Phil Brown may only be trying to play mind games over Jimmy Bullard's possible return to the Hull City team this weekend, but they're merely making him look a little foolish.
Earlier this week, this blog suggested Bullard's mooted return would be a fantastic boost for the Tigers. However, since then we have learned that he did not play in the midweek reserve fixture and has not indulged in even one full training session with the squad. This surely means that he cannot and should not play at West Ham United tomorrow.
If Bullard does play a part, Brown will be criticised heavily for risking his star player's health on a game that is not only winnable without him, but expendable when the rest of the season is taken into account.
If it is just mind games, and Brown has no intention of playing Bullard at all but wants West Ham to think it is feasible, then that's the lesser of the evils. But again, professional football is not run by stupid people - not all of the time, anyway - and the hosts of tomorrow's game will suppose that Bullard simply is too unfit to be given any time on the pitch. They'll know as well as anyone that a player who hasn't had a run-out and hasn't trained properly is not going to be effective if he takes part, if he takes part at all. Even if he is the super-talented Bullard, the player who inspired a Tigers comeback against the Hammers at the KC back in November, scoring twice.
The Tiger Nation will warmly welcome Bullard, of course, if he does get a game at Upton Park. But the applause will be cautious and with eyes partly covered. Given Bullard's history since joining City, it will feel like an accident waiting to happen, especially as West Ham was the venue last season where he made his debut as a substitute and took a boot on the knee that ruled him out for nine months. If he plays and it pays off, fine. It will be deemed worth the risk. If he plays and, at worst, is crocked again, then his manager will never be forgiven. Bullard himself needs to be telling Brown the absolute truth about how fit he feels.
As the Tigers aren't playing next week now - the Carling Cup final has scuppered Aston Villa's scheduled visit to the KC - it gives Bullard a whole extra fortnight to train properly, get a match or two in (including the friendly in Galway arranged for next Friday) and be completely ready for the trip to Everton on March 7th. Brown should be aiming for that and, hopefully, that's what he actually is doing. But if so, he is really fooling nobody by saying that Bullard could be ready to play again, as plainly he isn't.
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