ozvillafan

You never had the soft spot for Houllier that you do for Lambert. Not having a preseason means Houllier was stuck with the likes of Warnock, Collins, Dunne and NRC. As for being radical - a common accusation was that he tried to do "too much too soon". If he had of been healthy, we would be looking at a different Villa now.

He's hired 3 managers in his time (MON was in the job before he took over) - Houllier, McLeish, Lambert. In the words of Meatloaf: 2 out of 3 aint bad. The wage bill, however - that was a mistake. Still, he recognised the problem and rectified it. It's one thing to make mistakes, it's another to learn from them - and I believe he is.

But enough time for us to get to Europe, which may see him stay. Big ask, yes - especially as we are not technically safe yet - but there is no reason why we should not aim for that. If we take the view that making a quick quid on our best players is the way forward, we will never be anything but an also-ran in the Premier League. A selling club that can look forward to perpetual mid-table finishes. I think we deserve better - lets start by keeping Benteke.

I'm still seeing the names Alpay and Hendrie and my blood is still boiling (they were once my favourite Villa players!). People remember Alpay for his meltdown after 1 good World Cup with Turkey - but fail to remember that we did not fill the Alpay sized hole in our defense until Laursen turned up. Alpay was an excellent defender up until that WC. Hendrie? Again, people remember him for his off-field antics, his "wasted" talent and his inability to tackle - a vital stat for any creative midfielder, right? I remember him for playing a big part in our 2003-04 season and the link up play he had with Angel. Are they in the best Villa team ever? Nope. But neither do they deserve a place in our worst. Oh, and of course Hendrie can't shoot - hence this (still one of my favourite villa goals):

Let me see if I get the recent posts in this thread. - Downing wanted to stay? He handed in a transfer request. He wanted to see how comfortable the Liverpool bench was. Ditto Young, Barry and Milner - albeit with different clubs and varying degrees of bench time. - Selling Benteke for 20mill is good business? How, exactly? The last player that scored 20+ goals in all competitions for us was Angel in 2003-04. If it was that easy to replace quality strikers, why did we wait almost 10 years for Benteke? We need to build the team around him, not sell him and hope for another diamond in the rough.

This is the only thing to worry about. Other results may make a difference - but only if we stuff it up. It's in our own hands and, given our current form, that's a very good thing.

The bigger picture is that we will be safe and he is building something good. Indeed. What Morpheus is talking about is the small picture surely? Sounds about as small picture as "we will be safe". Neither staying up or going down is guaranteed yet. We are building something good - that is the big picture. However, it is much easier to build around quality and you can only attract that while in the top tier of football.

Out of all the relegation battlers, Wigan's form is only below ours. They can't be all that shit, then. They play Swansea, whose form is relegation fodder (won 2 out of the last 12 games). I suspect Wigan will win that one, which puts them 2 points behind us with 2 games each. Assuming we lose against Chelsea and Wigan lose against Arsenal (both likely), then we need at least a draw against Wigan to stay up or we need to rely on teams around us losing. The good news about all this is our survival is firmly within our own hands. Win 1 of our remaining games and we are definitely up.

Agree with that. He is Villa through and through and he puts in so much effort even with poor managers, poor tactics and being played out of position. I've been critical of his touch and decision making but I think he is exactly the type of player that we need in the side. He plays a pivotal role for us up front since he can comfortably fill any of the 3 positions in our 4-3-3 formation.

Hendrie and Alpay will be donning the brass knuckles and knocking on your door soon. If they don't, then I just might - there is no way in hell they feature in the worst Villa 11. - Swap Hendrie for Kinsella. - Swap Alpay for Collins/Knight/Ridgewell/Unsworth.

This sums it up. Lambert has done well to turn around what were truly abysmal performances over Christmas.... ... but he's also responsible for that period and that is why we are where we are. Still, I remain confident that this is the beginning of an upward trend so long as we stay up and Lambert remains in charge.

Wigan's form isn't that bad. In fact, according to the Premier League form guide their form is better than any other club in the relegation mix except for us. In a "worst case" scenario, they only need to beat us and 1 other team in their remaining games and we go down (assuming we pick up NO more points). Realistically, they must win their game in hand and then win 1 more game than we do over the remaining games in order to finish above us. If we win against Norwich (who are in terrible form) that would most likely seal our PL status for yet another year - even if we lose to Wigan on the final day.

The only other midfielder I have seen do this every time is KEA. Bannan does it on occasion. The rest look like they don't want it back.

The impressive thing for me is the turnaround. It's one thing to change formations or change your starting lineup and see some improvement. It's another thing entirely to pick up a young squad putting in plain awful performances with zero confidence and getting them playing under pressure, wanting to win and producing results in a relegation scrap. That's the mark of a top manager. I still have doubts (and will criticise as needed) but I am much more confident of success with Lambert than any of our previous managers under the Lerner regime.

My Arse Dumb it down for me: What exactly am I looking at here?

Spot on. If we score first, sitting back and defending the lead just wont work - we just don't keep clean sheets. I hope we've learned from our (few) wins this season and push on for a second. If we go 2-0 up, I'll believe we can win.

Gmac was interim manager - Houllier was our manager. Gmac's employment - like most staff under a manager - depend on that manager remaining in the job. I suppose Lerner should have turned up personally to thank Gmac for his massive efforts, handed him a gold watch and given him the key to Villa stadium in a ceremony covered by all the major press.... ... or he could have just handed him his slip once Houller was out the door, as I suspect any other owner would do. It's a case of "any stick to beat Lerner with" for some of you lot.

There are other factors that would point towards a better performance next season: - Lambert knows his squad better - Foreign players have (hopefully) settled in - The younger players have experience in the PL - New faces in the transfer window - Departing deadwood providing some better options

From what I remember against Fulham, Sylla seemed to occupy the same space as KEA tends to. Much higher up the pitch than I expected from a defensive midfielder.

I thought Downing had that one stitched up.

Yes. He also had a great pre season with us. Lambert must have shipped him out because of attitude because he was playing just fine. Lambert doesnt mess about. He knew he wanted rid of half the squad and has a zero tolerance for attitude or lack of commitment. I respect that in him. I still think he did too much too quickly though, would it really have hurt to keep some of our experienced players and not piss em off or ship em out? Anyway whats done is done, we just have to hope for the best now. Scary as hell though. Gradual change is all fine and good, I'm just not too sure how well that works when you are talking about a change in culture. Seems to me you kinda have to pull the rug out from under people or the culture doesn't really change. I can respect Lambert for that...... ... though if it comes at the price of leaving the Premiership then it's a very steep price to pay.

Must admit - Webber is not the driver he was. A couple of years ago he was more than a foil for Vettel. Now? Not even close. Years of preferential treatment along with advancing age may have something to do with it... ... but I reckon his mind is now on other things after the earlier run in with Vettel this year. I'd be surprised if he stayed in F1 beyond this season.

Who was the last team to go down while appearing in the FA Cup final in the same year? Middlesborough? It has happened. Here's hoping history repeats itself!

They're following Chris Herd? Why?

Could we not just loan him out? Sure, we'd still be paying 90% of his wages.... ... but we'd be saving 10%! That's 8k per week!