Football Food For Thought / Dan Fitch / 01 December 2009 /

Jimmy Bullard is the undisputed comedy king of the Premier League. Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch looks at his importance to Hull and other football funnymen.

I don't think that there's a single person out there that doesn't love Jimmy Bullard right now.

Even Manchester City fans must now see the funny side of Bullard's recreation of Phil Brown's infamous team-talk, despite the fact that his equaliser ensured that City have now pulled off more draws than George Hamilton.

Though he has a face that is extremely slappable and looks like it should rest upon the shoulders of a Dennis Wise-like figure, Jimmy is actually your lovable type of Cockney street urchin.

What's more, the sense of fun that he brings to the field isn't just restricted to goal celebrations and off the ball incidents.

Bullard plays the game with the enthusiasm that you would expect from someone whose career started at non-league level. You can tell that he appreciates what he's now got and he plays each game with a smile on his face and with total application.

His return from injury has prompted a return to some form for Hull and he might just be the man to keep them up. The Tigers are still the third favourites to go down at [1.77] and are [4.9] to finish rock bottom.

Having now gone four games without defeat, those odds could soon be getting longer should Hull continue their form. If that materialises, even an ego like Phil Brown's will be able to take some more ribbing.

Bullard's attitude reminds me of Paul Gascoigne. Now, of course we all remember Gazza as a great player, but at the beginning of his career there was much debate as to whether the clowning around detracted from his game.

Everything about Gascoigne was natural though and there was no way to curb his instincts. During his Spurs days in a pre-season friendly, the referee dropped his yellow card. Most players might have discreetly handed the card back to the official, but Gazza was always different.

Gascoigne showed the yellow card to referee, as if he was cautioning him. The crowd were in hysterics, which was probably the main reason that the ref swiped the card off Gazza and gave him a real booking.

This is also the man who tricked his sidekick Jimmy 'Five Bellies' into eating a mince pie after he'd scraped out the filling and replaced it with cat excrement and bought a £1000 robot, which he programmed to enter Jimmy's room and say: "Make a cup of tea, fat man."

Two indisputable facts are that footballers love a good prank and that Scousers are the funniest people in the country (I know, but go with me on this). Put these things together and you have a recipe for disaster.

The frivolity started when the long forgotten Liverpool player Steve Harkness decided that it would be funny to use Robbie Fowler's shoes as a toilet.

Having found his loafers to be soaked, Fowler demanded to know who the culprit was. Of course, the Liverpool players collectively lied and pointed towards their then hardest player, Neil 'Razor' Ruddock.

Fowler responded by cutting up Ruddock's £300 Gucci shoes. Having become aware of the damage, Ruddock demanded Fowler pay for the damage he'd caused, which the striker refused to do. Ruddock responded by punching Fowler in the face. This incident was made all the more 'hilarious' for the fact that it took place at an airport, in front of a posse of gleeful photographers.

So perhaps it's best to leave the japes to on the field. In the current po-faced, self-important world of football, a few laughs are certainly needed and I for one can't wait until Bullard's next celebration.

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