MikeMcKenna

Firstly I hold Lerner ultimately responsible for our current state. However when PL accepted the job it is reasonable (based on what we have seen) to believe that he was informed of the spending/wage constraints and given a budget. He then chose to go overseas/ to the lower leagues to bring in a bunch of players, who were not proven Premier League standard and simultaneously made it clear to several experienced players that they were not in his future plans. His plan has backfired, not enough of the new recruits are good enough, and if the so called HairyHands is telling the truth he is now trying correct things by adding back more experience BUT Lerner etc are saying no to higher paid players. I have no reason to dis-believe this latest ITK but if true I find it absolutely amazing that potentially the Manager or someone close to him only 6 months after joining the club thinks it is neccessary to use online forums to get his side of the story over almost in an attempt to get support from the fans to pressure the board or at least take the flak away from PL. You may disagree, but it does seem that there is already conflict at the club. FWIW i have lost much confidence in PL but also think RL signed him and has to bite the bullet and support him financially or we are going DOWN!

Despite my anger at last nights result, I accept that sacking PL will not change anything in the short term, but i am amazed that you portray him as some kind of "messiah" that will "fix us for a generation". Where is the actual evidence now or from the past that he has what it takes to make us a better Premiership team? The "long term project" that you talk of is based on RL running the club on a shoestring and PL buying in lower league and cheap foreign players. This in my opinion is a very high risk strategy that is more likely to f**k us up for a generation.

Don't see why an opposite interpretation doesn't make just as much sense...... If we lose on Saturday we are in deep shit. If we do not get the right result against Bradford we will be further humiliated. I do not understand why the positive interpretation is "a bit of sense" whereas the reverse isn't it. As it stands & based on form alone there is every chance these will go against us.

Actually being CONSISTENTLY bad lately as a manager IS the main problem. Sadly if PL cannot add some decent players in January, I think it is academic whether he is manager or not. I am all for backing a manager who shows us glimpses of great things to come but I just cannot see it happening. All that said , the main culprit for our current mess is Lerner but Lambert took the job and may have promised more than he can deliver.

We need a miracle to lift things...

I think you are in cloud cuckoo land. Its not just tonight is it? We have had an absolutely appalling last 3/4 weeks, with humiliations after humiliation. Lambert has proved sweet FA, quite the reverse and even if we scrape a win at VP I would like to see him gone. I can assure you it is not just Villa Talk where the fans are up in arms - at the game there 1000s of really pissed off fans. If we lose against Southampton on Saturday that may be the straw that breaks the camels back. The fans have been incredibly patient with Lambert & Lerner but they won't take much more.

Travelled over 250 miles to get to Bradford earlier this evening and am now holed up in a hotel on the M1. I have suffered many humiliating defeats following Villa but that was one of the worst. I want Lambert, Lerner and most of this squad out NOW! However the reality is that that isn't going to happen despite this being the worst team I have ever seen in AVFC shirts. But at the end of the day, the buck stops with Lambert. He got the formation and tactics totally wrong AGAIN. He signed the crap players from the lower leagues who looked out of their depth against a league two team. We may have had loads of shots on target but they were the better team and deserved the win. For any of you who think relegation may give us chance to regroup and bounce straight back, think again. If we go down we will be down for a while. Lambert and Lerner have well and truly **** Aston Villa Football Club - shame on you!

I really rate Bowery and think he may surprise many. As for Lambert using him to send a message to Bent, I don't think so. What ever the deal is Bent obviously doesn't fit in Lambert's plans and will be off either this month or at the end of the season.

Easy :-)

Hi Ho!

That's ok then.....

The weather at VP is rather unpredictable !

And to think I was feeling guilty about not making the trip today. When is this nightmare going to end? Slaughtered by Chelsea, Spurs & Wigan, lucky to get a draw at Swansea, now this......

Same here - makes me wonder why i am undertaking a 6-7 hour journey & over night stay to potentially see us humiliated!

Haven't you heard "self flagellation"?

Who gives a shit - if we lose at home to Ipswich we will be the bigger laughing stock

Maybe my memory is dodgy but I seem to remember some years ago there being claims on here that Lescott had to leave the Birmingham area for "personal reasons" - can anyone recall the story?

I may have spare adult ticket £25 - pm me if interested Mike

Really? very strange!

Read it again ...... I said "to a degree" - we also scored 2 goals. After the Christmas we have had, this is a positive result.

Stopped the rot to a degree but the problems are still there for all to see. At times we were really bad and 1-2 would have massively flattered us. We have absolutely no leaders on the pitch!

WTF is Delph doing? He bollocks Wiemann for getting an unneccessary booking then does the same himself. 2nd half they will wind up Wiemann & Delph - we will bevery lucky to finish without 1 or 2 reds.

Ok, but when you were told about "backing" in the summer, did you realise that said "backing" was probably based on bringing in players on Championship wages? I am no backer of the wages premiership player get BUT if we are going to compete (even survive) Lerner has to accept the reality the you generally get what you pay for. Even if Lambert gets another £17 million in January there is a possibility that he will go trawling the lower leagues or for cheap foreigners again.

Mark I also have doubts about sufficient funds being made available. Lerner is now in a mess of his own making. He clearly employed Lambert on the basis that wages must fall dramatically as a % of turnover in the hope that one day he get some of his money back. IF he agrees to fund the purchase of better quality/experienced players his wage plan is out of the window.

I think there are very few who are calling for Lambert to go and also think that he is not going to walk or be sacked. in reality we have little choice but to back Lambert & hope Lerner in turn gives him backing in January.