Are you Crystal Palace in disguise? That could be the chant from Albion fans when Brentford visit Withdean Stadium next season.

The sun has hardly shined yet but it already appears to be a summer of upheaval for the Griffin Park club.

Ray Lewington, who had taken charge last November when Ron Noades decided to concen-trate solely on being chairman, has left to join Gianluca Vialli's revolution at Watford.

And Steve Coppell was almost immediately installed as Lewington's successor.

Coppell, of course, was manager of Crystal Palace when Noades was chairman there and the mutual respect is obvious.

The former Manchester United and England winger managed Palace on several occasions, taking charge initially in 1984 when his career was cut short by injury and leading them to the 1990 FA Cup final.

Coppell stood down as Palace chief three years later but returned as football director in 1995. The following year he left for Manchester City but was in charge for just 33 days there.

In 1997 he took charge again, only to drop back into a backroom role after Attilio Lombardo was installed as player-coach, but he returned again after a brief spell with Terry Venables at the helm.

Brentford enjoyed a mixed season last year, not helped by having to sell key players such as leading scorer Andy Scott to Oxford United.

Injuries also played a part and they eventually finished in 14th spot, eight points clear of the relegation places.

A highlight of the campaign was reaching the LDV Vans Trophy final, beating Albion on penalties along the way, before losing 2-1 to Port Vale at the Millennium Stadium.

When Lewington left, Noades immediately turned to Coppell.

He said at the time of the appointment: "I think we are extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity of acquiring Steve's services.

"It shows the club's commitment to go forward with our long-term plans for a new stadium development and establishment of Brentford as a viable business and a serious contender in the Football League."

While Brentford fans have welcomed the appointment of Coppell, many do not expect an immediate upturn in fortunes.

Money is still a problem and there is a feeling among supporters that one or two of the club's prized assets will be sold off in the summer.

The three to attract most attention will be sweeper Gavin Mahon, captain Paul Evans and midfielder Martin Rowlands.

The latter has been linked with a switch to Burnley with a figure of £500,000 reported in one newspaper.

A largely young squad includes former Crawley Town and Saltdean United player Jay Lovett, who has made 24 appearances for the Bees this season since moving to Griffin Park last summer.

The main striking threat is Lloyd Owusu, who scored 12 goals last season despite injury problems early in the campaign.

One player not expected to figure is former Albion loan man Lorenzo Pinamonte whose move to Brentford has been far from a success.

Pinamonte spent the last three months of the season on loan at Leyton Orient and he may find himself a casualty of the new regime as Noades and Coppell look to free up funds for new faces.