Sam Allardyce left on his own terms - and that was something he was desperate to do.
The former Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United and West Ham manager left England under a cloud after just 67 days in charge when he was caught up in a newspaper sting.
It was his dream job and it went up in smoke barely two months after he was put in charge.
Speaking as a guest on Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday show, Allardyce said: "Personally I don't think I should have left. If a little bit more patience would have been shown I could have stuck it out.
"It was a really sad moment for me, having worked so hard to get to the pinnacle of my career and that was the pinnacle of my career."
But less than three months after that debacle, Allardyce was back in the hotseat. With Palace struggling at the bottom of the table, Steve Parish called on Big Sam to save the club from relegation, and he delivered once again.
But no sooner had he done that, than he had handed in his notice, and he left football management with his head held high.
Allardyce added: "I had to be grateful for him [Steve Parish] giving me the job. People would be shying away from me, but he didn't and I paid him back by keeping them up and that experience got me over England.
"The whole team came together and produced some remarkable results.
"You want to leave with a positive attitude, there's not been a huge amount of trophies in my life, but the success of building a football club is what I look at. I've always left a football club in a better position than when I took over.
"It's been a great, great journey."