groin injury, Baird spent most of the 2006–07 season in central defence, making forty–four appearances and at the end of the season he was the winner of the Saints Player of the Season award. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Baird found himself in a transfer move when Fulham made an initial £2.5m bid for him, which was rejected by Southampton. In response, Baird informed the club that he wanted to leave by handing in a transfer request. Despite being confident of keeping Baird, Burley, stated that he would sell Baird at the right price. In response to Burley's comment, Fulham increased their bid to sign Baird. Baird, himself, later stated it wasn't an easy decision to leave Southampton. Fulham Baird left Southampton on 12 July 2007 to move to Premier League club Fulham for £3.025 million, where he linked up with manager Lawrie Sanchez. Baird was also linked with a move to Sunderland, but was in favour in joining Fulham. Baird made his Fulham debut, in the opening game of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Arsenal. Weeks later on 25 August 2007, Baird was sent–off after receiving a second bookable offence, in a 2–1 loss against Aston Villa and served a suspension in the second round in the League Cup against Shrewsbury Town. However, Baird struggled to make a first team breakthrough, due to injuries and was fell out favour for the remainder of the season, under Manager Roy Hodgson. Despite this, Baird made eighteen appearances in his first season at Fulham. Due to lack of first team opportunity, Baird was linked with a move to Scottish Premier League side Rangers. Having initially worn the number 34 shirt, he changed to the number 6 for the 2009–10 season. Although typically a centre-back, and often surplus to requirements behind the rarely injured pairing of Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland, manager Roy Hodgson brought out a versatility in Baird which made him indispensable for long periods at Fulham, where first he filled in very successfully at right-back when John Paintsil was injured, and then due to the injuries to Dickson Etuhu and Danny Murphy he was often used in a central midfield role during the 2009–10 season, returning to right-back when they regained fitness. His success at right-back also earned him a start in the UEFA Europa League against Atlético Madrid ahead of the fit-again Paintsil. The season