Loan midfielder Jimmy Bullard says he’s loving life at Town and hasn’t ruled out returning permanently next season when he expects Portman Road to be “a good place to be”. The 32-year-old, who has two years remaining on his £45,000-a-week Hull City contract, netted his fourth goal for the Blues in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Scunthorpe.

Bullard said: “I’ve enjoyed my time since I’ve been here. Every time I step on that pitch I’m loving it, especially having been out for a long time over the last three years.

“They’re a good bunch of boys here and ever since I’ve come to the dressing room the boys have been fantastic to me and I’m just enjoying my footie.”

The former Fulham man says there have been no developments regarding where his future might lie: “There’s not a lot of movement. I haven’t heard anything from anyone, I’ve just got my head down and played my football. As I keep saying, [developments are more likely] towards the end of the season.

“It’s a little bit out of my hands, it’s up to the two clubs, not one but two and they’re both clubs for me.

“I keep saying, I’m in a no-lose situation, I love Hull City and I love Ipswich, times have been good here. Wherever I’ll be, hopefully one of the two clubs, I’ll be happy with that.”

Bullard says whether he’d take the significant pay cut which would almost certainly be the case if he joined the Blues is a big question to consider: “I’ll obviously have to go away and think about that, but I’ve enjoyed my time so much and I want to play footie, so why not? Money isn’t everything to me, although at the same time I’m 32. But I’ve really enjoyed my time here.

“That’s the first time I’ve been asked that question. To be honest, I’ve not really thought about it. I believe there are eight games to go, I don’t think any club is going to make a decision yet — whether Hull want to keep me or Ipswich want to keep me. Whatever I say, it’s not really worth anything at the minute.”

The midfielder looks all but certain to leave Hull in the summer with his wages making up 21% of the Tigers’ wage bill. However, the £5 million January 2009 signing is taking nothing for granted regarding his expected KC Stadium exit: “I’ve got two years of my contract left at Hull and I’ve got to respect Hull City because they’ve given me the contract and I’ve got a great bunch of friends up there. We’ll see how it goes and closer to the end of the season I’ll be able to answer that.

“I’ve got to take my contract into consideration, which every footballer has to. But because I’ve missed so much football there’s a lot more football things than wages for me.”

The West Ham academy trainee says other sides could also come into play in the summer with a return to the Premier League not yet out of his thoughts: “It might not even be those clubs involved, there are a lot of other clubs out there.

“I’m just happy to play my football and I want to play as high as I possibly can as well, that’s another thing at the back of my mind. I’m sure towards the end of the season, it’ll become clearer.”

One factor which will count in Town’s favour is Paul Jewell’s presence at Portman Road with the Blues boss a manager he rates very highly: “Paul’s been brilliant, he’s come in here, he wants to play good, attacking football and he hates losing. You wouldn’t have wanted to be in the changing room the other night against Watford.

“Even after the Scunthorpe win he wanted more, that’s the way he is and the boys know that. He’s got some good coaching staff with him in Hutch and Sean. It’s going to be a good place to be next year I feel, so all the best to him.

“I’ve had a lot of success under him. I had four years at Wigan and we went up two leagues, got in the Premier League, got to a cup final and stayed in the Premier League.

“For me, he’s probably the best manager I’ve ever worked under, along with Barry Fry, who gave me a chance of my career back when I was 22.”

Bullard is in no doubt about the potential at Portman Road and hints that he’d like to play his part in taking the Blues back to where they belong: “It’s a big club and a club that’s been places before, in Europe, it’s a very big club and I knew that before I came here.

“It’s a tough league, the Championship, there are a lot of games and you’ve got to have a big squad, a fit squad and a team of winners.

“But next year I believe that the gaffer’s going to add a couple, hopefully keep a lot of the players that are here and, who knows, I believe it’s going to be a really good place to be next year, so hopefully I’ll be here!”

Photo: Action Images

BartsGreatBeard added 08:48 - Mar 21 thats what i want to hear cmon PJ sign him up
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ITFC_Forever added 08:50 - Mar 21 As much as I'd love him to stay, he's been far too good for us. Any Prem sides watching us to see if he's still got it will have been impressed and will come in for him in the summer.
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blueoff added 08:50 - Mar 21 Breath of fresh air if ever there was one, Jimmy is everything that Tamas should be !
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bobble added 08:57 - Mar 21 ....he knows we will be going up next year when keanes deadbeats are gone.....
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Back_The_Boss added 09:00 - Mar 21 It would be great to see him stay. He is a great character.
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MaySixth added 09:13 - Mar 21 Let's not break the bank
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corshamblue added 09:13 - Mar 21 Great footballer and just what Town really needs right now. Jimmy Bullard for Captain next season ? Sign up Macca and get a deal sorted for Jimmy and we're half way there. . . .
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nearly50yearsblue added 09:35 - Mar 21 And season tickets go on sale when ? Love him to stay,lets hope.
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bluelady added 09:41 - Mar 21 really think he would be a good addition, had reservations to begin with due to injuries! He has had bad luck over the years, luck that does seem to be changing with his time at town. He knows himself he could move back to the prem and be back to square one warming the bench or out injured week in week our as he has done at Hull. Of course he isnt going to say yes i def want to stay and not other team will do, he will want to get the best deal he can out of town, but i have a good feeling about this one and that doesnt happen too often!!!

