Blues boss Paul Jewell says the likelihood that Jimmy Bullard would only be a bit-part player at Portman Road this season was what led to the club and the midfielder to decide to terminate his contract by mutual consent. Town confirmed that Bullard, who had a year left on his deal, would be leaving with immediate effect earlier today.

Jewell said: “There’s no big story. This has been going on for nine or 10 days, the decision was made then. I got Jimmy in and told him I couldn’t guarantee him first team football.

“I know Jimmy from old and know he just wants to play football. He’s missed an awful lot of games over the last four years with injury and we both sat down like grown-ups and said ‘Let’s find a solution, what’s the best way out of it?’ And we’ve mutually agreed to cancel his contract.

“No ulterior motive, no hidden agenda, basically, ‘Look Jim, you need to go and play football. I know being a bit-part player won’t be enough to satisfy you’.

“He agreed, he didn’t agree with me [that he wasn’t going to be in the first team], but we sat down, we’ve known each other a long time and I’ve had only one problem with Jimmy, and that was dealt with.

“In all the times I’ve had him, I can’t speak highly enough of him as a person, as a player and as a professional. He caused me one moment of anguish but other than that, in all the years I’ve had him, he’s not been a problem and whoever gets him will have a decent player.”

The settlement of his contract is likely to see Bullard receive an agreed proportion of what he would have been paid across the remaining year of his deal, probably over a longer period of time.

Jewell says he left that aspect of things up to chief executive Simon Clegg and owner Marcus Evans: “The money side of it is nothing to do with me but he and his advisors sat down with the club and came to an agreement and he goes with our best wishes.

“I don’t know how much we’ve saved on his wages. It wasn’t a money decision, it was a football decision. I know that Jimmy Bullard, being Jimmy Bullard, wants to play every game, he wants to play every training session, never mind every game and every minute of every game.

“No one’s guaranteed a place in anyone’s team but he wouldn’t be in our starting XI. He disagreed with that, as I would expect everyone who isn’t in our starting XI to do.

“Knowing Jimmy and how keen as mustard he is to play football, I thought we’d meet the problem before it became a problem, as simple as that.”

Bullard’s time at Town started with one of the most impressive loan spells in the club’s history, so why does Jewell think things went awry once he was signed on a permanent basis after his acrimonious exit from Hull City: “Hindsight’s a wonderful thing. He came in and won Player of the Year, the supporters loved him and I’ve still got a lot of time for him.

“He was a vital part of the team that went on that terrific run [in the autumn] when we were playing some fabulous football.

“Since November, since Burnley, he hasn’t had a start, but he hasn’t had too much of a look-in. There are different reasons, it’s not just Jimmy’s fault. The team hasn’t played great at times when he’s been in it.

“Things in life don’t always work out, but one thing I couldn’t accuse Jimmy Bullard of is not giving everything he’s got. He’s had one misdemeanour but that was dealt with and Jimmy took that on the chin.”

He says the 33-year-old’s exit is illustrative of the approach he’s taking from now on: “I’ve just made a decision that we’re going down the route of trying to get younger players in and that Jimmy wasn’t going feature regularly in the starting XI and it was best to tell him that.

“Knowing Jimmy from old, that’s not going to be enough for him. He accepted last season that he didn’t play well after the Burnley game, he couldn’t quite get back in, then he had a few illnesses just as he was going to get an opportunity.

"He probably came back this pre-season thinking he was going to get in the team when he came back with a clean slate.

“I just decided that it wasn’t going to be that way. That wasn’t going to be enough satisfy him because he loves to play football.”

Photo: Action Images

canveyblue added 16:41 - Aug 13 Cheers Jimmy, all the best.
0

PJ_Needs_Duncan added 16:44 - Aug 13 See you later Foolard, won't be missed
0

itfcjoe added 16:45 - Aug 13 What absolutely rubbish from PJ, I hoped the new season would bring a stop to the press conference lies that became his signature last year. If what he says is true, and Paul Jewell doesn't know how much extra budget he has by releasing Bullard out of the kindness of his heart then he is being grossly negligent in his job. If he is to release someone that would play a role this year, bearing in mind we have about 20 senior players, and doesn't even know if it allows him to bring in an adequate replacement then he needs sacking on the spot.... .....but of course he does know, so why peddle these lies which people will now come on here and defend in criticism of my comment.

0

Sibelius8 added 17:00 - Aug 13 Well, there will be the usual moaners on this site, but there we have it! - as quoted above: “I've just made a decision that we're going down the route of trying to get younger players in and that Jimmy wasn't going feature regularly in the starting XI and it was best to tell him that." So PJ does have man-management skills? Perhaps more than we think? We will never know the whole story, but this really is the defining Jewell moment. Either he has pulled the plug on some dirty bathwater and let the fresh, clean, showered and freshly keen (I choose the word carefully) players into his squad or, he has just been muddling along with a plastic duck or two. There are never any true pearls of wisdom in a press interview. But I just hope PJ has learned that it is usually better to turn base metal into gold as a manager than to rely on the glistening of midfield gold that seduces us all as supporters from time to time. We shall see. In the meantime, he does need our support. So, let's be supporters for a few games at least.......

