Tony Cottee believes the departure of Mo Diame was  inevitable and good for both the player and the Irons.

Cottee – writing in his London 24 column – declared that when the midfielder  arrived at the Boleyn he looked a big, strong, swashbuckling midfielder.

He added: “But it was clear that last season his head was turned by thoughts of going somewhere else and his performances were affected because of it.

“Sam brought in Cheikhou Kouyate earlier in the summer who is a similar style of player and as soon as he settled in, it became clear that Diame was not going to be part of the plan.”

He said: “That task has been made even more difficult by Saturday’s poor performance against Southampton.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting that to happen and the way it happened was unexpected for a Sam Allardyce team.”