Roy Hodgson wants Crystal Palace to emulate Fulham by pursuing the same seventh-placed finish that took his former club into Europe.
The Palace manager memorably led Fulham to the 2010 Europa League final, having similarly been appointed to rescue them from a battle against relegation that they had once seemed destined to lose.
His team on Saturday begin their Premier League season at Craven Cottage, where Hodgson is still fondly remembered, and he recognises how similar the circumstances are to those he was working in 10 years ago.
Having successfully secured survival in 2008, Fulham proved themselves the finest outside of a powerful top-six group the following season and Hodgson believes Palace can do likewise this term.
In Wilfried Zaha he even believes he has a similar figure to his then-Fulham captain Danny Murphy, and he said: “There are definite parallels.
“Having done it once it would be foolish to say we can’t do that because I saw Fulham do it and I’d love to see Crystal Palace do it.
“Our aim has to be a modest one, to make certain that of the classic 14 teams that everyone talks about, who are going to be fighting to get as high up the table as they can, I don’t see any reason why we can’t be at the top end of that 14.
“Wilf is our main figure, there’s no doubt about that and hopefully that will continue for many, many years to come. Danny was an experienced figure, and it was easy to identify him as the leader on the field.
“Both groups of players (Fulham then and Palace today) share an important quality. They are good, serious professionals who take their preparations for games very seriously and engender a good atmosphere. The mood among themselves is positive.”
New signings Vicente Guaita, Jordan Ayew and Cheikhou Kouyate are in contention to start for Palace, but Max Meyer is struggling for match fitness and Scott Dann remains absent with a long-term knee injury.
Hodgson’s ambition – he turned 71 on Thursday – comes almost a year after his appointment at Palace was widely described as his “final job”, but having agreed a contract extension until 2020, he said: “Thinking that would be depressing.
“I don’t like to think that I won’t be working. That’s more than enough focus for me, the next two years.
“I don’t need more than that. It will depend very much on how I and the club feel. But the next two years are exciting times for me, that’s the most important thing.”