Summer Transfer Thread: Speculation, Lies, Absolute Cr*p and Bosman Rumours

[The Situation]

No, he's a bog-standard Scottish Premier League player.

If Cuellar's that then what is Dunne?

Better than the man he's kept out of the villa side for most  of the time he was at the club.

If you think Dunne is better than Cuellar your football knowledge is pretty limited.

MON only played him at CB when he had to thinking he could get away with him playing at RB and McLeish, well we know he's more into "hard men" British CB who "get into the opposition" and give it a good hoof. British managers and there approach to limited football, especially when it comes to the defence...

[PeterWithesShin]

There must be a reason none of the 5 Villa managers he played under picked him at CB very often.

[Dave Cooper please]

MON only played him at CB when he had to thinking he could get away with him playing at RB and McLeish, well we know he's more into "hard men" British CB who "get into the opposition" and give it a good hoof. British managers and there approach to limited football, especially when it comes to the defence...

Wasn't just MON though was it? Cuellar was a bit-part player for all the Villa managers he played under. Were they all wrong?

*EDIT* As PWS said just before me!

[luke25]

Cuellar is not a "bog standard mid table player".

He's the definition of it.

Lovely bloke. Great with the fans. But he wasn't ever comfortable on the ball, he wasn't dominant in the air and you only have to look at the Norwich game last season to see that he struggled. The fact he only played half the time here with the Chuckle Brothers and Hutton getting in ahead says a thing or two.

OK...

After seeing the cries for Cuellar to start every game for the last 2 seasons I can't believe what is being said.

Cuellar was class at CB and we looked so much better (even when shit)... When he played in defence. He won everything in the air, didn't make costly errors and compared to Dunne and Collins he was infinitely better on the ball. Don't judge him when he was played out of position in positions he obviously didn't feel very comfortable playing in (even then he's been a better RB than Hutton's ever shown).

He was average at CB. He didn't win everything in the air, he did make costly errors and comparative to most centre halves in the league he wasn't exactly a good passer. If he was better than Collins and Dunne then he would have started over them. The only reason he was rated was so highly by Villa fans is the fact that he didn't play and that he was a fans favourite because he was such a likeable bloke.

It's that old chestnut of suddenly having brilliant players when they're not playing. Fonz, Weimann, Delph, Bannan and Gardner all have their fans saying they are brilliant and should be playing every game. When they do play, they're pretty average. Same thing with Cuellar. The games I do remember him playing in he was nothing special. He will add nothing to that Sunderland team that they didn't have already.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but this is just nonsense I'm afraid.

No its not, its absolutely spot on.

[luke25]

Cuellar made the biggest fuck up of all last season by making an awfully timed 'tackle' 30 seconds after we'd taken the lead in the game that should've seen us home and dry in the relegation battle.

[danlanza]

No, he's a bog-standard Scottish Premier League player.

If Cuellar's that then what is Dunne?

Better than the man he's kept out of the villa side for most  of the time he was at the club.

If you think Dunne is better than Cuellar your football knowledge is pretty limited.

MON only played him at CB when he had to thinking he could get away with him playing at RB and McLeish, well we know he's more into "hard men" British CB who "get into the opposition" and give it a good hoof. British managers and there approach to limited football, especially when it comes to the defence...

Question; Are you the same Situation who my female mate is raving about on that arse of a program that is "Celebrity Big Brother"?

[johnny from donny]

why are you still discussing cuellar? If he was that good there would surely have been higher profile teams than sunderland in for him on a free transfer. Seems a nice bloke but certainly not worth the money we spent on him. Successive managers including the one who bought him saw him as a squad player, no more than that. Will probably be used at left back up there, anyway, let's move on shall we?

[ktvillan]

Difficult to believe The Situation is saying Cuellar was better on the ball than Dunne and Collins. Did you actually ever watch Cuellar try to pass? It quite often spooned directly out of play five yards from him, whilst under no pressure.  My three year old daughter has more skill on the ball than Cuelllar.  A very average defender too.

[Steve67]

Cuellar was a bog standard defender, so is Dunne, so was Collins.  Quite why we are discussing a Sunderland player in the transfer thread beats me.  Three of them are just long ball punters of a football and I'd be glad to see Dunne follow them through the door.

For fuck sake Villa, spend some proper money.  The fans have spent more than Lerner so far this summer!!

[Matt C]

If some of our former players were as good as they are remembered we'd be playing in the Champions League by now.

[ktvillan]

With all due respect to Risso and the rest of the moaners, their narrative grows tiresome. "Randy is no longer interested... Randy wants to sell... Sell to buy." It is difficult to understand why some on here are unable to grasp that the club is seeking a more measured fiscal approach and no longer wishes to hemorrhage money. Everyone knows where the wage bill was and that was an untenable position both for Randy and the club's long-term future, thus the desire to dial it back. We can debate issues of "Too much too fast" or what have you, but there is no doubt that this was necessary. That being said, money is there to be spent should PL ask for it, but the player needs to fit within the wage structure. The transfer fee is not the issue (assuming it is not too extravagant), but the weekly wages need to be in line with the long-term fiscal plan of the club. There is no sell-to-buy policy, per se, but it is no secret that there are players the club would like off the books. Even if those players are not shipped off, this would *not* preclude more purchases by the end of the window. If a desire for fiscal sanity = disinterest, then I suppose Randy is no longer interested, but it could be argued that such measures demonstrate a greater interest in the future of the club than the wanton spending of the MON years. As many recognize, the game has changed a bit even since those days and, although Randy may be wealthy, he is not an oil baron. He was never going to outspend Man City and to try to do so would have brought the club to its knees.

I don't think anyone is failing to grasp the need for a more measured fiscal approach, it's clear and obvious.  However it is also fairly obvious that by cutting back too much too soon you run the obvious risk of relegation -  something of a fiscal disaster I'd say.  Lerner seems to be struggling to grasp that this is not the relegation free zone of NFL. If the wages are a problem now, try comparing them to the income streams of a relegated team.  We escaped it by the skin of our teeth last season, with fewer points than saw Blues relegated the previous season.    Running that risk last year made very little sense to me.  Running it again this year would be unadulterated idiocy.  Of course the manager is much better, but the squad clearly needs strengthening.  If Lambert is waiting of his own accord, so be it, but that should be made clear and any blame should we struggle can be duly apportioned.  If he's having to shift before buying, it's dangerous game being played by the owners.     

[Toronto Villa]

Carlos Cuellar was the anti-Spaniard. Seemingly the only player of that country that cannot pass a football. He'll be remembered as fondly by some as NRC is being. How the mind plays tricks.

[PeterWithesShin]

The way some folks seem to remember players, in 6 months time Heskey will have been nearly as good as Messi.

[ozzjim]

The Filbert Street Pele was better than Messi. Tsk.

[luke25]

Carlos Cuellar was the anti-Spaniard. Seemingly the only player of that country that cannot pass a football. He'll be remembered as fondly by some as NRC is being. How the mind plays tricks.

How apt that they should be compared together, after all they are the two players that were leaving us for Valencia and Napoli respectively but somehow ended up at Sunderland and Bolton.