Blues boss Paul Jewell joked that he wished midfielder Jimmy Bullard really wasn’t speaking to him when denying recent reports of a bust-up between the two.
Speaking at yesterday's press conference, Jewell said: "I’ve just had a laugh with Jimmy this morning, he said to me, ‘We’re not speaking, are we?’.
"I don’t know how well you know Jimmy Bullard, he could never not speak to anyone. It would actually be lovely if he was silent for a time!
"We’ve had no bust-up. I don’t know where the rumours came from but I know that when you’re losing matches people have very good sources and insiders and all that, but the source and the insider is completely wrong on this occasion. It’s no big drama, it’s just a complete untruth. "
The Liverpudlian also dismissed claims of dressing room fallouts: "I don’t see any dressing room unrest. I got loads of texts from some of the players on Sunday morning asking if I was OK, which is very nice of them.
"When André Villas-Boas picks his Chelsea team he’s going to have 11 players who think he’s picked the right team and another 20 who think he’s picked the wrong one. That’s the same from Hereford right through to Manchester City.
"There’s no player who is happy when he’s left out but Jimmy, Ãvar and Arran Lee-Barrett were amongst a number of changes I made last week and I had no bust-ups with any of the players and there’s no drama.
"I don’t want players to be happy if they’re dropped," he added. "But there really isn’t a problem with Jimmy Bullard and I don’t see a dressing room which isn’t together.”
Jewell says Bullard is treated like any other member of the squad and currently his form has dipped: "He’s not playing that great but that happens, look at Frank Lampard or Fernando Torres. There are a lot of players on benches.
"The manager can only pick 11. He’s not the only player that’s been left out. He was terrific for us when he came last year, got Player of the Year, the fans loved him, they still do, I hope. We all love him.
"He didn’t have a pre-season because he was at Hull, a lot of our players are the same. I’ve just gone for Keith Andrews and Lee Bowyer in the centre of the midfield, it’s no big drama. That’s life. No one’s got a divine right to play.
"Jimmy’s no different any other player. I treat every player on their merits and try and pick a team which can win a match.”
He says his squad are determined to turn things around: "The dressing room is desperate to get results for the club, probably in a way a bit too desperate to get a result, which you can see in most of the performances where we’ve been hanging on. Once we get one, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
The reported row with Bullard was said to relate to the 33-year-old’s refusal to move from his home in Cobham in Surrey. Jewell says he instituted a rule of players living within 25 miles when he was manager at Bradford, although this proved difficult to enforce when signing players such as Dean Saunders who were settled further away.
He says such a policy — previously introduced at Town by Roy Keane and George Burley - can’t be imposed on squad members on shorter term deals: "When you’re giving players one-year contracts it’s not really feasible to ask them to move. Most players we’ve got are well off enough to have a flat.
"Jimmy doesn’t drive, he has a driver and sometimes he stays down the A12 where one of his uncles lives. He’s never late for training.”
However, he says it’s something he’s looking at for players signing longer deals: "If someone’s on a three-year contract, I think we’re well within our rights to put something in the contract that they’ve got to move to the area. It’s something we might need to look at going forward.
"Someone like Cressy, who has signed a new deal and has told me he’s saving for a deposit on a new house, we expect someone like him to move down.”