Barker will be gutted if Coppell joins Palace (From The Argus)

Barker will be gutted if Coppell joins Palace

9:02am Wednesday 24th October 2012 in Sport By Steve Hollis

Crawley boss Richie Barker admits he would be gutted if Steve Coppell left for Crystal Palace.

The Reds director of football has been strongly linked with a fifth spell in charge at Selhurst Park following the departure of Dougie Freedman to Bolton Wanderers.

Coppell was at the Broadfield Stadium last night to watch Crawley stay fourth in League One following a 2-0 victory over MK Dons thanks to goals from Billy Clarke.

Barker said: “I didn't even know until 4pm yesterday that Steve was favourite for the Palace job and to be honest it is none of my business.

“If he decides to do it then good luck to him but I hope he doesn't from a selfish point of view as he has played a massive part in where this football club is.

“We get on extremely well and I feel privileged to work with somebody like him. I have learned loads from Steve and I hope he stays.”

Barker was delighted with a fifth league win in six games which stretched Crawley cushion in the play-off zone to six points.

Reds rode their luck a little as MK Dons hit the woodwork twice just before the interval but Barker felt they deserved the points.

He added: “People will probably go home and say we lost the plot for 15 minutes and we did but five out of six isn't bad.

“They missed some chances but so did we. It could have been 5-5 but I felt we were the better team for 65-70 minutes.”