Roeder didn't have the coaching qualifications, and the Bolton manager said "no" ... just as he did to Gareth Southgate when Middlesbrough went cap in hand.
Eight months on and Allardyce is a guest speaker at Warwick University this week, where the Newcastle manager is attending a three-day residential course as part of his efforts to gain the Uefa Pro Licence. A "teacher-pupil" situation that must be embarrassing for the Toon boss.
Roeder was given dispensation by Premiership chairmen due to suffering a brain tumour when originally enrolled on the course in 2003, and all is now well between the two Premiership bosses.
But it was thought the Bolton gaffa didn't want Roeder to get the job because he himself was having second thoughts, having turned it down himself once before.