GEOFF Thomas says he would "pack his bags immediately" if he was offered a job at Crystal Palace.
The captain of the 1990 FA Cup Final side told the Advertiser he had not given up on the idea of getting back into football.
Thomas, 49, was reserve team manager for Dave Bassett at Barnsley before he was diagnosed with Leukaemia in 2003.
He said: "I was seriously interested in staying in football until I was diagnosed with the illness and my priorities completely changed.
"I would love the opportunity to get back into football but it's risky. There are a few people who have said they'd take me with them to Palace and I would jump at that but they haven't ended up getting the job.
"There are a few jobs that I would take no questions asked and if Palace came knocking that would be it, my bags would be packed immediately.
"It seems like all my team mates have had a go so I think I could do it.
"Steve Parish has got my number."
Palace still looking for a new manager some 28 days after Ian Holloway left the club and former England international Thomas, who lives in the midlands, believes the club should not appoint a stop-gap.
He added: "I think if you appoint a stop gap option until the summer now you miss one of the two windows of opportunity where you've got a chance to do something with the side.
"I know Keith Millen personally and he really is a top guy but I think if he was given the job then he would be worried about damaging his reputation. I think that's what a lot of people are worried about.
"I know a guy who if the job came up last year he would have been in the frame but now a year later he's not flavour of the month. Football moves on very quickly."
