Cape Town - Robert Snodgrass says he left West Ham because he was forced to play out of position by a manager who didn't know how to get the best out of him.
The 29-year-old Scotland international was signed from Hull City by Hammers boss Slavan Bilic for £10.2 million in January.
He spent the majority of his time at the club in an unfamiliar left-wing role and ultimately felt he had to leave, ahead of completing a loan move to Aston Villa, and the opportunity to work with Steve Bruce.
Speaking to the press while on international duty, he said: "I was coming on against City and he (Bilic) said 'Where do you want to play, on the left or right?"
"I thought 'You have just signed me and I have played on the right or behind the striker at Hull City all season'.
"That was my debut and alarm bells were ringing right away. I found it very strange and I realised from the off that it wasn't going to happen."
He continued: "Every time I played I was on the left. I don't know why he did it.
"I joined as Dimitri Payet left and maybe it was a case of 'you can play there'.
"But I'd only filled in on the left on a couple of occasions. I hate that position but when you are Scottish you are brought up to play anywhere.
"It's fine to play for one or two games but you need to play in your right position, especially on the back of scoring nine goals for Hull.
"At that stage, nobody had scored more goals for Hull or West Ham. The manager was under a lot of pressure and I later said that out of respect I didn't want to go in and see him during that period.
"But when I eventually did speak to him I said I thought he would have known I wasn't a left-midfielder and that he must have watched me after signing me for that type of money.
"His answer was basically that when people are confident they can play anywhere."