How many posts can I make without saying anything? (3 and counting)

One future Fulham legend about another (well you never know, do you?).

“To be honest – the Manager brings lot of class. He knows this game inside out. He knows what we want and what we need to do. He’s been awesome. He’s the best manager I’ve ever had technically and I just enjoy working with him. He knows the game inside out and the result against Villa is brilliant for him you know.

“You can tell from the way he puts it to you on the pitch. There are loads of things he’s got going for him – his experience is second to none and he’s a first class manger to be honest, both in terms of man management and also the team.”

Times thing, slightly late, slightly predictable…

Sir Jimmy Bullard

Before the West Ham away match the other week we were all quite excited. It was, you see, Jimmy Bullard’s comeback game. When the squad was read out and his name was confirmed among the subs the whole away section went mad. He’d been out for ever, since our last away win in fact, and we’d feared that his career was over.

Jim Bullard Bullard
He’s better than Steve Gerrard
He’s thinner than Frank Lampard
Jim Bullard Bullard

we sang. Bullard did all the warm up things that footballers do, sprinting up and down just there in front of us, waving sometimes, clearly on cloud nine that he was BACK.

He came on late in the game and again everyone cheered, including the West Ham fans, to their immense credit. He didn’t rescue that game – indeed, he took a free-kick late on that sailed into the stands – but it was nice to have him back anyway.

The nagging thought was that he might not recover his old form. If you haven’t seen Jimmy Bullard in action you might be suspicious of all this. Effective journeyman midfielder or something? Not at all. He has an amazing engine, is good on the ball, can pass, shoot, lead, follow, tackle, everything really. The trick is to get the best of a player with such diverse and exuberent talents, and luckily for us Roy Hodgson is a canny man and has worked things out quite quickly.

Aston Villa visited this Sunday and couldn’t contain Bullard. The mop-haired destroyer was given a free role, and used it to pop up all over the place. He could do this because Danny Murphy and Leon Andreasen were helping him in a three-man central midfield unit, a combination that gave Villa absolutely nothing. Andreasen and Murphy were tireless and efficient, and this support network meant that Bullard could come and get the ball off our defenders, or run into gaps to receive longer passes, or whatever else he wanted to do.

Simon Davies and Clint Dempsey were Bullard’s attacking midfield partners and both did a sterling job. Again, Hodgson has worked out how to get the best out of his men. Davies, a lovely player on the right wing, has eventually found some form on the left where we have fewer options. Dempsey, magnificently hard-working up front in recent weeks, is nevertheless a midfielder, and from here his ability to get into the box late and with purpose is very dangerous to opponents. Some of his touches on Sunday were thrilling.

But this one’s about Jimmy Bullard. We had just gone a goal down when he picked the ball up on the right wing. He paused, as if to fully consider things, then dropped a lovely little ball onto the edge of the six yard area. From here Simon Davies, who hadn’t broken stride, got in front of Curtis Davis and crashed the ball past Scott Carson. 1-1.

Then with moments to go, Diomansy Kamara, hero of Senegal’s African Cup of Nations underwhelmement, sped across the Cottage turf like a cross between Nicolas Anelka and a startled squirrel. That man Davis got involved again, cutting Kamara’s run short with a crude lunge. Free-kick, edge of the box. As at West Ham, all of Davies, Murphy and Konchesky expressed an interest, but all were sent sheepishly away. Bullard was taking this one. It went in. We won. Season on!