Bullard leaves for Hull

All players are journey men now. It's about salary and contracts and signing on fees. First thing this morning I was confident there was no way Jimmy would want to leave London and head up North again just to claim a bigger pay packet. We might be neck and neck with Hull in the table but surely he'd rather stay at a club that he liked, a club that had stood by him during his worst period of injury and a club that seemed back on course to maintain its Premier League status. I thought this was all about Fulham playing hardball and trying to focus Jimmy on what was really important to him. I guess in many ways we did and he choose financial stability and an extended contract. Who can blame him? Reports suggest Hull City have given Bullard a 4½ year deal and a big salary increase. He wouldn't have got that with us.

Fair play to Hull. They're backing their ambition with hard cash. They've set the Premier League alight this season. Similar to Wigan Athletic and Reading in previous campaigns they've taken the league by the scruff of the neck and upset the established hierarchy. I felt they'd already done enough to retain their Premier League status, but the tightness of the league and their current drop in form suggested it could still be close. Knowing Jimmy they might have just signed a player who can make a difference and make sure they stay up not just this year but for some time to come. Hull fans have been quick to defend their club's status and rightly so. I'm still stunned Jimmy's chosen Hull over Fulham but realistically we're not that far apart.

Fulham will certainly miss Bullard's infectious enthusiasm on the pitch. It seemed at times that he wasn't really Hodgson's type of player, but recent games have highlighted exactly how much we'll miss him when he's not around. Jimmy's work rate was second to none and, although he had conceded to Hodgson's direction and reigned himself in this season, he added a spark to the side that we don't have without him. At 30 with a bad knee injury in his recent past maybe £5Million is a good deal but at the end of the day it's all about who we find to replace him. Within the current squad we have a few contenders. My personal belief is that Zoltan Gera would be better suited to a central role and may flourish given a bit more freedom. Leon Andreasen has been getting frustrated with his lack of opportunity and may now get the chance to prove himself and more established first teamers such as Simon Davies and Clint Dempsey could also fill the void. It's not the end of the world. We've been hotly linked with Leeds wonder kid Fabian Delph. The addition of some young blood to our effective but aging side can only be a good thing. Maybe Jimmy's departure can pave the way for an exciting future. Who knows.

Good luck to Jimmy. Good luck to Hull. Can't wait for March 4th!

Still no JB but a great result

Jimmy may have missed out yet again but England's unexpected 4-1 victory over Croatia was a huge improvement on recent performances. Technical problems with Virgin Media meant I missed the first half but it sounds like we worked really hard to control the game and this formed the foundation from which we went on to dominate the second half. A great night for Theo Walcott, building on his performance against Andorra with another great game and a thrilling hatrick. It was Wayne Rooney, though, who really stood out for me as the man of the match. He was involved in most of our best attacking moves and capped it off with a well taken goal. If nothing else that should at least prevent commentators from banging on about how long it is since he scored for England.

Hell, whisper it quietly ... even Frank Lampard had a good game.

Hopefully Jimmy will have gained something from his time in the England squad and will be raring to go come Saturday.

He's better than Steve Gerrard, he's thinner than Frank Lampard

Jim Bullard, Bullard!

So another hugely unimpressive England game comes and goes. We did a "professional job" and won the game but it wasn't pretty and it certainly wasn't fun to watch. Maybe we are too impatient, want too much too soon, but I saw nothing to indicate we were making any steps towards having a team capable of winning (or even performing well) at a major competition. After the excitement of Jimmy's inclusion in the squad, it was a huge disappointment to see him fail to even claim a place on the bench. It looks pretty unlikely now that he'll feature against Croatia and I'm beginning to wonder whether I really care about England anymore.

There were a few bright points. Theo Walcott looked very lively in the first 20 minutes, Joe Cole added some much needed invention when he came on (and of course took both goals very well) and ... well that's it really. There seems to be a lack of balance in the side, a failure to step up a level and really take a team on. We just do enough to get by. I know I'm biased, but I couldn't help feeling Bullard would have added something to the centre midfield. Lampard was largely anonymous and even his free kick that lead to the first goal was miss hit. On paper both Lampard and Gerrard are better than Jimmy, but they've failed to show that for England. I think it's about time they got the kick up the arse they deserve and started having to actually win their place again.

Jimmy Bullard in the England squad!

Just had a text out of the blue from a mate to tell me that Jimmy's in the England squad. I'm absolutely stunned. Really pleased for Jimmy who thoroughly deserves his chance. The full England squad makes pretty great reading;

Robinson (Blackburn), James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham); Lescott (Everton), Bridge (Chelsea), A Cole (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Brown (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Johnson (Portsmouth), Upson (West Ham); Barry (Aston Villa), J Cole (Chelsea), Lampard (Chelsea), Bullard (Fulham), Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Downing (Middlesbrough), Bentley (Tottenham), Jenas (Tottenham); Walcott (Arsenal), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Portsmouth), Heskey (Wigan)

Full story from the BBC HERE.

Jimmy Bullard on how to catch big fish

Nicked straight off Who Ate All The Pies our very own Sir Jimmy Bullard showing Sky Sports Soccer A.M. viewers how to catch carp (Nice bit of Arcade Fire in the background as well). I'm sure you've heard about Jimmy's angling abilities before, he's a decent standard and won a few big competitions whilst he was recovering from the knee injury. I'm hoping he won't have as much time to fish for a very long while.