Butterfingers

I think people are reading too much into the attitude after drawing at home to Swansea. At the start of the season, you would look at the fixture & class it as winnable. After 4 straight defeats (3 against poor sides) the important thing was to stop the rot & this is what we achieved (just) The situation reminds me so much of last season & with Arsenal, Liverpool & WBA looming, January could well be a tough month for us. Lets get to the end of the season before we evaluate, not just on this bad run of form.

west ham

Think the defence is being exposed a bit, as it was last year. The difference is we're loosing boy the odd goal, not 3,4 or 8 as we were 12 months ago. No point sacking the manager, only for someone else to come in under the same remit & start again. We have an owner who doesn't care and a manager with no money to spend. It took Moyes 3 years at Everton to get going & Ferguson even longer at Man U. We somehow need to stay in this division & get to a point where we can bring quality in. I'm not sure how we'll do it given the current wage structure. 6 wins required between now & the end of the season & with January looking a tough month, it looks like another battle to the end. I hope the team can find the character they showed from February onwards last season. Think Lambert is doing no better and no worse than anyone else under the circumstances. With a chairman & CEO who don't want to be here, he is doing well to hold it all together. I'll reserve judgement until the end of next season.

Dodgy Knees-Don't forget MON bought in Young & Carew in the January as well. Lerner will not back his man, he is not willing to spend any of his own money. Why come in with a fanfare blazing shouting from the rooftops that he'll back his manager? Nothing has changed apart from the fact that Lerner now realises he won't make a penny out of his investment.

If he was generous, he would have given the club the money-He actually loaned us the money & claimed he was doing us a favour by only charging us a low rate of interest. In the meantime, he's hijacked the proceeds of sales from players such as Young & Downing & diverted them into his own bank account. He seems to think that this is the way forward and we are now a club who invest in unknowns in the hope of making huge profits by selling one or two on to ambitious teams

OBE I think the feeling that many of us have is that Lerner has not displayed any generosity. He has invested/gambled in a venture that has failed. He came in and expected CL football within 5 years hence the "5 year plan" we continually had rammed down our throats by Krulak. He gave up the ghost after 4 years after he saw what kind of money it would take to achive this when Man City's owners came in. Call me sceptical but I'd say he's written off the interest on the loans because we aren't making any money so can't pay the loan, let alone interest. it's clear that the wages have crippled him & look how we're paying for it now? People say we should buy experience etc-Who will come here for the wages we offer?

He's still gambling with our future BJ That idiot Krulak blamed it all on Man City's owners The blame rests firmly at Lerners door-Even Faulkner is looking to bail out (sooner the better if you're reading Paul)

If Lerner got his money back, he'd do well. Remember anyone who buys the club buys the debts as well which is all owed to Lerner.

As said by others, Lerner has paid circa £60m to Ellis & around the same again in compulsory buy outs of outstanding shares. I have friends who have had shares in their family since the original issue of the late 60's & wanted to pass them down to sons etc. Lerner took that option away from them. Lerner was never in it for anything else other than financial gain & realised after about 4 years in charge that this would never happen. As the club is non-profit making, I fail to see why anyone would want to invest millions into it. Other Yanks who have got themselves involved in clubs have made hasty retreats, licking their wounds. I've no sympathy for Lerner, nobody asked him to invest, why should we suffer for his bad business decisions? What I would say is that the team & manager want to be here so should have our support-Especially at a time like this when we're on a bad run. None of us want to see the side relegated do we?

Would just add to this, 1 point from 5, 1 goal in 5 & 4 defeats since Southampton doesn't make pretty reading. We've been sucked into the relegation area & are pitted against teams who are capable of fighting their way out of it. Although Yesterdays performance was dire, a point would not have been the end of the world-The same applies tomorrow. We do have to stop this slide. This run has destroyed all the good work of earlier in the season & we're now back in a situation that has become all too familiar over the past 3 or 4 seasons. There isn't many options regarding players available so it's very much a case of going with what we've got-No point singling any of them out. I can only say an edgy crowd will not help the young players tomorrow. Bear this in mind. We're all sick of going into January with this crap hovering around but we are where we are. Lets get through to the end of the season & evaluate. If we can turn this bad run around then the season will still have been one of progress-Its only 5 games, one of those being against an in form Man U side. Not brilliant but not the end of the world yet.

It depends on what formation the manager plays be it Lambert or whoever. If you & I were to pick the team to face Palace on Boxing day, we'd almost definitely pick different sides let alone formations. Marc Albrighton has thrown a massive spanner into the works with his performances. I'm a fan of Albrighton, Bacuna & Kozak so those 3 would definitely start. Delph, Westwood, Gabby & Guzan pick themselves so that leaves 4 places & a formation to decide on. I'm also a fan of Weimans and thik KEA has improved this season. I'd go 4-4-2 with Kozak & Weiman up top, Gabby & Albrighton interchanging as Young & Albrighton did, Delph & Westwood central & Bacuna at RB. The remaining 3 places, I don't have a clue as without Vlarr, I wouldn't pick any of them. Clark has improved this season & . I like the 4-3-3 but I've picked the above team on current performance. Another factor to consider is how to handle a £30K centre forward who is not producing. Picking a team, let alone a formation is not easy. There is no right or wrong way to play football & this is where management kicks in.

