Shankslad

Norwich to win 6-1 with Benteke scoring 3 og's! Deoends if anyone in the Norwich side realises they are actually allowed to shoot at the oppositions goal. If Norwich are to score it will probably come from a defender in a set-piece. How well will the Villa defence cope with Holt AND Kamara bullying them? I expect PL to rotate the line-up 'cos it's what he does - as soon as 11 players seem to gel he swaps it about for, so I'm told, "tactical reasons". It's an interesting match this one and a win would put either team on a good footing towards guatanteed safety, it also has a bit of needle from the Norwich perspective because of the PL history. I'm looking forward to it - even though I'm a Scouser I've gorra ticket (all legal like) and I'm not bunking in!!!

He has had big games against United in the other game and Liverpool. Not really , and Liverpool are not a big club We used to be but somebody dismantled it!!! I was worried after the first 15 mins that Villa heads would drop and a rout was on the cards but thankfully I think Villa showed spirit in the 2nd half. Okay Utd may have eased off a little, content with their lead but there was a bit of passion showing from Villa/ As for the offsides - when anyone plays at Old Trafford they won't get the borderline decisions, they tend to go Utd's way more often than not All in all this result was not really unexpected, after all UTD are rhe runaway league leaders (and now champions) so Villa needn't be disheartened by it.

I think Lamberts philosophy and methods probably work very well in the lower leagues but are being proven to not work at a higher level. Certainly not within the timescale that Villa requires

And he has the most English name on the pitch . Don't worry the commentators will find a strange way to pronounce it! Like Co-ah-tez of Liverpool whose real name is Coates and although a S American his Dad is a Jock - who I'm sure doesn't pronounce it that way. The media seem to be really hot on pronouncing foreign names correctly according to grammar and pronunciation of the native language. - pees me off, why can't they just speak like us?!!

My point is that when he was interviewed for the job at Villa and Lerner told him what he wanted and how much he would have to spend.Lambert should have had the balls to say, 1- the money you are giving me to spend is not enough for a PL team 2-The wages you want to pay are not high enough for a PL team 3- If you intend to stay in the PL then you have to pay PL money. Perhaps Paul was convinced what worked so well at Norwich would also work at Villa? Maybe Lerner thought Paul proved with Norwich you don't have to spend THAT much on players or pay huge salaries - Or perhaps PL was himself convinced that is the case and impressed Lerner that he can achieve success with a fraction of the expenditure of the past? Who knows? Criticisms of tactical blunders and messy defending are rife but there's never any mention of Ian Culverhouse's contribution in this area. A lot of the good bits of Norwich's performances were attributed to Culverhouse's role too. It's no co-incidence either that Chris Hughtons first priority was to sort out the shambles of Norwich's defence that he inherited from Lambert/Culverhouse. I had been told in the past that it was Culverhouse who identified which players were potential targets - no idea if there's any truth in this but it has to be remembered coaching is a joint effort between the two of them. Lambert is ultimately responsible of course. Perhaps some specialised back room coaching staff need to be brought in concentrating on defence - Jist tae gie the bhoys a haun'

I agree! If a club wants to get out of the lower leagues then Lamberts your man. That's his forte, that's were he is experienced and where his policy of keen, young 'n hungry works and works well. With just one season of prem experience where survival was won with the momentum of Norwich's rocket rise continuing cracks were starting to show. Comments by players seemed to indicate they didn't hold him in such high regard as the fans did. There was concern in some Norwich circles of what the 2nd season would hold. It's taking time but Hughton is sorting Norwich out, starting from the back by sorting out the shambles that was Norwich's defence. There's hardly a defender now who played under Lambert Villa fans were swayed by Norwich's meteoric rise from league 1 under Lambert. But that success was NOT just down to Lambert. Norwich were the right club and Lambert the right man coming together AT THE RIGHT TIME but he is not YET an experienced prem manager and it's showing. At the end of the day it's worked out better for Norwich than it has for Villa. I'm puzzled why Villa t6ook McLeish when they could've gone for Hughton? - you'd be top 6 by now!!!

A bit of sense copied from a Norwich board:- "Villa are in a nightmare situation. They can't sack lambert as they will look completely incompetent, especially after the comments when the got him, they also can't replace him with anyone better. And to add that they have only just reached an agreement with city ove compo makes it all too difficult to give him the bullet. However things can change very quickly, if he wins Saturday he could be within 3 points of us and I fully expect them to hammer Bradford at home and reach the final thus making last nights game irrelevant. Villa are no worse than last year IMO, the competion is just better and they have not improved. Let's just get the 2-3 quality signings we need to sustain our position and keep ahead of villa. Finish above them and we survive" I expect Villa to win the 2nd leg but the Southampton game is crucial. Good luck!

