West Ham United assistant boss Steve Clarke has dismissed claims his departure from Chelsea led to the downfall of Luiz Felipe Scolari.

"I was a little bit surprised Scolari wasn't a success," admitted Clarke. "The team started the season great and had some tremendous performances and results.

"Don't forget the run of matches they won away from home and the quality of some of the football they played, but I don't know what went wrong. I wasn't there.

"It wasn't me leaving. Nobody was saying anything about me when I was there at the start of the season and the team was playing fantastic. Just after I left the team was playing fantastic - it is just a coincidence."