Marc Wilmots has blamed the media for Belgium's premature exit at Euro 2016 and the end of his tenure as national team coach.
Wilmots, who has been succeeded by Roberto Martinez, left the role after the Red Devils' surprise quarterfinal exit at the hands of Wales in the summer, with parts of the media pointing the blame at him.
Although Wilmots ended his four-year spell in charge by agreeing with the Royal Belgian Football Association to vacate his seat two years before his contract expired, he told Die Welt that a lack of media backing led to his early exit.
"I had two options," he said. "The first: To play along with the media. I would have been God. But I am not like that, I am honest to everyone. I opted for option two: To not take part in all the wheeling and dealing. And then you get the whole nine yards."
Wilmots revealed that he was asked by media outlets to supply them with his starting formation ahead of time, claiming his failure to cooperate led to a campaign against him.
He said: "You only have two options as Belgium's head coach. Either you have exclusive information for the folks, and they leave you alone for 10 years, or if you don't have them, they will snub you. Those are the rules. I was on the receiving end, and that wasn't my objective."
Belgium had entered Euro 2016 as one of the favourites due to possessing a squad including such players as Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Radja Nainggolan, Yannick Carrasco, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.
Wilmots, however, believes he never stood a chance in the first place.
"I knew I had to win the Euros to not be torn apart. And even then, they'd have criticised the lack of quality football," Wilmots said. "I knew a year before the Euros that I'd step down after the tournament. Just to give the team a break. You feel that.
"The way media talks, the way the association talks. They all wanted influence, and to get flowers for the success."
Wilmots added that the media did their best to try and create trouble within the Belgium squad.
"There were never any big internal problems, no incidents in the team hotel," Wilmots said. "But the media also impressed the players. They tried everything to spread a bad vibe. They tried to play Hazard off against De Bruyne time and time again. Why? I never experienced it like this. The atmosphere was good."
While Wilmots believes his coaching career has not ended yet, he ruled out working in Belgium in the near future.
"Let's say, at least not in the next five to 10 years," he said.