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TARGET_PREM added 09:56 - Mar 21 Lisbie take note: don't slag off the club who gave you a contract!! more class from Jimmy, shame i doubt we'll sign him.
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suffolkpoker added 10:02 - Mar 21 I think we have a good shout of signing him on sensible wages, as he would be our playmaker or warm a bench in the preimer league, also i think PJ is a huge pull for him to sign. He hasnt played for 3 years.. we all can see he just wants to play footy
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Mr_Evans added 10:17 - Mar 21 Most footballers would shy away from this question but fair play to Jimmy for giving an honest answer - I think we have about a 10%-15% chance of signing him. What we need to remember is from what Jimmy could be earning PJ could sign 3/4 good championship players. I would love Jimmy to stay for footballing reasons, but.. remember Ipswich Town FC are a business, and I very much doubt that we'll break the bank by signing him and the extra's that PJ wants. Sorry to put a downer on it - buts it's true.

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Lightningboy added 10:19 - Mar 21 God I hope we keep hold of him..hard to imagine things without him here now. It probably won't happen though knowing our luck.
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bluetoba added 10:28 - Mar 21 The only realistic way of keeping hold of Jimmy is by selling Conner. This will also finance the addition other quality players. It's a tough one.
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brian_a_mul added 10:31 - Mar 21 x2 years left on his Hull contract. He obviously signed that contract at the time to see out his days at Hull. I think a fee of about £1mil would be required to buy him and a wage of at least 15k per week. He is the kind of player that you can build a team around and Jewell has done so with Jimmy in the past and knows how to get the best out of him. If anyone can persuade him to sign its PJ!

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Pessimistic added 11:04 - Mar 21 I too would love him to stay like everyone else. My heart says he will stay but my head thinks otherwise sadly.
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RRanger added 11:09 - Mar 21 To ease their massive wage bill for JB I would imagine Hull would let him go for a nominal fee ,the rest (say £1m) could be paid to JB by us as a signing on fee and then he could simply be paid at the rate of our top earners for the length (say 2 years) of his contract.
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ThatMuhrenCross added 11:15 - Mar 21 If any Premier League sides come in for him, they will see he is slow and prone to make mistakes - arguably past it. However, we are not a Premier League club, and those four or five moments of brilliance he seems to produce in most games are enough to decide games in the Championship. He would be perfect for us, but lets not kid ourselves that he is the next Adel Taarabt or Scott Sinclair. He's got 10 years on them for starters...

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brogansnose added 11:38 - Mar 21 If we dont sign Jimmy, then we need to sign somebody who can do what he does because without him we are boring and cack.
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Rickster added 11:43 - Mar 21 You can have Bullard but don't send him back when he has starts frequenting the pubs and nightclubs before a match. A local pub near Hull, that he went quite a lot to,their takings have gone down by thousands since he moved away. But he is quite a 'Jack the Lad' until things start to go wrong for him and then he puts his head down and does not want to bother at all! A lot of baggage, granted he has been unlucky with injuries, but should not have been bought at all in my opinion.

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blue_em_away added 12:15 - Mar 21 We have no chance of getting this guy for 1 mil and 15k a week, dream on. The 1st sign of us getting him on the cheap other clubs will be steaming in to double the offer. Make the most of him now, he is a breath of fresh air over our club. If we do sign him, we will need to spend decent money on him. Prob 3 mil and 25k a week (but that's risky).
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EatonBlue added 12:46 - Mar 21 I'd better tell the wife then.
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Bergholtblue added 12:56 - Mar 21 I love this guys honesty and it is so refreshing to hear someone say that it not all about the money. But he is also honest enough to admit that at 32, his earning potential as a player is coming to an end and his next contract could be his last. Therefore, he will have to weigh up playing a part in the first team with as high a contract as he can negotiate. I see this as a marker to ME and SC that he is willing to come but don't offer him silly money. We haven't had a good record of late in attracting players and my fear is that others have seen what an impact he has made and would be interested particularly the newly promoted sides who would value his top flight experience.

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itfc4eva added 13:03 - Mar 21 please stay.
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nickforeveritfc added 13:08 - Mar 21 Its really good to see a high quality player enthusiastic to play for the town i think pj should sign him up in the summer and get rid of a few of keans players. Bullard is the sort of player we need to keep the motivation and speed of the play high.
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