Tayls

A mate of mine suggested in the summer that we were looking at Anderweireld from Ajax, but guess with how things have been going we wouldn't be able to attract him at the moment.

Bit of a shame if true.

He gone then do we recon?

Its very difficult to put a time on how long it takes, but improvement in our play is evident.

we now need to make that improvement in our play pay dividends in terms of points/results.

WBA have been through a similar transition, they have always played decent football just couldn't turn it in to results..now they are.

patience is a virtue.

We havnt been playing decent football for a good few years though? So if WBA have always played that way, that suggests we have one heck of a long way to go. With teams improving around us constantly, how much time can we really afford to be patient?

I am happy with things at the moment though, the better football and the younger hungry players wanting to actually play some ball.

I think we should all sing a song.... Something a little different, see if it gives us good fortune...

I'll start,..

It was Christmas Eve babe....

Oh god don't say that! When teams are there for the taking - we balls it up!

Made any attempts on goal yet?

Was the dive in the box? ...was it actually a dive?

Why isn't Ireland playing!!

Oh for fudge sake!!!!!

....the rain is terrible.

I'm afraid it's inevitable. Obviously I'm hoping it doesnt happen! But, deep down i know it will...

Haha - who else is thinking QPR will get their first win of the season against us?

I think this is probably one of the best questions since my time on VT.

Another poster in a different thread stated fairly that our objective should be to get away from our previous four year cycle with average players on extortionate unsustainable wages. He was right, but i pointed out that if Lambert's philosophy of buying younger players from lower leagues and on the continent is successful and we do indeed pull away from the trap door, how long do you think it will be before players such as Benteke and Westwood will be cherry picked?

We are not Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal or Man City who can keep their younger players happy with the possibility of silverware or big wages so if they are successful they will leave and Lambert will replace those young players with more young players and the cycle starts again. While this continues, what chance do we have of any success? Are we to become another Crewe?

Its all very well and good to say that we are going to build a new vibrant young team but they simply aren't going to stay with us long enough to build a successful dynasty here. We won't pay enough and we won't be successful enough to keep them.

The only way i can see us ever gaining any success again is by implementing a juxtaposition of the two. Spending the right amount of money on experienced quality in the 26-30 range while introducing the younger players in and around that.

Lambert's philosophy might get us mid table mediocrity but we should and expect more from our future than that.

I think the solution is simple - find the core, have an awesome season and surprise a few people by finishing 4th. That is how you keep the better players and then add to them with more quality from wherever to keep going forward.

That is not to say that we won't lose our key players along the way, but it is important to keep going until, actually, we have something and just might be able to upset a few people.

We almost had that... Almost. If we had got 4th in one of those seasons where we finished 6th under MON, I think our conversations on here would be very different.

.....we start again, but be a little bit more intelligent with money/wages along the way.

Were you not happy with the 3 6th placed finishes under O'Neil? If you say no your a liar. Who was in charge during those 3 years? Who spend the money to bring in Young, Milner and Downing?

It wasn't until there was a disagreement presumably to do with wages that people started to turn. He made a mistake with letting MON spend big on wages and he is determined to not have that happen again. With the way players are at the moment, thank god because the ones that think they have made it are a bunch of tossers and don't deserve rediculous money. I like our approach to signing young hungry players.

Not sure if anybody cares but....

I personally do not have one single thing against Lerner. For the past 2 seasons I have just attacked the managers for not doing their jobs properly, rather than criticising Lerner for the appointments. Actually, it was the managers and the players that I would pounce on.

I joined this forum around Xmas time when we had Houllier as manager, mainly so I could try to defend him as others were attacking him at 12 weeks into the job, but then I quickly turned as frustration got the better of me.

Against McLeish, I hated everything that he tried to do to the team, it really was one of the most terrible seasons I have experienced under him. But even then, I still never wanted Lerner out. I will always remember Lerners face when Bolton scored their second goal against us last season, he was leaning against the wall of the tunnel and his exp<b></b>ression told a thousand words.

