[Albion] Colunga leaves

nwgull said:

I've pointed out a couple of times, albeit slightly toungue in cheek, that Stephens was a Burke signing - Oscar certainly didn't scout him! If he continues the form he's in this year, it may even offset the **** ups on Kemy and Colunga!

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Ernest said:

Just imagine if we were singing foreign nobodies like Colunga 40 years ago we would never have singed Peter Ward, why give a lower league striker a chance when you can sing rubbish like Colunga. Vardy has proved you can still step up from Non League to the Prem

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nwgull said:

I've pointed out a couple of times, albeit slightly toungue in cheek, that Stephens was a Burke signing - Oscar certainly didn't scout him! If he continues the form he's in this year, it may even offset the **** ups on Kemy and Colunga!

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Thunder Bolt said:

I still reckon that was more to do with Nathan Jones, who came to us from Charlton, than Burke.

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Thunder Bolt said:

I still reckon that was more to do with Nathan Jones, who came to us from Charlton, than Burke.

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Stat Brother said:

That doesn't matter.

The point is 'we' can't label all the piss poor signings as evidence of Burke's abject failure.
But with exactly the same amount of proof accredit all the quality signings to someone else.

As and when Walton or Ince are big money targets we'll get the 'infinite monkey' line again, god forbid anyone writes:-

'That was a bloody good signing by Burke'.

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nwgull said:

I've pointed out a couple of times, albeit slightly toungue in cheek, that Stephens was a Burke signing - Oscar certainly didn't scout him! If he continues the form he's in this year, it may even offset the **** ups on Kemy and Colunga!

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nwgull said:

Don't worry, I'm just waiting for the game where Stephens and Baldock both get on the scoresheet and Stockdale pulls off a couple of saves to keep a clean sheet!

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Stat Brother said:

It's all very tongue in cheek, only a madman would go into bat for Burke.
I just don't get the need to hammer the guy when it suits while flatly ignore the positives all after the bloke was sacked.

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ADRIAN COLUNGA has blamed “misunderstandings” between Albion and his agents for a wasted half-season.

But the Spanish frontrunner is convinced he was good enough to have played for the high-flying Seagulls this term.

Colunga’s frustrating and somewhat bewildering stint with the Seagulls ended on Wednesday afternoon when the club announced his contract had been terminated by mutual consent.

He is now free to find a prospective new employer although he will not be able to sign and play for them until the January transfer window opens.

Colunga, one of a whirlwind array of signings brought in at the end of the summer window last year, arrived with a big reputation as a top-flight goal-getter in Spain.

He impressed with his neat technical skills but never really had a consistent run of games and found it difficult to find a niche in the English game.

All four of his goals came away from the Amex.

Frustratingly, perhaps his best performance for the club, playing just behind Darren Bent at home to Fulham, ended in a petulant sending off after he had received an unfortunate first yellow.

Having flitted in and out of the team, he suddenly found himself a central part in the two games under caretaker Nathan Jones.

But opportunities decreased when Chris Hughton took charge and an injury-hindered loan stint at Granada did not lead to a more permanent move.

There were suggestions from Spain during the summer that Colunga’s contract with the Seagulls, which was due to run until next summer, could be cut short.

Instead he is now free for the first time in his career at a time when he cannot sign for a new club.

Colunga told The Argus: “The biggest loser in all this was me.

“I’ve now got to wait until January before I can join a club.

“I’m not happy with how things worked out. I wish the club and my agents had done this better.

“Chris Hughton always said I was a good player and trained well so anybody would ask why I didn’t play.

“My position is incomprehensible really.

“I don’t know what I can do. I believe I could have played for this team and I was perfectly capable of starting for this team.”

The explanation for inconsistencies between Hughton’s comments about Colunga’s talent and his reluctance to use him is that the boss did not feel his style suited the way he wanted to play.

“Adrian was somebody that worked hard in training and was a very good professional and is a player with talent,” Hughton said of a player he inherited when he arrived at the club.

“In the system that I played I think it was hard for him to get into my plans.

“That’s never a reaction on the player. A player can be elsewhere and do well, it’s just a case of being the right fit.

“For what I saw I’ve got others in front of him.”

Perhaps the surprise was the timing Colunga’s release - probably at least six weeks later than expected.

The player will spend a week in Brighton tying up personal matters such as his flat and car.

It is understood two top-flight Spanish clubs were interested in his services during the summer.

The 30-year-old is confident of being back in football by the start of 2016 - but not necessarily in Spain.

He said: “I will re-invent myself as a player. I have to make a decision regarding my future.

“Ideally I would like to find a new club and start training straight away before signing for them in January.

“I will go back to Spain unless something else turns up.

“Where would I like to play? For a club who want to sign me and who have confidence in me.

“I have a lot of football left in me.

“I feel phenomenally good physically.

“It’s strange. It is the first time I have ever been a free agent in my career.


“Clubs have paid big fees for me three times.

“I’ve been transferred for three million euros twice and 1.5million euros last summer.”

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nwgull said:

Stephens was a Burke signing - Oscar certainly didn't scout him! If he continues the form he's in this year, it may even offset the **** ups on Kemy and Colunga!

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El Presidente said:

What intrigues me is that he inferred he cost the Albion €1.5 million.

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GingerBeerMan said:

Why does that irritate you?

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El Presidente said:

What intrigues me is that he inferred he cost the Albion €1.5 million.

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El Presidente said:

According to Spanish Clunge, €1.5 million. The official price was 'undisclosed'.

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El Presidente said:

Doesn't irritate me, it's not my money.

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GingerBeerMan said:

Sorry, read that as irritate, not intrigue.

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