Carlos Cuellar

[Bluedell 5,356]

Now that we are back in our rightful place, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the Carlos Cuellar transfer again and the many questions it raises.

 

The facts

 

1. We are told by the club that he had a release clause in his contract and he asked for a transfer.

 

2. We had absolutely no cash during the transfer window that we could even afford to bring in a loan signing, so if Cuellar had not been sold we would not have been able to bring in Davis and Mendes (and Edu).

 

Some may argue that this is an opinion, but having studied the accounts I don't think that there is any doubt it is a fact.

 

Where would we be if he had not gone?

 

In my mind there is no way we would have been able to afford Davis, Mendes and Edu had we not sold Cuellar. I believe that the plan was always to buy them, but either with the Champions League cash or the proceeds from the sale of Cuellar as any available cash had already been spent on Lafferty, Miller, Velicka and latterly Bougherra.

 

Our domestic defensive record has been good, and is the best in the league, and would probably not be a lot better had Cuellar still been here.

 

However I shudder to think what our midfield would be like without Mendes and Davis, and I think that the football that has been played this season, while not being great, would be a hell of a lot worse without the pair of them and Celtic would be running away with the league at this point.

 

Did Cuellar actually want to leave?

 

After we got knocked out of europe the club's website went out of its way to stress that the club had received no offers for Cuellar. Why did it do that? Was it code to let others know that we were open to offers?

 

It was obvious to everyone who witnessed the Kaunus debacle that we needed at least 2 midfielders and but it seems that we needed cash to be able to buy anyone and Cuellar was our most sellable asset.

 

Cuellar watched the Kaunus game from the directors' box. Unusual behaviour for someone who planned never to play another game for us.

 

I was totally disillisioned with the state of the club when we got knocked out of Kaunus, Perhaps Cuellar was too and thought "tae hell wi' this"? Perhaps he had been told that there would be no further signings while he was still at the club?

 

For me, there are too many unanswered questions just to assume that the club wanted Cuellar to stay and would not have sold him if he had been happy to stay.

 

Conclusion

 

We are top of the league and we would probably not be there had Cuellar not left, so I have to be thankful to him for that. There are unanswered questions as to whether he jumped or whether he was pushed. His performances were outstanding last season and our memorable trip to Manchester was due as much to him as anyone, if not more.

 

I don't have any bad feeling towards the big man and I wish him all the best in his future career and a part of him will always be "Carlos Cuellar, Rangers centre half".

[Frankie 8,186]

I think it is pretty simple.

 

We gambled on beating Kaunas and AN Other in order to get the CL money to buy midfielders and keep Cuellar interested.

 

When we were knocked out it suited both parties to sell.

 

Seems to have worked reasonably well so far even if Mendes, Davis and Edu have all to prove their long term worth for this bear. Bougherra has certainly proven to be an able replacement.

 

[Tannochsidebear 2,322]

The wholly frustrating thing about that whole debacle was its total avoidability.

 

Smith took our entire budget (�£6M) and blew it on 3 strikers, even though we already had Boyd, Novo, JCD, Cousin, Naismith and were employing a system where only 1 of which were getting played every week.

 

The 3 in question, (Miller, Lafferty, Velicka) have hardly set the world alight with only Miller making any kind of contribution, and only in patches at that.

 

The Mendes signing seemed to come out of the blue and doesn't look planned. We messed about with the Davis signing over a paltry difference in valuations. We were not genuinely linked with any other midfield players pre-Kaunas, and we went on to sign central midfielders, ignoring our obvious deficiences in wide areas.

 

The sale of Cuellar was totally avoidable, and with him partnering Bougherra, we would have been even stronger (no offence Davie, but your old legs are getting slower every week).

 

The blame for this lies squarely with the manager for getting his signing priorities completely wrong, and with the chairman for sanctioning his decisions, knowing full well he was blowing the whole budget on the one position.

[maineflyer 0]

The wholly frustrating thing about that whole debacle was its total avoidability.

 

Smith took our entire budget (�£6M) and blew it on 3 strikers, even though we already had Boyd, Novo, JCD, Cousin, Naismith and were employing a system where only 1 of which were getting played every week.

 

The 3 in question, (Miller, Lafferty, Velicka) have hardly set the world alight with only Miller making any kind of contribution, and only in patches at that.

 

The Mendes signing seemed to come out of the blue and doesn't look planned. We messed about with the Davis signing over a paltry difference in valuations. We were not genuinely linked with any other midfield players pre-Kaunas, and we went on to sign central midfielders, ignoring our obvious deficiences in wide areas.

 

The sale of Cuellar was totally avoidable, and with him partnering Bougherra, we would have been even stronger (no offence Davie, but your old legs are getting slower every week).

 

The blame for this lies squarely with the manager for getting his signing priorities completely wrong, and with the chairman for sanctioning his decisions, knowing full well he was blowing the whole budget on the one position.

Great post - succinct and 100% accurate. At one point it seemed as if our manager had completely lost his marbles, then it became apparent he had only lost the plot.

Edited February 23, 2009 by maineflyer

[Frankie 8,186]

I don't think anyone denies that Smith (and his seniors) were culpable over the signings in the last year. The Kaunas debacle could have put the club back another 5 years. We've been fortunate that Celtic have been so poor and their board similarly lacking in ambition/vision.

 

We can only hope that we have learned from this lesson. Somehow I doubt it.

 

However, we're top of the league so I look forward to us backing the team, winning the trophy and rebuilding the club from a position of strength as opposed to weakness.

[maineflyer 0]

I don't think anyone denies that Smith (and his seniors) were culpable over the signings in the last year. The Kaunas debacle could have put the club back another 5 years. We've been fortunate that Celtic have been so poor and their board similarly lacking in ambition/vision.

 

We can only hope that we have learned from this lesson. Somehow I doubt it.

 

However, we're top of the league so I look forward to us backing the team, winning the trophy and rebuilding the club from a position of strength as opposed to weakness.

 

That's surely the wish of us all. You wake up on a Monday and we're top of the pile. Our rivals appear to be a shambles and getting steadily worse. It feels bloody great tbh and I want to be full of enthusiasm for the run in and beyond. I'd actually like to think we are going to win this title. However, (and I genuinely hate this) I still feel this underlying trepidation that we are run on and off the field by old dogs with no new tricks. For that reason, the mistakes of the past will almost certainly be the mistakes of the future. This would be a wonderful time for real change, if only.

[Frankie 8,186]

We should get a sign this weekend.

 

Tricky away tie against the league's form team. The kind of game we've dropped points in recent seasons. A game we must win. A game where we should push out the chests, lift the heads and lay down a marker.

 

Surely we must take confidence from the last few weeks. We can win the league. Time to show the bottle and passion to do so.

[maineflyer 0]

We should get a sign this weekend.

 

Tricky away tie against the league's form team. The kind of game we've dropped points in recent seasons. A game we must win. A game where we should push out the chests, lift the heads and lay down a marker.

 

Surely we must take confidence from the last few weeks. We can win the league. Time to show the bottle and passion to do so.

 

You say that and I know why. There was a time when we made steamrollers at Ibrox - talent, self-belief and no one stood in our way. That's what made us Scotland's No 1 and is what I still expect. It is at the root of much of my frustration and disappointment with the current regime.

[ian1964 10,458]

The thing is on Saturday,I was disapointed that we never scored at least one more goal in the second half,however I am expecting the whole team to get a lift after the MOPES drew yesterday,we have the recipe for the players to go on a push for the title