Crystal Palace line up controversial former sporting director as Dougie Freedman nears exit
Crystal Palace are expected to lose highly rated sporting director Dougie Freedman, with Iain Moody believed to be in contention to return to his old position more than 10 years after resigning in controversial circumstances.
Losing Freedman – who sources claim will leave Palace and could take a job in Saudi Arabia – will be a blow to Palace and co-owner Steve Parish, whose favoured replacement is understood to be Moody.
Moody held the job of Palace sporting director for 11 months between 2013 and 2014, before resigning after it was alleged that he shared racist, sexist and homophobic texts with Malky Mackay while the pair worked at Cardiff City.
Despite his resignation from Palace, Moody remained close to the club and Parish, and has been managing director at Sapienza Football Consulting for the past 10 years.
Moody can often be seen at Selhurst Park watching games near Parish and has rebuilt his reputation since the controversy that threatened to end his career in football.
In an interview with Palace fanzine Five Year Plan in 2015, Moody said: “Good people sometimes do bad things. I’m not denying it was me, but that’s unrecognisable and it’s not a reflection of what I stand for.”
He added: “I’m the father of two young kids at the moment and it’s become the most important thing in my life that there is a proper framework or behaviour and expectation for them to be good people. So there’s a distortion. People get distorted, then things that people do are interpreted in a distorted way.”
Moody has been approached by Telegraph Sport on his potential return to Palace to succeed Freedman as sporting director. Palace have also been contacted.
Freedman has been sporting director at Palace since 2019 and has built himself an impressive reputation for identifying and signing talents.
He scouted Eberechi Eze, Marc Guéhi and Adam Wharton, and played an important role in the appointment of head coach Oliver Glasner. Palace will play Fulham in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after the international break.
Freedman has had opportunities to leave Palace in the past, most notably when he turned down an offer from Newcastle United to replace Dan Ashworth and instead signed a new contract.
He was also considered for a job at Manchester United following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment, but did not want to walk out on Palace having quit as manager in 2012 to join Bolton Wanderers.
Freedman later said: “I knew I made the wrong decision very quickly into my Bolton career, but it was a decision I made and regrettably it was the wrong decision,” he said in 2017.
“Looking back of course I wouldn’t have gone, I would have stayed here and we would have had promotion [together] and it is probably one of the things that drives me on now. To make up for that disappointing decision I made.”
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