Sam Allardyce lifts the lid on what has impressed him most about West Ham since he left

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Former West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce has revealed what has impressed him about the club since he departed.

Big Sam has managed Sunderland, England and Crystal Palace since he left East London back in 2015.

The experienced manager divided opinion among Hammers fans but even the harshest Allardyce critic could not deny he did a good job to rebuild the club and re-establish West Ham as a Premier League force.

His reputation was somewhat tarnished by a poor final season at the club where they drifted from fourth in the league at Christmas to the bottom half by the end of the season.

Slaven Bilic led the Hammers to their best ever Premier League points total and first positive goal difference in the top flight since 1986 in his first season in charge after taking over from Allardyce.

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic with his predecessor Sam Allardyce

Last season was a lot more difficult but Bilic is actually regarded by many to have done a decent job in tough conditions with injuries, poor recruitment, the Dimitri Payet saga, constant speculation over his future and the fallout from the move to their new 60,000 seater home having a impact.

Ahead of the new season Allardyce has been discussing his old club on talkSPORT and revealed what has impressed him most about them since he left.

“Not quite a big enough squad (to sustain fourth place in his last season) which they’ve addressed now with Slav,” Allardyce told Jim White on talkSPORT.

“They’ve built slowly, which is very good you know, new players have come in and hopefully they will do better and they will move on.”

The more organic approach to growth has been something of a frustration for a section of Hammers fans.

Many feel the club have not come good on promises made about competing for top quality players in the transfer market since moving to the Olympic Stadium.

England’s Joe Hart is the latest to sign for West Ham

And those same supporters have watched as the likes of Everton splurge on top talent as they make a serious bid to challenge the Premier League elite.

But perhaps with doubts cast over whether the mega money associated with TV deals will last beyond the next couple of years, West Ham are going about things in the right way and a manner which is sustainable.

Only time will tell.