As the rumours and whispers about business in the January transfer window begin to encircle the game, it seems George Boateng may have become priceless to Hull City's current cause just in time.
Boateng is out of contract in the summer and, with Adam Pearson needing to dispense with big earners who don't play much, was surely on the chairman's hitlist for the window. The Dutchman had fallen out with Phil Brown and his future as a member of the Tigers squad looked bleak.
But manager and player have (figuratively) kissed and made up, and now Boateng is able to be influential and vital all over again. The unseasoned football watcher who believes the game is all about great goals and fancy footwork will always bemoan the Boateng figure in a team, but the Tiger Nation see what the man really is.
Right now, he is a calming presence. If he starts the game, he'll do the sitting job when the Tigers need to exercise patience. If he is on the bench, he is more ideal than anyone to be introduced when the team has a lead to protect and just shore things up.
Boateng may have ambitions beyond this summer which don't involve Hull City. Perhaps a two year contract was suitable for both parties from the beginning. But, as he approaches his 33rd year, if he wishes to maintain a Premier League career for longer, then he is doing as well as he possibly can to convince his current club, or observing rival clubs, that he has a role to play.
He isn't perfect - indeed, he has played some true stinkers in his time with the Tigers. The frequency of his selection is also dependent on his fitness, as he seems rarely able to manage two consecutive lots of 90 minutes from Saturday to Saturday, and you can forget playing a weekend and then a midweek; and also on tactics, as the likes of Dean Marney and Seyi Olofinjana can provide backup of a kind to Jimmy Bullard while also adding much stronger running than Boateng.
But his experience and his brand of unfussy midfield patrolling is invaluable when the players around him demand that sort of protection. With Bullard in the team, roaming and wandering, a Boateng figure becomes more and more precious. An architect's work can only truly flourish with an artisan's support. And as City go to Boateng's former club Aston Villa this weekend, it's quite likely that the craft and graft of two experienced top-flight campaigners will combine in the centre of the park.
It's up to Boateng to make himself irreplaceable now. January will see half a dozen of the more expensive squad players and general peripheral no-hopers vanish from the KC Stadium and Boateng, a player who could have gone on loan to a Championship club during his stand-off with the manager, was once a favourite to head that list. Now it's doubtful Brown will be putting him on his final list of available assets that Pearson has demanded from him.
He may still go on a free in the summer but if he - especially as Ian Ashbee won't be around until April, and possibly not even until next season - can play a major role in securing a third season of Premier League football for the Tigers, then the chairman may have to find the required budget cuts elsewhere while offering a just reward to a very important, underrated player.
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