Sam Allardyce has said he is delighted to be starting life as Everton manager rather than attending the World Cup draw as England boss.
A quirk of fate meant Allardyce faced the media for the first time as Toffees boss little more than an hour before England, and his successor Gareth Southgate, found out their fate in Moscow.
Allardyce could not resist one barb at those who dismissed him after just one match in the wake of a newspaper sting, but was otherwise positive about beginning work as Ronald Koeman's successor at Goodison Park.
"I'm delighted I'm the Everton manager," he said. "What went on in the past is in the Atlantic Ocean now ... water under the bridge.
"Obviously it will always be there in the back of the mind but it wasn't my decision.
"I'm bound to say it's the wrong one, I think it's probably been proven it's the wrong one, but life goes on. I'm just delighted to be here."
One link between Everton and Allardyce's short spell with England is Wayne Rooney.
Allardyce retained Rooney as captain for his only game with England and played him in central midfield, a decision that was swiftly reversed by Southgate.
But Allardyce was in the stands as Rooney hit a memorable hat trick in Everton's 4-0 win at West Ham from a similarly withdrawn role, and confirmed that is where he would be used.
"There's no problem with him playing deep any more, he's put that one to bed," the 63-year-old said.
"You don't need to be a rocket scientist or a manager to know where he's going to be playing.
"It was an outstanding performance and Wayne has set his standard again. It was almost like the old Wayne Rooney, at Manchester United ... he controlled the game."
Allardyce shed some light on his decision to take charge of his seventh Premier League club, having declared his retirement after leaving Crystal Palace and then appeared at one stage to withdraw from Everton contention.
"From my point of view I expected it to be a little bit quicker and it wasn't," he said.
"Everton was always going to be a temptation to come back out of retirement, to take up the challenge.
"I got offered more jobs when I said I'd retired than I've ever been offered in my life. Finally Everton came along and in the end it was done within 48 hours."