There is something about him, something which makes me think that actually, all he wants is for us to do well, he is desperate for success, but not so desperate in that he needs it right this very second... Instead he wants to see us grow, properly, into something massive, something which fans all over will take note and say "look what they have managed to achieve under that guy"...

Is it really wrong of him to want to get the wages in order? I personally bloody love it when I see people like Heskey leave who are earning about £50k a week for being dog shit. I think lerner is happy as well! There are still a couple more to go, an when that day comes then it really will be a clean slate, because everyone else looks as though they are willing to do some work for us.

He has spent money too, wow, how much this summer for some young up and coming players with a couple from europe? This is a man who people claim doesn't give a flying duck about us. He has now sold his fathers sporting franchise for a few hundred million quid, and I honestly think some of that money will be coming our way.

Lerner is gonna be great for us, I really do believe that.

We really were awesome wernt we. Eventually.

Love the way the Holte looks back then.

Bring back the older badges!!!!

Recon we will go big?

Go big or go home I say...

People are saying we are only 12 games in, etc. But, look it at this way, 12 games is (pretty much) 1/3 of the season. That means we only have 2x the amount of games that we have played already, where we have been freaking crap, to avoid relegation and 'get it right'.

In that first 3rd, we have amassed 9 points. 9 POINTS from a possible 36!!! I am fairly certain that come next Monday we will have the same amount of points, but this time it will be from a possible 39 and mathematically speaking we will already be into our 2/3 of the season.

Relegation is very much on at the moment guys, and people need to accept it.

I am not on the list of people who want Lambert gone already in the hope of a quick fix. I'm very much on board with the long term vision of the club.

If there are going to be any quick fix's it will be the playing staff that is adjusted. Hopefully.

It's inconceivable to me to even contemplate the implications of sacking Lambert - ever.

He has started something here and I want him to finish it. I like his ambition and his philosophy. I think that, believe it or not, it's on a similar wavelength to Mr Lerners and that is why, eventually, this could work out.

Whilst I think there is a very strong possibility of us being relegated, (with the lack of points to matches played, it is hard to consider otherwise), lambert in the long run will be good for our club. We need a SAF around the place, someone with a little authority and someone we can be proud of for years! A new manager every season is rediculous and not the way forward at all. Deep down we all know this. Don't we?

Whilst we are still trying to figure our selves out we need to bring in 'experience' with 'quality'...

We need these players to be warriors. That is exactly what we need. I look at players like, Bannan, for example... Whilst he is a good little player, he is not a warrior that we can rely on to help us out of the shite that we are stuck in. He is more of a luxury, someone who we can add in once we have established ourselves as a team that isn't frigging awful. Add him in amongst our proper core.

Until we have these sorts of players in our team, and we realise that we are not going to go anywhere fast with our current lineup... We will continue to be having discussions such as this.

Sign some bloody warriors.

....we're gonna be relegated arnt we.

I don't know if we have enough to stay up or not.

I don't want Lambert to be fired even if we are relegated.

So where does this put me at the moment? Am I one of the ones who deserves to be yelled at for fearing we will go down? Or am I someone who is allowed to share an opinion without being ridiculed?

Yeaa more positives to be taken out of the game today. Another defeat and complete collapse again by the looks of things - taken us to the relegation zone.

Yes it was a bad penalty decision - but this 'heads down' excuse is **** bullshit. What about the fans that paid to go and watch that? They do not pay to see the players have their heads down.

Pathetic excuse of a team/squad.

same bet i offered to R Bear is on offer to you

£500 villa won't go down. put your money where your mouth is

Did R Bear accept the bet?

Gonna have a few derby games next season. Will the kids be up for it?

Unless bham get relegated too.

because there are more than enough signs that we'll be comfortable this season, and that we'll have plenty to build on in summer. of course obviously we have plenty of fans here who either don't watch matches, or haven't a clue what they're seeing, as evidenced by posts like yours

Mmm, yea things do look pretty good right now. Check out those signs.

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