But Palace manager Dougie Freedman has opted to bring him back to Selhurst Park with an appointment made "not with my heart but with my head".
"I played with him, he knows the club, and he brings a certain passion to it," Freedman told BBC London 94.9.
"The Palace fans know I won't do anything to put the club in any kind of jeopardy at all.
"I would do it for all the right reasons. He is a very good coach. He wants to play in the right way."
One minute he was on a beach in Sydney. The next minute I am trying to persuade him to come to south London
Dougie Freedman on new Palace coach Iony Popovic
After retiring as a player at Palace, Popovic moved back to Australia to join the coaching staff at Sydney.
And he admitted that it had taken some persuasive talking from his old Palace team-mate to lure him back to England.
"One minute he was on a beach in Sydney," said Freedman. "The next minute I am trying to persuade him to come to south London.
"It's not an easy task. But we tried to sell him the direction we are trying to go in and what we can possibly do with the club."
Popovic returns to rejoin a Palace side in 21st in the Championship, now four points clear of danger after a four-game unbeaten run capped by Saturday's 1-0 win over relegation rivals Middlesbrough.
Crystal Palace v Coventry City this Saturday (12 February, 1500 GMT). Full commentary on BBC London Digital Radio, Sky channel 0152, Freesat channel 718 and Virgin Media channel 930.
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport