[Archived] Blackburn Sign Chilean Superstar Carlos Villanueva

[RevidgeBlue]

Thought id be the first to spread the good news!!

although i'd say the journo put a spin on it! i hope!!

**** me the Daily Mail again!

Why do they hate us so much?

That said it has occurred to me that Villenueva may not want to exercise the signing option unless he is getting a fair crack at the first team.

[tonyoz]

That is a damning disgrace of the Ince regime.

This was something the Hughes set-up got right with foreign players signing for Rovers.

92er, you are absolutely right that for an industry that invests so many millions on individuals, football is down in the Ricky Gervais league of managing them and getting the best out of them.

Don't tell me you actually believe this cack?

[bluebruce]

Probably journos spinning something meant light heartedly...but he does need to be more careful of the press. Interesting how NOW they give him a big article huh?

What I don't get though, is if he's lonely and eating frozen food...why doesn't he fly his girlfriend over (If he has one) and buy some proper food? He complains about the lack of beef pasties...has nobody told him we sell them here?

[philipl]

Don't tell me you actually believe this cack?

The Daily Mail no.

The Chilean interview- sadly yes.

[tonyoz]

The Daily Mail no.

The Chilean interview- sadly yes.

Do you have a link?

[CrazyIvan]

The Daily Mail no.

The Chilean interview- sadly yes.

They don't seem to be mutually exclusive in this context because nobody has come up with the original article.

[tonyoz]

They don't seem to be mutually exclusive in this context because nobody has come up with the original article.

So we are relying on the Mail's translation? We have seen the worthlessness of that already this season. Where is our Chilean fan when we need him?

[Majiball]

So he's homesick what a shock. A young lad of 22 moves half way around the world and is finding life over here difficult to adapt too.

He barely speaks the language and so will probably just stand there listening desperately trying to keep up with whats being said, of course he is going to pine for home. He will miss all the things that he has know for 22 years, our culture is completely different and I'll wager the local accent makes it even harder for him to understand what is going on around him. In these situations who wouldn't feel lonely, left out?

I'm not at all surprised by this article, you see plenty of them in football when youngsters move over here to play. He will have low confidence at the moment because he is unable to completely be a part of the team. It will change I am sure he has an English teacher, his confidence/self-belief will grow the more he learns the language. Once he able to understand whats going on around him he'll be fine.

[tonyoz]

So he's homesick what a shock. A young lad of 22 moves half way around the world and is finding life over here difficult to adapt too.

He barely speaks the language and so will probably just stand there listening desperately trying to keep up with whats being said, of course he is going to pine for home. He will miss all the things that he has know for 22 years, our culture is completely different and I'll wager the local accent makes it even harder for him to understand what is going on around him. In these situations who wouldn't feel lonely, left out?

I'm not at all surprised by this article, you see plenty of them in football when youngsters move over here to play. He will have low confidence at the moment because he is unable to completely be a part of the team. It will change I am sure he has an English teacher, his confidence/self-belief will grow the more he learns the language. Once he able to understand whats going on around him he'll be fine.

Yes and Ince has already commented on how he empathises with him after his time in Milan. You have to think that Ince would have taken steps to make him feel at home......and there are other Spanish speaking South Americans at the club.

[bennyboyt11]

hope the skysports article isnt true

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11676_4256226,00.html

[Hughesy]

Taken out of context and had a spin put onto it. Why even believe the rubbish. The bit about Zamora, language issue and driving on the other side were all in a recent Rovers interview. He also mentioned being in his appartment alot. Bits have just been added by someone to make it go sound bad!

[Amo]

I could see the 'Zamorano' remark being said with a smile on his face. I don't think it's supposed to be taken seriously at all, except for tabloid spin doctoring.

[M-K]

I want to know where he buys 'deep frozen pasta' from.

[Exiled in Toronto]

That is a damning disgrace of the Ince regime.

This was something the Hughes set-up got right with foreign players signing for Rovers.

The Ince regime? I would have thought that new players domestic arrangements came under the remit of your much-praised executive team at Ewood, not the man in the tracksuit.

Also, Hughes, as far as I can recollect, never signed a player who didnt speakadalingo or who hadnt already played in a country other than home, so his et-up only got it right by avoiding the problem altogether.

[Eddie]

Aw, Phil, for someone so bright you have taken a non-story so seriously. Surely no one actually thinks his comment about Ince annoying him was serious? I'm sure life is tough for him at the moment, but he also has a couple friends there in the Santa Cruz brothers who I am sure are telling him that he'll settle in eventually. Santa Cruz admitted he struggled at first when he lived in a hotel. Samba said he hated it here when he came on trial. It's not easy when you suddenly find yourself somewhere new with no one to fall back on.

[QOTSA]

Here's the link to Las Ultimas Noticias - a magazine in Chile that had the original interview with Villanueva. Scroll down and it's on the left-hand side.

I really would not worry about this. Some things he's quoted as saying he didn't even say.

Here's a more reliable take on the story . http://setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Foo...space/football/

[QOTSA]

Here's the link to Las Ultimas Noticias - a magazine in Chile that had the original interview with Villanueva. Scroll down and it's on the left-hand side.

I really would not worry about this. Some things he's quoted as saying he didn't even say.

