Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish missed out on his first choice of manager to replace Sam Allardyce partly by going on holiday to Majorca.
Marco Silva, who made such an impression in charge of relegated Hull City in the second half of last season, was top of Palace's wanted list - but was also being chased by other Premier League clubs.
Silva was in deep negotiations with Watford when he received a phone call from Parish asking him not to speak to anyone else until he returned from his Spanish holiday.
Silva is known to have been unimpressed with Parish's approach, reasoning that if the Palace chief really wanted him he could easily have returned from Majorca to make his case.