“We had arguments maybe once every four or five months and that just happened to be a very small one when we’d won.

Neill and Curbishley were said to have had a furious row in the dressing room after the Hammers game with Blackburn Rovers - and the manager left the club with a couple of days.

But while Neill admits to the confrontation, he insists the argument had nothing to do with the departure of the boss who originally hired him from Rovers.

“It was something and nothing, and we apologised to each other five minutes after we spoke," Neill told London's Newham Recorder newspaper

“People are trying to create an angle and make something up when there was very little in it.”

He added: “We are aware of the frustrating and difficult circumstances that Alan Curbishley had.

“We don’t need to talk about why he went or the reasons – we can just be grateful for what he did for us.

“I think I talk about all of us from West Ham, including the fans, in wishing him well because he helped keep us up, had a difficult time last year with the squad and got us off to a good start this year.”

Now Neil is looking forward to working with former Chelsea hero Gianfranco Zola who's taken over the hotseat at the club.

“Mr Zola has already expressed his desire to play out from the back and play a more creative brand of football, a bit more patience and passing which we all want to play anyway,”said Neill.

“It’s just a case of getting us confident enough to do it. It's going to be interesting. There’s a lot of work to be done on the training ground.”

He added: “He was very welcoming and very excited, as were the players.

“He is someone we have all looked up to as a player an admired his ability on the pitch.

“He’s come in and said he would like to teach us a few things that have stood him in good stead in his career and he can’t wait to work with us because he likes the squad that he’s inherited.

“He is eager to get started, and we can’t wait to learn the game plans and other things he wants to teach us.”