I was absolutely gutted when Alan Pardew, the man who played a key role in convincing me to swap the Premiership for Division One, resigned as Reading manager.

He was one of the main reasons that I left Manchester City in the summer and when he told everyone he was leaving and intended to take up the manager's job at West Ham it was very disappointing.

We had all heard rumours as soon as Glenn Roeder was sacked by the Hammers, but I initially thought that's all it would amount to - rumours.

I believed that though Alan was well respected in the game, West Ham would be looking for a more high profile manager to take them back into to the Premiership and so I was a bit relaxed about the whole thing. When I found out he was the man they wanted it turned into a bad day.

In the short time I worked under him I found him to be a very thorough manager. He left nothing to chance. It's the first time I have known a manager do Powerpoint presentations on the opposition prior to a game. Kevin Keegan had a very different style at Manchester City, preferring to concentrate on his own team and talking very little about own opponents.

Under Pardew we were given ten-page documents on the opposition, their strengths and weaknesses and how they play, something my wife called homework.

I liked his style and I was really looking forward to building a good working relationship with him. But it was not to be.

In football you never say never and these things happen.

There comes a time when you have to make decisions that are best for you and your family and Alan felt that. All of us as footballers have at one time or another made the exact same decision and it was not for me to say ‘Why are you going?' - it was not about me.

You have to respect his decision, be professional and get on with it.

I spoke with him before he left and wished him the best. He said that sometimes opportunities come along that are too good to turn down and he saw the West Ham job as a great challenge. He thanked me for coming and said he knew I would do a good job at the club.

One thing is for certain I won't be joining him at Upton Park as is often the case when managers leave for another club. I don't think the chairman will let anyone else sign for the Hammers!

The good thing about the whole situation was that Kevin Dillon, the assistant coach, took over as caretaker manager. He has been at the club for several years and so there was no need to undergo any great changes. This put the players at ease and everyone hoped that he would be the one given the job on a full-time basis.

At the time of writing we are still awaiting that decision but I am not worried who takes over. It's going to be a fresh start for all of us and it's just down to me to convince whoever is in charge that I should be in the starting eleven.

Despite what has happened I still believe I made the right decision in moving here. They are a really good bunch of lads and team spirit is high.

We had a bad result at the weekend against Coventry, but we have an opportunity to put that right tonight in the Carling Cup against neighbours Oxford. In cup games all form goes out the window and although they are in the Third Division it won't be an easy game. We have to be up for the challenge and not be caught feeling sorry for ourselves.

If we can get a win under our belts it will give us confidence for our next league game which is against Sunderland at the weekend, one of the teams that expressed an interest in me over the summer but couldn't do anything about it because of their financial situation and the need to sell players before they could buy.

We are currently seventh in the league and our aim at the start of the season was to make the Premiership. I still believe that is an achievable aim.

It's still early but the optimism is there. Alan Pardew has left but the goal is still the same. We want to get promoted and sooner rather than later.