Jimmy Bullard: People think I’m just a joker… but I’m serious about being Leatherhead FC manager
First-time boss vows to mark his new role with the same drive that got him from non-league to Premier League
JIMMY BULLARD admits people know him only as a joker – but he is deadly serious about Leatherhead FC.
The former Premier League star has been tasked with the job of rescuing the strugglers from the bottom of the seventh tier of English football.
It is Bullard’s first coaching gig, his first foray back into football since 2012 and his first attempt at a new role in the game at the age of 37.
His announcement, posted Saturday evening to Leatherhead FC’s 4,733 followers, came as a shock.
But the man behind one of the greatest goal celebrations in top-tier history insists he is up for the task.
He said: “A lot of people know me for being a bit of a joker but I’ve always taken my football very seriously throughout my career.
“It is one of the main reasons why I made it from non-league to the Premier League and got called up by my country.
“I’ll be taking that drive and determination into this job.
“Management is something that I’ve been very passionate about doing for a long time but it had to be the right time and the right opportunity.
“I’ve played under a lot of different managers with different managerial styles in my career and I was always very vocal in the dressing room about my philosophy on football.
“Now is the time I can put that philosophy into practice.”
And Bullard, who began his career at Gravesend and Northfleet in 1998 then went on to achieve cult legend status at Wigan, Hull and Fulham, insists the Isthmian League Premier Division is the right place for him.
The former I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here star, whose first game in charge will be against Folkestone, added: “Leatherhead is a big club with big ambitions and big potential.
“The chairman, board and I all share a huge passion for turning that into a reality.
“I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the role and taking the club forward.”
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