Mark Brailsford considers Spanish imports

So Leonardo Ulloa has signed on the dotted line, meaning the Albion may have one of the best signings of their recent history on their hands. Or will they? Ulloa could be the next Zamora, or the next Turienzo depending on your glass half full or half empty nature. So, who is Leonardo Ulloa? According to a confused Scottish football fan of my acquaintance, he is not “Len from Alloa” nor is he that well known in Spain, hailing as he does from Spanish second division side, Almeria. His nickname is ‘The Cyclone’ which sounds almost as exciting a certain Spanish superstar’s nickname of ‘The Dagger’. (Although these days Vicente is more like one of those theatrical prop knives with the disappearing blade that vanishes into the hilt, than a rapier.)

“Nor is he that well known in Spain, hailing from Spanish second division side, Almeria”

What’s in a name?
‘The Cyclone’ in Spanish usually has an ‘El’ in place of ‘the’ as in El Tel for Terry Venables, so a phonetic spelling of ‘The Cyclone’ in Spanish may sound like this: “El – Sick-Lone-Ay” which one hopes is not a harbinger of his proneness to injury like our beloved retractable Dagger. Arguably, his most useful asset will be his ability to do something our strikers don’t do often enough – take their chances. But his value to the team may be more subtle that that, it may be his prowess and touch when the ball comes at him with his back to goal that matters more. The inability of the current forwards to hold the ball and bring in the midfield is what has been lacking at times, often giving away precious possession, which Gus Poyet loves to bits. So, it may not be his goal to game ratio that matters as much as seeing other players now scoring more often thanks to his all round play, which would definitely make Albion a formidable team in the race for a play-off place. All in all, the Albion’s new striker has all the right attributes – strong, tall, good in the air, can hold the ball up and score goals. But, and this is for you glass half empty types, they said that about Richard Tiltman, and look how that turned out.