Sam Allardyce insists there is "no point being bitter" as he comes to terms with his departure from Newcastle. Less than 24 hours after leaving the club by mutual consent - although he admitted it had come as a shock - the 53-year-old vowed to return to football.

Asked outside his home this morning if he was bitter, Allardyce said: "No, I don't think so. Once people make a decision, there is nothing you can do about it. There is no point being bitter and twisted about it because that will only affect you, it does not affect the people you have left.

"For me, it's disappointing and you have to move on with your life."

Asked if he knew what had changed since chairman Chris Mort recently expressed his support for him, the manager replied: "I don't know, to be honest with you. You can only ask Chris that and he can only answer that question, not me."

In the short-term, Allardyce will head off on a break - exactly what he was doing when the call came from Newcastle last summer - and return ready to prove himself all over again.

He said: "For me, it is the future now. I will take a break with my wife and go away, have a little bit of a re-charge of the batteries, come back and then move on with my football career.

"Me and my wife will get away in the sunshine, have a little bit of a break and then come back and re-focus and obviously stay in football. When that will come? Who knows? We will just have to wait and see."

Allardyce revealed he had been inundated with calls and texts from friends offering their support since last night's announcement. One text came from Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp, an early favourite in the race to replace him, but the former Bolton manager was not being drawn on his potential successors.

He said: "I am not speculating on who is going to be taking over my position at Newcastle. Now a decision has been made and I have got to move on with my life."

Redknapp has insisted he is "happy down on the south coast".

Geordie legend Alan Shearer was the early favourite after Allardyce's shock departure but, when the BBC reported that Shearer wanted to continue in his Match of the Day pundit role, Redknapp emerged as the new front-runner.

Responding to the speculation, he said: "I really do not know anything about this. I have not spoken to anyone from Newcastle. When I saw Sam had left my immediate thoughts were that Alan Shearer was a certainty to take over.

"There's nothing in my being linked with the job. I had an offer not so long ago to take over at what I consider a massive club but I didn't go. I am happy down on the south coast."