It was not an offer that John McGovern, twice European Cup-winning captain of Nottingham Forest, had ever received from one of the club's managers.
So he asked Steve Cooper, 'Are you really sure?' when invited to call by whenever it suited him, to watch the players training. Yes. Cooper was sure. 'We'd like you to be involved,' he told McGovern.
And so it has come to pass that at 11am on many a weekday this season, one of the legends of Brian Clough's great Forest side has been there on the touchline, watching Cooper run the training sessions which, against considerable odds, have now kept the club in the Premier League.