"Although it is not quite my anniversary yet but I would like to thank everyone at West Ham for making me feel so welcome and the fans who have been great to me," he says.
"Hopefully I can repay them with promotion, which unfortunately we didn't manage on the last day last year."
Alan feels progress is being made and adds:
"I am really happy with the environment we have got at the training ground; the staff around me are excellent and the work ethic is strong.
"There is a good professionalism here; we have had to sell a lot of quality players due to the financial pressures of being relegated but we still have a team that can compete and a squad that I feel is going to have a good chance this year.
"Not all the teams have managed to do that - and we have to remember that we have addressed the financial side of it and still have a good team.
"It is time now that our fans took that on board and really got behind us to help us - because when they do we become even stronger.
"We have obviously had some difficult days and we have had some good days in the last year.
"But I know about my players now, what they can do and what they can't do."