist. Hardly inspiring.

Ian Langley: #Pardew a #cpfc legend 4 what he did as a player but sadly had 2 go as 2016 results esp home form & goals conceded terrible.

Jo Murray: Crystal Palace chairman being absolutely savage 3 days before Xmas

Keep sending your views using the hashtag #bbcsportsday

Pardew's position at Palace appeared under threat the moment the American consortium led by Josh Harris and David Blitzer completed their takeover deal in December 2015. 

Steve Parish stayed on as club chairman after the change in ownership, but at a reduced shareholding and while Parish continued to offer staunch support for Pardew even into this term however, results on the field took a tumble. 

Pardew was even said to have been one defeat from the sack before a 3-0 home victory over Southampton on 3 December.

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He might have guided Palace to the FA Cup final but overall, it has been a dreadful 2016 for Pardew in terms of points gained...

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Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has posted on Twitter and is surprised the club acted before Christmas.