Sam Allardyce recalled his time in charge of Limerick City as he underlined his desire to succeed in his new role as West Brom head coach.
The 66-year old was formally presented to the media on Thursday afternoon, 24-hours after he was appointed Slaven Bilic's successor at the Hawthorns.
The move takes Allardyce full-circle, as it was at West Brom under Brian Talbot that he cut his coaching teeth.
After both were sacked following a shock FA Cup exit, Allardyce decamped to Bury before taking the helm at League of Ireland First Division side Limerick City.
He cited his spell on Shannonside when recalling his early days in management, "I have to say I got sacked rightly so, because we lost here in the FA Cup to Woking.
"Of course that was the end of me and Brian and it was a devastating blow to me because it was my first job. So I didn’t know when or if I’d get back into football ever again.
“It took me on the journey of all journeys. I had to go to Limerick to find a job, and work my way through the leagues to get to where I am now. And here I am again!”
Allardyce took West Brom training for the first time on Thursday morning, as he looks to guide the side out of the Premier League's bottom three.
The ex-Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United, England and Everton manager has been out of the game for two-and-a-half years.
He revealed he'd turned down more offers from outside of England, before agreeing to the West Brom gig.
"Right time for me, personally," Allardyce said, "China and Greece or Turkey wasn't an option for me.
"If that was in my 50s, that would have been great experience going abroad as a manager but now - into my sixties - I didn't want to really go and do that.
"I didn't really need to do it if I didn't want to, which was another avenue I could look at and say 'well I can wait, I can take my time'.
"It may be that some day that nobody bothers coming for me anymore, and I have to take that chance.
"But luckily enough for me, and like I said, it turned up at the right time - West Brom.
"For me it felt right, and I wanted to do it. And that was after talking to Luke [Dowling, chief executive] and Ken [Xu Ke, chairman].
"I understand the difficult position the club's in. I will try and help as best as I possibly can to try and get us out of that position."
His task of hauling the Baggies out of the mire comes on Sunday with the visit of West Midlands rivals Aston Villa.
But it was another West Midlands side that Dudley boy Allardyce frequented as a child, "I used to go to Wolves when I was younger, but I used to come here too.
"My school mate’s brother used to play for West Brom in the 60s.
"You used to get free tickets for home games back then. I used to come along and watch Jeff Astle. I did fluctuate between Wolves and West Brom."
Leeds quality, Kalvin Phillips and why Mourinho-ball failed
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