0

WickedBlue added 17:03 - Aug 13 You accuse PJ of lying please furnish your proof. I expect tape recordings of the meeting between PJ uand JB that you obviously have to make such a statement and/or any sound bites from PJ stating everything he said in the interview was a load of BS. If you can't provide said proof then I suggest you just shut the f**k up.
0

the_toff added 17:11 - Aug 13 Hilarious interview but wouldn't expect anything else. Of course it's a money decision, if we were paying him 100% of the contract there is no way we would let him go and play elsewhere and still have to pay him. I agree with the decision though, he wasn't going to play much football this season and it's good to save some money that hopefully we can put towards 2 or 3 signings over the next week or 2. I fully expect Peters to move on too, although perhaps he's playing more hardball than Bullard. As for the younger players (Heskey cough cough), fully agree with PJ here, we looked so tired in midfield for much of last season, hopefully Adu can come in and add energy in there with young Luongo and perhaps Hyam, the ever improving JET and Martin who always works incredibly hard. COYB

0

SouperJim added 17:12 - Aug 13 No doubt this will pull the wool over the eyes of many who still want to believe Jimmy Bullard is a "nice fella".
0

Mark added 17:14 - Aug 13 It must have been a bit of a money decision, as Jimmy was on a fair whack and clearly the club wants to cut its costs. A very sensible decision on that basis I think. If we had said to Bullard that he is not likely to feature much and he then requested a transfer, that would have been a football decision. As it is, it is a financial decision on the basis that he wouldn't play much and the money could be better spent elsewhere.

0

itfcjoe added 17:31 - Aug 13 @Wicked_Blue Please take your head out of the sand and stop being so aggressive. Paul Jewell has basically stated he has no idea how this effects his budget and it's purely a footballing decision. If you think for one second that is true, i.e. we could be paying Bullards contract in full for the rest of the season (which could quite easily be true) and he has no extra funds for wages made available for him, then you are totally deluded. If he has done that then he is an idiot, plain and simple. He's talking about having to start a 16 year old tomorrow as numbers are so short and giving squad numbers to others just to fill a bench so there is no way in a month of Sunday's that Bullard would not have been playing some part in the first team over the coming weeks. But obviously Paul jewell isn't lying because I don't have a recording of their meeting and his subsequent chats with Clegg - get real mate!

0

clivewoodsleftpeg added 17:36 - Aug 13 only a good decision if we bring in someone better and cheaper, hopefully PJ has something up his sleeve as he wouldn't let a player of Jimmys calibre leave without replacing him..................
0

RAH4 added 17:56 - Aug 13 Obviously not in the same league as our new midfielder Bare Bones
0

TractorBeezer added 18:02 - Aug 13 So let's say Jimmy had 40 weeks left at 15,000 pounds per week = 600,000. If he accepted say, 400,000 pounds over 5 years he would get 80,000 pounds for each of the next 5 years i.e. we would have an extra 520,000 pounds cash flow this season and would have an outflow of 80,000 pounds for each of the flowing four years. This is just guesswork of course but something like this makes sense to me if Jimmy isn't even in the main squad.

0

Dissboyitfc added 18:09 - Aug 13 I have in the past criticized Jewell and i have defended him and i am backing him to carry on, but reading this has annoyed me, i dont know what it is yet, but there is a bigger story here, i know when things smell off and this all smells wrong. Jewell says he trains well and is very fit well you dont just lose all that ability over night do you? he says he is great to have about the place and tomorrow we are down to the bare bones . Then there was the fiasco over his mysterious illness, he was on antibiotics for sinus problems....lol. Getting rid of Bullard is a positive thing and will benefit the team long term, but i do not buy into the given explanation.....Those who want to can its your choice, but i and others on here do not....coyb

0

bluey123 added 18:27 - Aug 13 What a load of cr-p £15000 a week payed for 12 apps in a season Jewell says he is down to the bare bones and then kicks a player out and Jewell should just tell the truth about what has been going on in the dressing room and on the training field instead of coming up with this rubbish
0

Urchin added 18:41 - Aug 13 I've terminated staffs contracts for a number of reasons,which appears to be what's happened here. Even if they were really bad at their jobs it still didn't give me any right to publically slate or denounce them. Neither did other staff have the right to know what was said between the two parties. Better for both to be able to walk away with some pride intact. Really can't seem to understand why so many feel the need or feel they have the right to know everything. For whatever reason he's gone - lets move stop second guessing and accept.

0

shamboy added 18:57 - Aug 13 Of course the statement by PJ is part smoke and mirrors. No doubt Jimmy would not agree to go unless he received a glowing reference (which costs the club nothing). PJ has delivered.
0

shamboy added 19:02 - Aug 13 Jimmy will have been offered the choice which is no real choice, horrible cliche that it is. We can do this the hard way, or the easy way. He opted for the easy way.
0

Dozzells_Bobblehat added 22:32 - Aug 13 There doesn't always have to be a conspiracy you know. Here is a radical theory. PJ has looked at JB over pre season and training and decided that he won't be a regular in the side. So as he is a high earner and to be fair to JB he has told him this and together they have decided its best he move on. Is that really so hard to believe ??
0

JustSpivvyChops added 22:41 - Aug 13 Jewell said Bullard wouldn't be a regular in the side and Bullard disagreed........fooking too right JB, is Jewell having a laugh? This clearly isn't a football decision, Bullard would walk into our first team, even after a night out on the piss in Newcastle. Good luck Jimmy.
0

runningout added 12:54 - Aug 14 will miss J Bullard myself.. in my book would have played him every week.. this is my own opinion and know the wages score
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls