Bullard nets the winner against the BladesFulham beat a host of rivals to the signing of Jimmy Bullard with boss Chris Coleman refusing to let him leave the training ground until he had agreed to join the club.
And Coleman has already seen enough from the opening three games of the season to know he has signed a "special" talent who bucks the trend of Barclays Premiership players.
Bullard curled home a sublime 40th-minute free-kick to seal Fulham's first victory of the season and pick up his second successive man of the match award.
The 27-year-old, nicknamed Margaret Thatcher because of his similarity to the former Prime Minster, had also snatched a late point by converting a 90th minute penalty against Bolton in midweek.
Even at this early stage he has emerged as a fans' favourite with his commitment, industry and flair earning the approval of Cottagers supporters.
His appearance in a Fulham shirt is the result of three years of enquiries - he finally left Wigan for £2.5million in June - and Coleman insists he has already "surpassed all expectations".
"I said let's get Jimmy to the training ground and he can't leave until he signs. He was a player I was hell-bent on getting," he said.
"We weren't going to lose out on him because I knew how important he would be for us. I've wanted him for three years.
"He played for Wigan when they were in the league below. It was my first season and we went to Wigan in the Carling Cup.
"I picked an under-strength team I thought was good enough to win. We lost and Bully ran the show. It was the first the first time I'd seen him and we've tracked him since.
"We enquired before and it was a no-go but we exercised a clause in his contract whereby we get him before four or five other clubs.
"We had him first and I didn't want him going back up to Wigan without signing for us first.
"I knew there were half a dozen other Premiership clubs after him but we got there first. Three of the clubs were bigger than us.
"It was a case of making him understand how important he would be to us. He likes to be loved and he'll get that from the Fulham supporters.
"Sometimes players come in from other clubs and they disappoint you and you end up thinking they're not as good as you first thought.
"But from the first training session Bully surpassed all expectations. I knew immediately this lad is special.
"It's not just his free-kicks - it's his all round play. He reminds me of players from 15-20 years ago because he loves playing football. He's not here for the money, he's in it for the game.
"He's getting stronger and better as he gets older. He's not your typical Premiership footballer, either. He'll go fishing by himself on the weekend. He won't be driving around in a Bentley."
Bullard was the difference between the two sides at Craven Cottage yesterday, although Fulham created more throughout.
Tomasz Radzinski should have made it 2-0 near the end but underlined his lack of confidence in front of goal by squaring instead of shooting while Bullard and Collins John hit the post.
Sheffield United missed one golden opportunity at the death when David Sommeil snatched at his shot and boss Neil Warnock was forced to mark the return from a two-match touchline ban with defeat.
"I'm enjoying it in the Premiership. It's a great league to be in and it will be a great challenge for me," said Warnock.
"We've had two tough away games in a row and come away with nothing. We got a point against Liverpool which nobody expected us to get so really we've got one point more than many people predicted.
"Three of our next four games are at home and we'll try to win them all. We'll stay up on our home form, if we do beat the drop."
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