Here's a more reliable take on the story . http://setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Foo...space/football/

[tonyoz]

Here's the link to Las Ultimas Noticias - a magazine in Chile that had the original interview with Villanueva. Scroll down and it's on the left-hand side.

I really would not worry about this. Some things he's quoted as saying he didn't even say.

Here's a more reliable take on the story . http://setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Foo...space/football/

Thanks for that link. As I suspected Hughsey and Elijah had it spot on.

Philipl, I reckon you fell for it!

[Ninjathunder]

That is a damning disgrace of the Ince regime.

Absolutely. Making him drive a right hand drive car is truly horrible. And well as for making him play in a competitive league, well..... Damn you Ince!

[gumboots]

Here's the link to Las Ultimas Noticias - a magazine in Chile that had the original interview with Villanueva. Scroll down and it's on the left-hand side.

I really would not worry about this. Some things he's quoted as saying he didn't even say.

Here's a more reliable take on the story . http://setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Foo...space/football/

sounds much more like he was talking on the big screen on saturday. How you say things makes a lot of difference. Say it with a smile on your face and everyone knows it's tongue in cheek. Report it without the smile and suddenly it's a big deal.

[Ninjathunder]

I've posted a response on the Daily Mail's site about it but I won't hold me breath as regards them publishing it. Pure bile from cover to cover.

[CrazyIvan]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_4257610,00.html

...and it proves to be a work of journo-fiction from the Mail yet again. All of you who were taken in need to have your bumps felt.

I've also posted on the Mails site twice and they just don't publish the comments.

[waggy]

i'm sure carlos will become a regular,and signed in jan

[chileandude]

Hi guys, sorry for the delay...

I think most of you guys got it immediately. This is just a spin job. As for LUN (las ultimas noticias)...they are similar to 'The Sun' in Chile. So don't put too much credit on what you read there anyway.

I'll translate a bit of the article:

Religiously, each time he goes to training, Carlos Villanueva takes his car and drives the 50 kilometers that separate Manchester, where he lives, with Blackburn, where the training camp is located. It's almost a 40 min journey for the Rovers player.

'Since most of my teammates live in Manchester I decided to take an apartment on the south zone of the city. Almost no one lives in Blackburn. Besides the training camp is not in the actual city so the journey doesn't bother me at all', says Villanueva who admits the difficulties of getting accustomed to driving a car in the island. 'The first week was a pain (he actually said 'parto' which translates to 'labour' as in 'going into labour'). I'm not used to having the wheel on the right'.

The new life of the 'Pinapple' Villanueva in England doesn't have anything extraordinary. 'The fact that I can't speak English, not being able to communicate, restricts me in many aspects. So because of this I spend a lot of time in the apartment watching television', says the ex Audio player, who in these first months has counted with the help of his team mate, Paraguayan international, Roque Santa Cruz: 'He, his brother and his family have behaved a 7' ('a 7' is a Chilean expression meaning 'perfectly'. In Chile school grades are from 1 to 7) 'They invite me often so that I don't feel so lonely'.

>The only thing you are missing is that you start speaking Guarani (Paraguayan native language) and become a fanatic of terere (Paraguayan tea?).

'No, not that. In fact, they made me taste some and I didn't like it. So not a chance.' (he probably said this with a smile but the newspaper didn't put it probably because it was a phone interview.')

>And how do you manage when you are alone?

'I'm just eating frozen food. You can't imagine how I missed the empanadas (Chilean food, delicious!) and the barbecue for the 18th (Chilean Independence day is celebrated on the 18th of September) 'Luckily I have lunch in the club, but at night...just frozen pasta. That said, I don't abuse it, since I have a tendency to gain weight, I take care. Over here, you can't give advantages.

'Pineapple' Villanueva admits that at the beginning it was hard to adapt to English football. 'It's really difficult to keep with the rhythm. You run a lot more and the rivals are stronger', explains the player, who had to wait almost two months to be a starter in a Premier League match: 'You teammates make you feel the rigor even in training. There they are not afraid of kicking you as if you were a rival'.

>Franco Di Santo (former team mate at Audax Italiano who now plays for Chelsea) said there is no time to wink.

'It's true. Here I play as a striker, so I'm in permanent contact. I laugh when I see my feet covered in cuts and bruises. But I don't complain. It's the price for being here, so I shut up. In the changing room everyone is the same conditions.

--- The foot note at the bottom of the article.

Carlitos and his curious relationship with Paul Ince

The tallitas about Zamorano ('Tallitas' or 'Talla' roughly translates to 'jokes' but since it's Chilean slang the best translation would be 'Taking the mic' about Zamorano)

From the difficulty to speak and understand English, Carlos Villanueva confesses that in these almost two months he hasn't had too much dialog with manager Paul Ince. And the few times the coach refers to him personally is to throw some sort of joke. 'He always bothers me with Zamorano. You can tell they got along when they played together at Inter.' Noted the Chilean (again, he was probably smiling when he said this)

>Ince admitted the other day that you were a talented player but that you can only hold for 60 minutes.

It's because little-by-little I have to get used to the rhythm of this league. They play a very physical football, where you have to run a lot.

-----------------------------------------------

Phew...that's it.

[Mark Atkins' Bald Patch]

Hi guys, sorry for the delay...

Thanks for that mr. dude ... hopefully that should clear this up.

I'm impressed with Carlos, but whether he'll have done enough by January to warrant an outlay of £5m remains to be seen.