STEVE Coppell has had a long and varied football career, from his days as a winger for Manchester United and England to his managerial career which has included four spells in charge of Crystal Palace.

Yet despite being involved in football for so long, no-one seems to know a great deal about the man himself.

Coppell has always come across as a thoughtful, intelligent character - he is one of the few footballers with a degree - yet his deadpan expression and monotone voice mean he never seems to give much away.

This is where Stuart Roach comes in, as he charts Coppell’s career and interviews former team-mates, players he managed and club executives.

The opening chapters flip between the start of Coppell’s careers as a player and manager, from joining Manchester United and becoming an England regular to his early days in management at Selhurst Park after his playing career was ended prematurely by a knee injury picked up on international duty.

The book includes chapters on Coppell’s losing battle with his injury and the realisation his playing days are coming to an end, as well as how he managed to transform a raw Palace team into a side which finished third in the top flight in 1990/91.

Roach makes the observation Coppell’s Palace teams were similar to the Reading side he took to the Premiership.

Both teams were a committed bunch of players who worked together as a unit and include players brought in from youth teams, non-league football (Ian Wright) or Ireland (Kevin Doyle) who had a huge impact on the team’s fortunes.

There are moments in the book which raise a smile, such as Coppell’s celebrations with the FA Cup after Manchester United’s victory in 1977 and his job interview with Brighton chairman Dick Knight, which did not go according to the chairman’s plan.

But the book does have its weaknesses.

It tries to get closer to finding out what makes Coppell tick, but it would have benefitted from more quotes from the man himself as well as from his team-mates and players.

There are chunks of the book which pull quotes from previous publications and despite going into Coppell’s ill-fated stint as Manchester City manager, we are no closer as to knowing exactly why Coppell walked away after only a month in charge.

There are also a couple of spelling mistakes with players’ names, which is a shame.

Overall, the book does give you a good insight into Coppell’s career, but you get the feeling until the man himself writes his own story in full, we will never truly find out what makes him tick.