Thinking back, Dave, I suspect you're dead right. There was clearly contact with Coppell because he kept appearing in the directors' box - even after Pardew was appointed. My hunch is that he was offered the job and his answer wasn't "No" but "Not right now", so AP was Cortese's second choice because he couldn't wait.
My worry, and I've posted this before, is that Cortese is caught in a void. He isn't quite angry enough to fire Pardew and he knows most of the fans seem to like him, but he isn't impressed enough with Pardew to let him loose with much more transfer cash in the Summer.
That raises the spectre of a disappointing start to the season because we haven't done much to improve the squad in key areas, and a disappointing start to the season would result in Pardew being fired and another "catch the leaders" exercise.
Watching from afar, I'd be surprised if Cortese stays in that void. He's impatient and impulsive, and any bad result at or after Wembley could see the axe fall.