Sunday, May 24 will not be remembered as the day West Ham United lost to a Newcastle United side who had not won since February. Nor will it be remembered for the Hammers slumping to a 12th-place finish in the Premier League despite being in the top four at Christmas.

No, it will be remembered for Sam Allardyce leaving the managerial post at Upton Park, thus allowing the club look to appoint a new manager to take them into the Olympic Stadium in 2016.

I have written about Sam Allardyce at length over the last year and certainly questions about his future have been prominent over the last few months.

I have been honest about my feelings towards Allardyce and I welcome his departure.

Whatever your stance on Allardyce the damning statistic remains: West Ham have won just three league games from their last 21.

Sections of the media and certain pundits have been vocal in condemning Hammers fans who wanted Allardyce out. The club are spoken about in a condescending manner and the fans are labelled as being ‘unrealistic’.

The question is often asked of me is “What do West Ham fans want?”

From a personal point of view, I want a manager who doesn't appear to have contempt for the club he is managing and one who shows the history of the club a little bit more respect.

This “West Ham Way” may not be practical but it is an ethos the club has attempted to adhere to over the years and clubs like Swansea City and Southampton have proven you can be successful whilst playing a good brand of football as a smaller side.

I am told that the “West Ham Way” has never helped West Ham be successful but then I look at a period of the club’s proud history and have to disagree.

From 1964 to 1981 West Ham won three FA Cups, a Charity Shield and a European Cup Winners’ Cup, as well as reaching the League Cup final and finishing runners-up in another Cup Winners’ Cup final. Not to mention the Second Division title won in the same period.

For a club West Ham's size, I don't think that was a bad haul. So to dismiss or disrespect the history of the club did not wash with me.

The phrase “Be careful what you wish for” is aimed at me frequently.

I’m unsure what some are thinking that I am wishing for – relegation? I don’t think finishing above Stoke City, Crystal Palace, Swansea City and even Southampton is beyond West Ham. If that is being unrealistic then I clearly am suffering delusions.

I don’t feel the need to thank Allardyce for the job he has done. I am pleased that the club are in a much better position to when he took over and for that I will give him credit and whilst I don’t want to appear churlish, I still don’t see the job he had as the most difficult in football.

It is difficult to recall any other Championship side who could go out and spend £5 million on a player and keep him on his reported £50,000 a week wage. Similarly I cannot remember a West Ham manager who has seen more money spent on a squad in the history of the club.

So yes, his remit was to gain promotion and keep the club in the Premier League. That he has done. Could another manager have achieved this or was this simply a miracle only able to be conjured up by Allardyce? I’m not so sure.

What Allardyce has done is divide the supporters. No manager in the 20 years I have been going to West Ham has divided opinion as much as he.

I’m frequently asked who I want to replace him.

I am simply eager to see a manager with some respect for the supporters and who has a winning mentality because teams who win a lot of games and do well in the Premier League are the best teams. Teams who play rubbish football often do badly. This point seems to have been lost over the last four years.

And my not thanking Sam does not mean much, just as him not even acknowledging the fans in his final post match interview doesn‘t. It is just the mark of a man who never tried to build a relationship with the West Ham supporters.

The quest to find a new manager begins and it is arguably the most important appointment the club have had to make in the club’s history.

This is a massive summer for West Ham and there will be plenty of transfer activity to go with the new managerial appointment.

I look forward with optimism and hope and refuse to be dragged down by sections of the media, other football supporters and some West Ham fans who believe Allardyce was as good as this club is going to get.