This from a post I made on the Swindon After Match thread :- "In previous times Paul Lambert just didn't do cups. Placed no importance whatsoever on them and sometimes the Norwich team would seem totally demotivated and disinterested. Some fans were in favour of this in order to concentrate fully on the league. So I don't know what his policy is at Villa but surely tonights win is a good morale booster. My own view is that silverware, no matter what shape it is, is important to a club. I fancy that Norwich just may well do the biz tomorrow night against Spurs and would certainly look forward to a cup tie between Villa and Norwich, hopefully at Wembley! " Well, Norwich DID do the biz against Spurs who fielded a stronger side than Norwich with Bale, Dempsey and Co. in the side. The final 15 mins more than made up for a rather tedious to watch match until Norwich went a goal behind and decided they really wanted to win it - Chrissie Houghton is now making his mark and the players are starting to gel and grow in confidence - Houghton is winning his doubters over, big time. The Norwich fans really wanted Leeds but are delighted to have drawn Villa at home - The canaries are improving all the time and by mid December I expect them to be clear of the relegation battle and fancy them strongly to prove just too much for Villa and will progress onto the semi's Now the emotive dust regarding Lamberts departure is settling I think Norwich fans are starting to think they've come out of it better off

No streams for the Villa match so I watched Reading v Arsenal and I'm still reeling from it - what a game!!! Caught the Villa score at 0-2 and thought "no problem there" then I next saw it at 2-2 and thought Uh-oh don't tell me!! but well done on what must've been a fightback to clinch the game. In previous times Paul Lambert just didn't do cups. Placed no importance whatsoever on them and sometimes the Norwich team would seem totally demotivated and disinterested. Some fans were in favour of this in order to concentrate fully on the league. So I don't know what his policy is at Villa but surely tonights win is a good morale booster. My own view is that silverware, no matter what shape it is, is important to a club. I fancy that Norwich just may well do the biz tomorrow night against Spurs and would certainly look forward to a cup tie between Villa and Norwich, hopefully at Wembley!

Of course you are right - Paul Lambert and Ian Culverhouse are pretty formidable and didn't achieve Norwich's rise from league 1 without knowing their stuff. Norwich won't be too put off by concedeing the first goal and, if they remember some of what Paul and Ian passed onto them will pick themselves up and get stuck in. I still have the feeling Norwich WILL come good this season and if they reproduce the Arsenal form especially in defence they could well come away with at least a draw. We shall see on saturday if they can maintain some consistency as opposed to a flash in the pan. The scene is set for a really good game which I hope lives up to my expectations

Brilliant response, thank you! But In my case I think the damage has been done by something stronger than a few Red Bulls!

Just as a quick aside - I wondered if any of you guys would be so good as give me some advice regarding away fans parkingn I've heard it could be problematic. Ideally as near to wherever the away coaches park as I'm meeting some friends from Norwich. I promise I will remain completely neutral and applaud both teams!!!

I've a feeling you may well be right! Norwich are not as bad as many people think they are. In fact, apart from a couple of exceptions they have actually played very well but fallen just short of the mark in finishing the many chances created. Right from pre season up to the Arsenal game I felt the framework was in place but they just couldn't quite gel - new manager, new players and it was taking it's time but on Saturday they gelled - never mind those who say Arsenal were rubbish because they weren't. The Norwich lads just wouldn't let up and kept them crowded out. Arsenal were just simply beaten by a team with greater desire, spirit and belief. There's also the possibility of a psychological problem with the Gunners, based on form and results, feeling they just had to turn up and a win was a forgone conclusion. Norwich being the worst team in the prem an' all - any team that thinks that could well end up losing! I feel Norwich have now started to gel and are getting it together as a team. Holt is scoring, Bassong is a colossus in defence, Tettey a dynamo in midfield and Hoolahan his usual self with deftness of foot and quick footballing brain. Not to mention the likes of Pilks and Bennet & Co So Saturday IS the BIG ONE!!! The grudge match so to speak, against the manager who does bigger walk outs than Titus Oates! Whom they feel needs to be taught a lesson (not too sure what the lesson is though!). Norwich dearly want to win this and win it good - they will be fired up for it. Boy what a recipe for a cracking game, I'm looking forward to it so much I can't even remember who Liverpool are playing!!!! - which reminds me of my divorce case when my wife said to the judge "he thinks more of Liverpool football club than he thinks of me" but he heard me muttering "I think more of Everton football club than I think of 'er". I lost the case - but Liverpool won that week so all worked out fine. Where was I? Ah yes, back to Villa Vs Norwich. The way I see it is that Lanbert will make a big mistake thinking he knows the Norwich players. He will form his team (Oh how he loves rotation - you'd think he was managing Barca!) based on what he considers individual weaknesses. That will be a mistake as already his knowledge of them is out of date - it;s a different team to last season in many, many ways. Villa will try to head straight through the middle of the park and each attack will be swallowed up by mister Bassong and co and Garrido and Martin will support Pilks and Bennet flying off down the wings whilst Holt creates havoc in defence netting at least twice with Tettey bursting through from midfield to volley a scorcher from 25 yards without the keeper even moving! You have my full permission to copy and paste the above paragraph as a post match report on saturday evening!!! Anyway, come what may I'm sure it will be a great game. Both teams need to win, can't afford to lose so it will probably be a draw!.