By Andrew McSteen

Recent media reports have hinted at a return to SE25 for Crystal Palace managerial legend Steve Coppell as a new director of football.

If correct, Coppell would assist co-chairman Steve Parish and boss Alan Pardew with transfers, as well as improving and refining the playing squad. 

Possible rival candidates who have also been linked with the role include current Reading director of football Nicky Hammond and Ross Wilson, the newly-appointed head of recruitment at Southampton.

Hammond was handed a coaching role at Reading by Pardew during his spell as Madejski manager, while Parish and the current Eagles manager have made no secret of the fact Southampton is a club they would like to model Palace on. 

An Eagles source confirmed to Croydon Guardian Parish is a fan of the role and its benefits to the club, adding the co-chairman is actively recruiting for it.

“Steve believes director of football is an important job,” he said.

“It is difficult for any manager to handle the daily demands of running a team with the addition of organising all the work that goes on in the backroom at a club, including data science and recruitment policy.

“Steve Parish always said he will bring someone in when he finds the right candidate.”

If the position was to be filled, Coppell - Pardew’s former manager – would stand head and shoulders over all-comers and be a unanimously preferred choice amongst Eagles fans.

Coppell could return once again as director of football, a position he held from June 1995 to February 1996 in his second spell at the club when he was assisted by Ray Lewington and Peter Nicholas.

Parish has taken counsel from Coppell himself in the past, admitting he values his advice. 

Coppell himself revealed last month he is keen to get back into football and has been a regular at Selhurst Park over the years, not least in the past few months with recent 25-year celebrations of the famous Palace FA Cup run in 1990 when he was manager.

Since the Eagles returned to the Premier League in 2013, Parish has been looking to have a permanent extra set of hands to assist him and the manager with the day-to-day running of the team.

He thought the problem was solved when sporting director Ian Moody was appointed in November 2013, but a void has been left by his departure following the Spygate and Textgate affairs. 

In October Parish confirmed he was again looking for a director of football to work alongside then manager Neil Warnock, but poor form led to Warnock leaving SE25 in late December and Pardew took over less than a week later.

Talk about the potential position had gone cold recently, but at last month’s awards night at Fairfield Halls Pardew said about Coppell: “It’s such a shame that Steve’s not back in the game.

“If there was a role at this football club that suited him I would definitely bring him in.

“Unfortunately the only role he can do is mine!”

Despite the light-hearted comment, Pardew, like Tony Pulis before him, has stated there is work to do off of the pitch and has the backing of Parish for continued staff and infrastructure improvements.

Pardew told the awards ceremony: “One of the reasons I wanted to come out of Newcastle was because the scouting wasn’t purely down to me, it was done on almost a committee-like basis.

“I found it uncomfortable and I didn’t think it worked for the team and I knew that wasn’t the scenario at Palace.

“Since I’ve been here we’ve tried to establish more of a European base to our scouting.”

Pardew later told the Croydon Guardian ahead of the final league game of the season against Swansea Coppell, alongside his former assistant Alan Smith, would be his guests before revealing: “They're really happy with us having another year in the Premier League and there's a good feeling around the place.

“I do see them socially because they live in the area.

“They're always involved."

Conspiracy theorists will no doubt claim if Coppell returns to SE25 again then a ready-made appointment for Pardew will be in place should he leave.

While Coppell was manager at Bristol City for a brief period of four months in 2010, current Eagles assistant Keith Millen was his number two at Ashton Gate.

But Coppell, who has managed more than a thousand league games, admitted he could not give the boss role the passion and commitment that it demanded and retired from football management completely before stating he still felt he could contribute to the game in the future.

Is there one more contribution to be made at Selhurst Park? Time only will tell.

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