Or it's just being willing to acknowledge that Fulton unfairly carried a hell of a lot of the blame, perhaps even all of it, for what happened when he and Grimes were paired up, which was an all too frequent occurrence.
For whatever reason JF has been the red headed stepchild of the fanbase. A convenient target. The fact that every manager we've had in that time, eventually even the worst one, has used him regularly passes many people by. They're not picking him for a laff. They pick him because he's capable. Because he's one of the smarter players at the club.
I remember the howls of outrage at the Derby home game where he was straight into the starting lineup (with heavy involvement from Leon and Joey) and seemed to be the only player who immediately grasped what Matos was after.
I compared him to Naughton somewhere, might have been here, and that's a comparison I stand by. I see a lot of similarities between them. Both have been favoured whipping boys from some in the stands, yet have racked up hundreds of appearances for the club and been highly regarded by all the players and coaches they have been involved with during their time. Both superb professionals, fit and dedicated.
KN got his laurels in the end. Hopefully JF will too.