Chris I'm trying to live in the world that we are placed in at present. Kozac looks hungry, Benteke doesn;t Kozac is netting, Benteke isn't. Current form, I WOULD start Kozac. In recent years we've had debates over Carew, Harewood, Heskey etc. The lad has started with a better goals to games ratio than all of those 3. Have you forgotten how many times Benteke was anonymous for 89 mins last season & then just got on the end of something to score? If current form is anything to go on, Kozac is our main man up top

I'm a massive, massive fan He was prepared to sign for us knowing full well the season Benteke had just had His goal celebration yesterday shows what it means to him Goals scored against mins on pitch to date must be an excellent ratio Considering he's still classed as our number 2 striker, not on the 1st 11, he's not doing too badly at all Well done Libor

Yes 100% Lerner clearly isn't interested anymore since the penny dropped that we are not going to be the cash cow for him that he first thought. I heard a story yesterday of Faulkner no longer being interested & has aspirations way above his head, away from Villa. Would be happy to see both go. Investment is desperately needed here, it's no use blaming Lambert given the remit he has to work under. The blame rests firmly at the door of the owner.

Just watched the Norwich-Swansea goals. 2 great goals but both came from long balls. People need to understand that we won't be able to pay £2million for midfielders & outpass teams who spend more on 1 player than we have on our entire team. You need to cut your cloth accordingly & this is what is happening. If it moves us on to the next level (whatever that may be) then I believe we should take it on the chin for now. 1 win & 3 defeats in the past 4 games have not been enjoyable but this is where we are at present & there will be more of the same in the future. As long as we dust ourselves down & go again, I believe it will work out well in the long term.

I think the WBA-Villa situation epitomises where we are at present & how thin the line is between going forwards or backwards.

Absolutely fantastic to read the positive comments I've never understood the criticism Albrighton received. Like most flair players, he needs a run & his confidence boosting. Would also add that he probably needs moulding a bit into the way we play & the ethos on work ethic. An out & out winger is not enough. Marc needs to pick up on the work rate that players like Milner, Young & Weiman put in. If he can do this, we could have some player on our hands. frustrating waste of 2 years as this lad clearly has it & now needs game time

No complaints 3 points next week at Stoke & all will be forgiven

KEA has (imo) massively improved this season-Like a few others including Vlaar. They're about the same age so if Vlaars price has increased then so has KEA's Kozak has done a job for us. When compared to other strikers in the bottom half of the table, he's there or thereabouts with the scope to improve. I like him Bacuna is a strange one. Out of all the signings, he was the least exciting for a lot of us. I watched him against Liverpool & thought he really struggled but his early games at right back were a revelation. I think the way we line up with the central 3 in midfield does not suit Bacuna. Right back is the position he has more chance of success at.

I think any player who moves from abroad & cuts it in the PL will increase in value. Bowrey & Hellenius were both bought on the basis that they show/showed potential. Time is on their side still & arguing the toss over what they would fetch in todays market is pointless given the peanuts we paid for them. I don't remember too many (if any complaints when we paid £4mil for Okore? Sylla, KEA, Kovak, Luna & Bacuna would all go for more than we paid for them. Newly promoted teams are always trying to buy players who are proven in the prem. IMO Kovak will cut it in this league. More goals from open play with less mins on the pitch than Benteke as well. Bacuna is the one where the jury is out. I read a lot of fans saying "push him further forward & play Lowton behind him" I'm not convinced midfield is his best position. He was a revelation when first played at right back, has had a few hiccups lately& if he can consistently play like he did when he first broke into the team, he will be some player.

I don't think there's a Villa fan out there who would deny that Yorke doesn't dive. The after match conversations during his time here would usually centre around the fact that such a quality player did not need to do this-Especially whilst wearing a Villa shirt. I'd take the Lambert comments with a pinch of salt-He's probably telling our lads not to give the clearing in the woods half a chance to cheat

Agreed. Unfortunately there are a small amount of posters who can't discuss the club and just have to complain about fans opinions if they're the slightest bit negative. I don't normally go in the match thread but the west brom game was a perfect example of this. If you want to make your negative thoughts known on a public forum, you shouldn't complain when you get pulled. There are times when negativity is justified but this is not the time given the steady progress we're making.

Somebody posted something similar prior to Sunderland last week & look what happened there. Given we have only had back to back wins 3 times under Lambert, I am going to hold you entirely responsible if we don't get 3 points today.

West Brom lost again at home, 2-0 to Norwich but don't worry everyone-Their fans are dancing from the rooftops because they play such fantastic football We're currently 10th. I can't see any team below us (that's half the league) playing better football than we do with the possible exception of Swansea & even then, I fancy us to finish above them over 38 games. Some good points made by TRO & Mantis. We're moving in the right direction, lets cut the manager & players a bit of slack at this stage. There has been big improvements both in team performances & individual performances from last season. Imaginge just for a minute if we could maintain this improvement over the next 2 or 3 seasons-We'd have some side on our hands if we could.

and Luna. Not to mention Lowton and Bacuna. So we should replace all 4 of our full backs? Yes. None of them are very good. Very harsh Bennett struggled last season, we all accept that & I believe his performances papered over the cracks for Lowton to a certain extent-They both cost us goals. I've been very happy with Bacuna. I accept a couple of mistakes have been made but in general, I think he's been great for us. Both him & Luna have propably only played 10 games max for us. Way too early imo to deem them not good enough. Defenders develop later than other positions on the pitch-I wouldn't even write Bennett off yet. I'm not saying that he should start but I don't think he should be written off either.