Sam Allardyce brands West Ham 'extremely ungrateful' after controversial exit

Former Hammers boss targets a parting shot at former employers

(Getty)

Former West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has branded the club's hierarchy as 'extremely ungrateful' for the way he was treated towards the end of his tempestuous four-year spell as boss.

The 60-year-old was informed he would not be offered a new deal within minutes of a final day defeat to Newcastle United in May following months of speculation about his future despite relative success at Upton Park.

Allardyce claims co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan altered club expectations throughout his tenure before expressing doubt over the Hammers' chances of qualifying for European football under Slavan Bilic this year.

He told beIN Sports: "The 'West Ham way' is obviously not winning every week, like I tried to do. I did everything they asked for and they wanted more, and I found that extremely ungrateful in terms of what I'd done for them."

Sam Allardyce saved West Ham from the Championship in his first season (Getty)

The former Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers manager guided West Ham to the Europa League, through the Fair Play table, but was unable to provide the attacking brand of football craved by East End locals.

"They thought we could get into Europe and thought they might be able to get to a cup final, and that wasn't in the format of the job description when I started. I don't take kindly to people who don't appreciate what you do for them.

"We both decided to part company in quite an amicable way in the end, but I certainly wasn't going to stay, in my mind, for a long, long time.

"If David Sullivan and David Gold have told Slavan Bilic that they expect to get into Europe this year then I think it's way beyond the capabilities of the squad at this moment in time.

West Ham started Premier League live under Slavan Bilic with victory over Arsenal (GETTY IMAGES)

"I told them that. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why they didn't renew my contract in the end. West Ham was a case of building a broken football club back up again. [Getting them promoted] was the biggest job I had done in one season.

"Ultimately, my biggest problem was finishing tenth in the first year [back in the Premier League] — I would have been much better off finishing fourth from bottom."