Hull boss doesn´t regret Bullard deal

Hull manager Phil Brown insists he has no regrets about paying a club record fee to sign Jimmy Bullard even though the injury-prone midfielder has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Bullard, 30, cost Hull five million pounds (5.6 million euros) from Fulham during the January transfer window but he won’t feature for the Premier League club again this season following surgery on a knee injury.

The former Wigan star has played just 37 minutes for the Tigers and will be out for at least six months while he recovers from the operation.

Bullard had travelled to the United States for what the club hoped would be minor knee surgery this week but the injury has proved far worse than first feared.

He has a history of knee problems and was out for 16 months during his time at Fulham, but Hull insist the new injury is not related and Brown is convinced he was right to recommend the signing.

“We made a big decision – more to a point the chairman and board of directors made a big decision – to bring Jimmy to the club,” Brown said.

“But I said to the chairman before the operation, ‘When Jimmy wakes up, he is a Hull City player’.

“That is a bonus for me. We have got him for four-and-a-half years, albeit with the start of that career on a treatment table, unfortunately for us.

“For me it wasn’t a gamble, it wasn’t a risk, to the extent people are talking about. For me it was an investment in an international player.

“There are no regrets whatsoever about signing Jimmy Bullard.

“I spoke to the lad, he’s distraught but very determined and very upbeat about his comeback.

“OK, it was a record signing but it is an opportunity for someone else to step into his boots.”