Steve Bruce knows he is lucky to still be in a job after failing to keep Hull City in the Premier League.
Hull dropped back into the Championship after two years in the top flight, winning only eight league games last season.
Bruce would not have been surprised if he had paid the price for a dismal campaign and the Hull manager is determined to repay the shown in him by owner Assem Allam.
"I am fortunate because I am sure most managers would have paid the penalty after relegation. That is how football is nowadays," he told the Daily Mail.
"I had a chat with the owner Assem Allam and of course I wanted to know if he still wanted me to carry on. But there was another question too — whether I had the enthusiasm to fight in the Championship again against all the big clubs there.
"In the end, I thought to myself, why not if the owner still wants me to carry on, which he does. He is a very good man. I enjoy working for him so I am going to try and take him back to the Premier League.
"We've won promotion together before and reached an FA Cup final but this will be like starting all over again."
Hull start life back in the Championship with a home game against Bruce's former club Huddersfield Town on August 8.
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