Jarrod Bowen has given a damning assessment of West Ham's relegation campaign and accused the club of not learning the lessons of last season.
The Hammers face life in the Championship next term despite a belated show of fight in their final-day 3-0 win over Leeds.
They also needed a favour from Everton and former boss David Moyes, but Spurs' 1-0 win kept them up and shoved West Ham through the trapdoor.
"It's not been enough and we're all absolutely gutted for the fans and everyone involved with the club," the Hammers captain said.
"We were always relying on someone else, and we could've put ourselves in a better position over the last few weeks.
"We knew we had to win to hold on to that little bit of hope, but it's not worked out.
"We've been in the bottom three for most of the season, so we know we haven't hit the levels we've set over the last few years."
West Ham had a similarly tough campaign last year, but the combined struggles of the three promoted clubs meant they were never in any real trouble.
The warning signs were ignored last summer, however, and a panicky £50 million splurge in the January sales for strikers Taty Castellanos, who scored seven goals, and Pablo Felipe, who scored none, could not save them.
"We just got away with it last year, and we wanted to start fresh and go again this season, but now we're sat here in this position, having been relegated," Bowen told the club website.
"It's just so disappointing, because I've been here and seen the success we've had.
"I know everyone associated with the club is gutted, and we just have to say sorry to the fans for what we've given them. There's no shining light, and there's no positive."
Bowen, who scored West Ham's second goal against Leeds either side of strikes from Castellanos and Callum Wilson, is one of their most marketable assets and likely to be sold with the club facing a huge financial hit.
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But the 29-year-old winger, whose father-in-law is hardman actor and Hammers fan Danny Dyer, is at least saying all the right things about staying.
"I've been at the club for six-and-a-half years, and there are a lot of West Ham fans in my family," he said.
"I understand how much this club means to everyone in the community, and it hurts knowing we haven't done enough for them.
"It's going to hurt for a while, but as players we have to take our medicine, go away and then prepare to get this club straight back up to the Premier League, where it deserves to be.
"That has to be the vision, and that's the message that we all have to get behind. The only thing we can look to do is make sure we bounce straight back up, so that this time next year we're a Premier League side once again."