Mantis Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 To be fair I thought we passed the ball well on Sunday. Did a pretty good job of retaining possession in the second half as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TrentVilla Posted March 5, 2014 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2014 For me the crux of it at the moment is that we have a team that is capable of playing decent football, creating chances and that is able to defend. What we don't have is a team that can do this consistently, week in week out, regardless of form, of players absence through injury or the opposition. Part of that is confidence, which continues it seems to be fragile in this group of players perhaps due to their age and inexperience but the other part is to have that consistency you need better players and those cost money, more money than we tend to spend on individual players. People can say "but Lambert's spent £40m" but the fact remains we pay low fee's for individual players and while there might be the odd gem out there, more often than not you get what you pay for. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 (edited) Just off the top of my head, this was the basis of the squad for the season prior to Lambert. Given Guzan Cuellar Hutton Warnock Stevens Dunne Collins Lichaj Clark Baker Ireland Bannan Gardner Petrov Makoun Carruthers Herd N’Zogbia Delfouneso Bent Heskey Agbonlahor Once we remove the unwanted, high wages and not good enough, it is easy to see 40m could never replace a whole team and squad players. 15 players needed, so that is less than £3m for each player. Edited March 5, 2014 by dodgyknees 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TrentVilla Posted March 5, 2014 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted March 5, 2014 Indeed. I actually think Lambert will have done well if he keeps us in the PL 2 years running on that basis. That doesn't mean I'm happy with where we are, what we are doing, how we are playing or every decision he makes but in the context of the above I'm not sure many people could have done much better. Yet I'm sure many more could have done far far worse. 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Indeed. I actually think Lambert will have done well if he keeps us in the PL 2 years running on that basis. That doesn't mean I'm happy with where we are, what we are doing, how we are playing or every decision he makes but in the context of the above I'm not sure many people could have done much better. Yet I'm sure many more could have done far far worse. Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 People can say "but Lambert's spent £40m" but the fact remains we pay low fee's for individual players and while there might be the odd gem out there, more often than not you get what you pay for. Not £20m then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 5, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted March 5, 2014 Lambert is clueless at organising defences, luckily we have an excellent keeper and Vlaar has really stepped up this season it hasn't been too bad. So Lambert got blamed last season for the defence, this year we've conceded a lot less but it's just down to the players? HIlarious, especially considering it was Lambert who signed Vlaar and, arguably, Guzan! We still don't look like we're capable of keeping a clean sheet when we play anyone in the top half... 2 conceded v Southampton] 2 conceded v Spurs 3 conceded v Everton 3 conceded v man united 3 conceded v Arsenal 3 conceded v Liverpool 3 conceded v Newcastle Anyone spot a pattern? This season at least we haven't shipped a huge amount v bottom half teams but when we can start nicking a clean sheet or two against the better teams in the league like say Stoke and West Ham are capable of then I'd say yes Lambert is starting to organise a defence. This has nothing to do with your original post. You were the one who said the defence had improved, I never said either way. I just fond it funny that you credited the improvement solely to the players, and totally discredited the manager, even though it was he who signed those players (and currently manage them, fwiw) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lions_Roar Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Indeed. I actually think Lambert will have done well if he keeps us in the PL 2 years running on that basis. That doesn't mean I'm happy with where we are, what we are doing, how we are playing or every decision he makes but in the context of the above I'm not sure many people could have done much better. Yet I'm sure many more could have done far far worse. I agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lions_Roar Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Lambert is clueless at organising defences, luckily we have an excellent keeper and Vlaar has really stepped up this season it hasn't been too bad. So Lambert got blamed last season for the defence, this year we've conceded a lot less but it's just down to the players? HIlarious, especially considering it was Lambert who signed Vlaar and, arguably, Guzan! We still don't look like we're capable of keeping a clean sheet when we play anyone in the top half... 2 conceded v Southampton] 2 conceded v Spurs 3 conceded v Everton 3 conceded v man united 3 conceded v Arsenal 3 conceded v Liverpool 3 conceded v Newcastle Anyone spot a pattern? This season at least we haven't shipped a huge amount v bottom half teams but when we can start nicking a clean sheet or two against the better teams in the league like say Stoke and West Ham are capable of then I'd say yes Lambert is starting to organise a defence. What does this have to do with your original point? And I'd be surprised if many of the teams around us had kept clean sheets against the top