When West Ham were relegated back in 1978, Trevor Brooking was still at the peak of his powers and an established England international.

He could have left Upton Park then and there, he had tempting offers and he had done his time at the club.

In the end, though, Brooking stayed. He reasoned that he had been a member of the team which had gone down so had an obligation to try and help the club back to the top flight.

The result? Two years later Brooking scored the only goal which gave West Ham an FA Cup Final victory over Arsenal and the following season manager John Lyall's team went back up to the top division.

Not long after Gianfranco Zola finally left Chelsea to return to his native Sardinia and Cagliari, the new owner at Stamford Bridge, Roman Abramovich, tried to tempt him back to Stamford Bridge with a lucrative offer.

Zola, though, resisted the temptation. He was, after all, a man of his word.

When Craig Bellamy, who has played less than 30 matches for West Ham in 18 months because of injuries, heard that cash-rich Manchester City wanted him in the January transfer window, did he thank them for their interest?

Did he then politely point out that West Ham have supported him through his troubled times and so he feels a responsibility to stay in east London and repay them now he is fit, at least until the end of the season?

Not a chance, I'm afraid.

Instead, he couldn't wait to get to City quick enough and take the money.

Now people will say the game has changed, that there is no loyalty these days, that players are right to earn as much money as they can.

I say there's no problem with earning the big bucks if they're on offer but principles should still apply now, as they did when Brooking and Zola, two men of honour, were plying their trade.

Zola, typically, spurned the chance to bad-mouth Bellamy after his West Ham side, minus the Welsh international striker who cleared his locker last Friday, comfortably beat Fulham 3-1 to move up to eighth place in the Premier League table. The West Ham manager has maintained his dignity all through this protracted affair but will move quickly this week to sign a young replacement from Italy. It's been a steep learning curve for Zola since he took over in September. Hardly a week has gone by without West Ham being the unwelcome focus of attention, be it the latest episode of the Carlos Tevez saga, the financial problems of club owner and chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson or now, the furore surrounding Bellamy.

Zola, though, is proving himself as quick a learner off the pitch as he was a special talent on it.

He remains a generously-spirited soul who, unlike Bellamy, has no enemies.

"This was a great result under very difficult conditions for us," he said.

"I am very proud of my players because they made it happen. It was easier for us to fail because it was a strange atmosphere but we turned it into a great game for us and it was all down to the players.

"During the week there has been so much talking around us. It's been like it all year but the first time I think about the game against Fulham was the day before.

"I didn't put Craig into the squad because he wasn't in the right frame of mind.

"My respect for him, the way he played for me, his attitude, has been great.

"He's always played one hundred per cent for me and I am grateful for that.

"The player has expressed his wishes and I respect those.

"He wants to have another experience, he wants to go to another club where he thinks he will get something better."

Without the 29-year-old striker, however, West Ham demonstrated they could still win.

It took just seven minutes or David Di Michele, the Welshman's replacement in the side, to score following a mistake by John Pantsil only for another former Hammer, Paul Konchesky, to bullet home a memorable equaliser from long range in the 22nd minute.

Mark Noble restored West Ham's advantage from the penalty spot after Konchesky had brought down man-of-the-match Carlton Cole 12 minutes into the second-half.

And Cole, himself, scored a third in the 76th minute, rounding off a delightful move involving Jack Collison and Di Michele.

Fulham's match last weekend had been postponed and manager Roy Hodgson said: "I don't think the long break helped us. We took a long while to get going.

"Before today we had conceded 14 goals in nine matches but against West Ham we made our quota of blatant mistakes."