Rotherham boss Neil Warnock says he had to be a "nutter" to take the job on.
The 67-year-old stepped into the Millers dugout in February with the club staring at a drop into League One.
He was given a 16-game brief of keeping them out of danger and that looked unlikely after his first three games brought only one point and no goals.
But the next 11 sparked the biggest turnaround in the club's history, going on an unbeaten run that turned a six-point deficit from safety into a 10-point cushion.
The finishing touches on the great escape were made in the 0-0 draw with Wolves on Saturday, meaning the Millers will spend a third successive year in the second tier.
The magnitude of Warnock's achievement in turning the Millers' season around cannot be under-estimated.
He took over when they were at their lowest ebb of the season, having lost back-to-back games against Charlton and Bolton, and he was greeted by the most daunting of fixture lists, which included a horror run of games against promotion chasers.
Even though the veteran has gone on to make light work of climbing that mountain, he admits friends told him he shouldn't have taken the challenge on.
"It's a remarkable achievement," he said. "We were six points away from safety after I'd been here a week. No one gave us a sniff.
"A few friends told me I was mad and to go and get a part in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'.
"I'm the man who once turned down Chelsea to stay at Notts County. I am a nutter, aren't I?"
Warnock reckons that the Millers' survival is such a good achievement that they should have a reunion in 20 years.
But having been drawing a pension for the last two years he concedes that he might not be around for it.
"We have equalled a run from 1966 today, 11 games unbeaten," he added. "I said to the lads: 'I want to be remembered for that. We might have a reunion in 20 years, and I want you to speak on my behalf because I might have left this universe by then."