half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David-Copenhagen Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 For me the crux of it at the moment is that we have a team that is capable of playing decent football, creating chances and that is able to defend. What we don't have is a team that can do this consistently, week in week out, regardless of form, of players absence through injury or the opposition. Part of that is confidence, which continues it seems to be fragile in this group of players perhaps due to their age and inexperience but the other part is to have that consistency you need better players and those cost money, more money than we tend to spend on individual players. People can say "but Lambert's spent £40m" but the fact remains we pay low fee's for individual players and while there might be the odd gem out there, more often than not you get what you pay for. The Danish Institute for sports has made a report proofing that 80% of all football games can be predicted according to the number of money spend. In short 80% of the time the rich clubs win. It is not surprising, but still very sad. Not much anyone can do to change that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botak Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 (edited) For me the crux of it at the moment is that we have a team that is capable of playing decent football, creating chances and that is able to defend. What we don't have is a team that can do this consistently, week in week out, regardless of form, of players absence through injury or the opposition. Part of that is confidence, which continues it seems to be fragile in this group of players perhaps due to their age and inexperience but the other part is to have that consistency you need better players and those cost money, more money than we tend to spend on individual players. People can say "but Lambert's spent £40m" but the fact remains we pay low fee's for individual players and while there might be the odd gem out there, more often than not you get what you pay for. The Danish Institute for sports has made a report proofing that 80% of all football games can be predicted according to the number of money spend. In short 80% of the time the rich clubs win. It is not surprising, but still very sad. Not much anyone can do to change that. When it comes to money, wage bill is more consequential than transfer fees. Wish we would buy 1 decent player instead of 3 shit ones though. Edited March 6, 2014 by botak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danceoftheshamen Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 (edited) Just off the top of my head, this was the basis of the squad for the season prior to Lambert. Given Guzan Cuellar Hutton Warnock Stevens Dunne Collins Lichaj Clark Baker Ireland Bannan Gardner Petrov Makoun Carruthers Herd N’Zogbia Delfouneso Bent Heskey Agbonlahor Once we remove the unwanted, high wages and not good enough, it is easy to see 40m could never replace a whole team and squad players. 15 players needed, so that is less than £3m for each player. That's basically bordering on a complete annihilation of the squad and some of those have not been replaced or have been replaced with novices... It's actually incredible that we are still a Premier League team... We basically did a Leeds but managed to do it whilst remaining a Premier League team (Assuming we still are come May that is) which is surely testament to the size of this club... How many other clubs could do that? Not many i'd wager. Edited March 6, 2014 by danceoftheshamen 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted March 6, 2014 Moderator Share Posted March 6, 2014 I never ever claimed his total spend was £20m Risso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 (edited) Indeed. I actually think Lambert will have done well if he keeps us in the PL 2 years running on that basis. That doesn't mean I'm happy with where we are, what we are doing, how we are playing or every decision he makes but in the context of the above I'm not sure many people could have done much better. Yet I'm sure many more could have done far far worse. Yep this is what I said after the Newcastle game. Not many managers could do a better job then what Lambert is currently doing. If Mourinho was in charge of the club, I honestly believe we would be in a similar position to what we are now. Lambert deserves and needs our support. I want him to stay at the club. Edited March 6, 2014 by Voinjama Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I never ever claimed his total spend was £20m Risso. Oh yes you did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted March 6, 2014 Moderator Share Posted March 6, 2014 No Risso I didn't. I said I thought his spending was around £30m based upon the reported fee's and the comments made by the manager himself. I have never claimed his total spend was £20m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Oh goodie, panto! My turn my turn, OH YES YOU DID! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Oh goodie, panto! My turn my turn, OH YES YOU DID! I did actually laugh out loud to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 The best move I saw all season was against Sunderland on Jan 1st, it was a combination of 10-15 passes (perhaps more) and it was played out wide to Albrighton who skied his shot when he should of scored. Of course this team can pass the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 True but at that point Sunderland were chasing the game so they were all over the place. We have done it a few times during more normal game conditions but not many. We did it in the carling cup when delph scored. That is the last one I can remember. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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