Former midfielder Lee Bowyer has revealed that ex-boss Paul Jewell invited him to join the club’s coaching staff last summer. Bowyer spent a year with the Blues before moving on at the end of 2011/12 after making 24 starts and five sub appearances and scoring twice.
The 36-year-old told the West Ham official site that despite not having had a club this season, he plans to look for a new side for the year ahead "I'm doing my coaching badges at the moment and spending time with my family.
"I might try to nick another year as a player next season. I could have played this year but it wasn't really right. Paul Jewell wanted to keep me on as a coach at Ipswich but I wasn't quite was ready for that.
"I got offered a player-coaching role at Gillingham with Martin Allen but didn't really fancy it either. I don't think you can be a player and a coach because when you walk into the dressing room the players will think 'He's going to be the teacher's pet'. I didn't want to be put in that position.”
Bowyer says that ultimately he’d like to coach at youth level: "With the people that I've worked with and played under it would be criminal not to go into coaching.
"I've worked under five former England managers and learned a hell of a lot in the game. I'm not interested in being a manager, but I'd like to coach youngsters, perhaps U16s or U18s and guide them with my experience."