Tony Pulis says he put his "reputation on the line" by taking the manager's job at Crystal Palace last season.
Palace languished in the relegation zone with just four points from 10 games when Pulis was appointed, but the former Stoke boss turned the club's fortunes around, leading the Eagles to an 11th-place finish.
The revival earned Pulis the Premier League's Manager of the Season award in May, but he left the club just 48 hours before the current campaign after failing to resolve disagreements with co-chairman Steve Parish.
"Obviously you put your own reputation on the line because everybody knows I've never been relegated and they were in a dreadful position at the time - but it was a challenge and I do like challenges," Pulis told BBC's Football Focus.
"Steve Parish was very persistent - I think he spoke to me on three occasions.
"I spoke to a lot of people and a lot of people said it wouldn't be a club to go to for all sorts of reasons.
"But I spoke to Sir Alex (Ferguson) and I spoke to (Stoke chairman) Peter Coates and they were really the two - they thought it could be done, it wasn't an impossible job, they mentioned the crowd and the supporters being 110 per cent behind the club and the team.
"Steve came down to Bournemouth and we sat down in the house and that was the first time I thought, 'I'm going to do this, I'm going to take the challenge'".
Pulis has been linked with managerial posts at QPR and Newcastle this season, with both clubs currently sitting in the bottom three.
Source: PA
