I thought Dalman had said something about being aware of him and wanting to bring him in, but I can't find anything to support that so might be making it up.

I did find this from Dalman on Bulut though (from last October):
'Football-wise he's the most tactically-oriented manager I have come across in my time here as chairman. He's quite funky, can spot and change tactics as the game goes on, and generally that's not something I feel we've seen too much of here before. He's changed the style of football, for the better, has a good eye for players, spots potential in the younger ones as we've seen with Tanner, is a football obsessive who works incredibly hard."