Alan Curbishley explains vanishing from football, stance on potential return and reveals West Ham regrets

Curbishley worked wonders at Charlton, guiding them to the Premier League in 2000 after they won the Football League First Division.

He then proceeded to join West Ham in 2006 and managed to keep the Hammers in the top flight after they'd looked certain to go down.

Curbishley left West Ham in 2008, however, after feeling aggrieved after the sales of Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney.

He felt his position at the club was untenable - and has vanished from the public eye ever since.

Now, speaking exclusively to GB News via Free Bets UK, Curbishley has explained why he never returned to the dugout.

"Well the thing was obviously when I left West Ham it took a year to sort out my situation with the club," he said.

"And I was grateful when David Sullivan took over because he sorted it out quite quickly.

"But during that time I wasn't really getting offered the jobs that I thought were good enough, you know for me.

"No disrespect, but I didn't want to go back into the Championship.

"I got offered a couple of clubs with 10, 11 games left who were in the relegation scrap or in the bottom three and I didn't really want to go to a club and then suddenly end up in the Championship after 10 games.

"Then suddenly I was out for two years and Sir Alex Ferguson kept saying to me 'you know you've got to get back in, you've got to get back in' and then suddenly you're out you know.

"I do look at it and I see people like Sam [Allardyce] jumping back in and David Moyes and Stevie Bruce jumping back in, moving to different parts of the country just to get back in and perhaps that was my problem.

"I was a bit picky, a bit choosy and should have jumped back in at one of the offers and see where that led but then suddenly I found myself in a different situation.

"I never really saw my family grow up, my kids when I was managing. And I suddenly started seeing more of them and the grandkids. And then you're out.

"I wake up in the morning, think about me, and not 50 other people like I used to."

There is no bad blood with West Ham, however.

And the former Hammers boss has expressed his regret over his departure, pondering whether he should stuck with the job for a little bit longer.

"If I had my time again, I'd perhaps shouldn't have left the way I did," he revealed.

"Some people would have said to me tough it out etc and perhaps they're probably right, who knows what would have happened?

"I actually felt that coming from Charlton when I was complete control of everything, then wasn't at West Ham, that was probably a problem.

"Perhaps I was a little bit too hasty. I didn't take the decision lightly, there were things going on that weren't right and I had to make a stand."

Curbishley has made peace with the fact his management career is now seemingly over. However, he's ready to step in as a mentor if needed.

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"Well, I think so," he said when quizzed on whether he was done with being a manager.

"I have had a couple of stints as an advisor, at Fulham, and I still feel that is a workable thing.

"I do think that young managers especially need a shoulder to learn on.

"Someone who isn't a threat to him, someone who's been through it and understands it."

Curbishley revealed going abroad wasn't an option for him either, due to his desire to stay at home with his family.

When asked if that was an option, he stated: "Not really, sniffs I think, but I'd have found it difficult.

"Because when I was managing I had a young family and I don't think it was for me.

"Other people now have perhaps grown into their careers a little bit different."