Boss Paul Jewell says the Blues will look at the possibility of signing loan midfielder Jimmy Bullard on a permanent basis nearer to the summer. The 32-year-old, with Town from Hull City for the rest of the season, says he’s keen on staying, if the clubs can do a deal.
Jewell said: "It’s something that we will speak about and look at nearer the date. For the time being he’s just on loan but you never, ever know what happens in this game.”
The Blues boss was delighted with the way his former Wigan player took control of the second half of Saturday’s 2-0 win at Cardiff: "He’s that type of player. He follows the ball, he loves the ball, Jimmy.
"Since he’s been here he’s been infectious, a bit like a bad virus really! He’s a really good character around the place, he loves his football, the lads love him, he loves it here, he’s having a great time and you can see that in the way he plays.”
Bullard himself seems to love life at Portman Road and seems keen for the two clubs to get on with getting a deal done so he can stay in Suffolk: "I’ve scored a couple of goals and I’m really enjoying my football, being at a club that really wants me, which Ipswich has shown. So why not?
"Hopefully the clubs can get going, but there’s a long way to go for me. There’s still 12 games to go. As soon as I walked in, I knew that this was a fantastic club.”
The one-time England call-up’s much publicised £45,000-a-week salary, 21% of Hull’s wage bill, part of a contract which has another two years to run is the major stumbling block in any deal, but the player says money is by no means the be-all and end-all for him: "Finance is not the only thing with me.
"I’m enjoying my time here, but at the same time I am in quite a difficult position because I’ve still got two years on my contract at Hull City, and I’ve got some good mates up there.
"I want to be playing, though, so it’s difficult for me. The closer I get towards the end of the season, the more I’m going to know hopefully.”
The midfielder’s two goals saw Town to Saturday’s victory and Jewell says another one of his former players, Derby keeper Stephen Bywater, who is on loan at Cardiff, will be fed of up seeing Bullard this season: "The first one was an outstanding strike. That’s three goals he’s got against Bywater this year and Stephen will probably be sick of the sight of Jimmy. The first one was a great strike and the second one just killed the game off.
"I thought we broke quite well in the second half. We defended really well, the goalie made some important saves and we had to get blocks in.
"In the second half I thought we looked as if we believed we would score whereas in the first half we didn’t seem to believe it.”
Jewell gave his side a tongue-lashing at half-time after a poor first 45 minutes, but Bullard wasn’t prepared to go into too much detail: "I can’t tell you what the manager said to us at half-time — I can’t go swearing! But there were a lot of Fs! And it was deserved. We understand what he wants and we want it as well.
"We were not at it in the first half, but we showed a lot more grit and a lot more determination in the second half."