Former Manchester United boss David Moyes insists he was unfairly treated by the club during his brief tenure with the then-champions of England in 2013.
During an infamous 10-month spell, the Scot was at the helm of the club as the first man to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson who had retired the year previously.
Moyes was recommended by Ferguson and was seen as a long-term replacement, a character of the same ilk as the most successful manager in British football.
"You don't get offered those big jobs - Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United - for no reason," he told newspaper reporters yesterday during his first press conference in charge of Sunderland.
"I've said all along I was unfairly treated there. When you sign a six-year contract and you end up with 10 months ... yeah, I believe I was.
"I didn't win enough football matches but you must say there were mitigating circumstances. And I think you could say there are maybe things which have gone on since then that would actually justify that even more so.
"What my time at Manchester United gave me is an unbelievable idea of what it is at the top. I believe that's where I can work and that's where I should be working, and my level is that."
Moyes followed his spell at Manchester United at La Liga club Real Sociedad, from which he was also sacked before returning to the Premier League last month.
He replaces Sam Allardyce who was named England manager as a successor to Roy Hodgson who resigned in June.
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