Curbishley, who has been out of football for 14 months, recently won his case against the Hammers for construcive dismissal.
Curbishley has been linked with the job as Hull manager.
He said: “It’s been a difficult time for me.
“It was something that I decided I had to do. When I left Charlton it was planned and so my break was enjoyable. This wasn’t.
“When I left West Ham they were fifth and it wasn’t as if I was expecting it.
“I’d just come off the pitch and we’d beaten Blackburn. And I had Craig Bellamy and Dean Ashton fit.
“During my time out I haven’t been to many games, only a couple of Premier League ones.
“I had a three-week court case and preparing for that sort of thing is not easy. It’s very time-consuming. But you don’t need to be at matches to know what’s going on.
“The Premier League is there for everybody to see.”
He added, while speaking at a Football Foundation event: “For my last 10 years, I have been in the Premier League.
“I want to be at a top 10 club – the Premier League is where it’s at.
“I think I took things for granted though, and I’ve had to re-evaluate the way I work. There are one or two things I’ll attack differently if or when I come back.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but there are things I’d have done differently.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that everything is short term now. When I got relegated with Charlton I got a three-year contract. That was before the new season started.
“So I’ve got to take that into account. But when I come back depends on luck. It’s been a long 14 months.
“There were three of us involved in the England process. Steve McClaren got it and Sam Allardyce went to Newcastle.
“But they both got sacked and it took them a year to get back. So it can be difficult.
“Brian Clough wrote that if a manager thinks of resigning he should go to bed and sleep on it. Then when he wakes up in the morning and still wants to resign – he should go back to bed.”
