AntrimBlack

Wasn't there some sort of problem at his previous club?

It's a foolish idea to alter the playing style mid-season, especially in the Premiership. I think this upcoming summer would've been a much better time to adopt a new style of play. However, I am clinging onto a faint hope that we'll click and start winning again this season. I also get the impression that this change in style is chiefly Tom Fox's idea, not Lambert's. Maybe Lambert isn't fully comfortable with this possession based football? So the so far unsuccessful change of style may also be something that cannot be blamed on Lambert?

Isn't it great that we have now become a source of amusement to so many people. Absolute disgrace what Lerner and Lambert have done to our great club.

The sympathy is almost worse than the derision.

Oh, come on. What about the absolutely pathetic performances of Richardson, Cleverly, Benteke, the non too clever performance of Guzan, and the distinctly average performances of Okore and Hutton.

Quite. Shame about his record on the footballing side of things, though.

I think you're right. It's finally hit critical mass. Another loss with Chelsea and Lerner will have all the cover he needs. Let's hope Lerner doesn't become a victim of his own generally genial nature. The conversation should start like this, in the spirit of cliche football kiss-offs: "First of all, Paul, I want to thank you for all ... blah blah blah." Unfortunately there is no way he will sack him after the Chelsea game, no matter how badly we do. If we do badly against the `easier' teams then possibly, but still unlikely.

Lambert should have been sacked October/November. Instead he has been given a 4 year contract, so in all probability he will not be sacked now. I suspect that it may be too late to sack him now anyway, and we just have to hope that we can avoid relegation again.

Believe me, you really should not want that.

I expected nothing from this match, and that is what we got, plus an embarrassing whipping. The next match could be something similar, though if we hold them to, perhaps, 0-3, that will be seen by some as something akin to a victory. Gil was clearly our MOM. Weimann and Delph were decent. Richardson was awful. Sanchez, Guzan and Okore all had an off day. Benteke was poor as usual. Must Cleverly play every game? A dispirited, clueless performance generally. Once more, Lambert gets yet one more game, against Chelsea, without pressure, that we will not expect to win, but surely everyone must agree that things must improve after that.

Don't get it, Sam.

I know that all the talk from Lerner and Fox is Lambert staying, but I get the impression that Fox is a guy who would not hesitate to pull the trigger if he feels it is necessary, obviously with Lerner's blessing of course. This is no Faulkner, he looks to have a bit of steel about him.

The Soccer Saturday pundits were very impressed by that interview. Sounds like a different interview to the one I have seen. Where can I find this one?

Why did he bring him back then? Stupidity? Malice? Let's not just stick a 'wrong' hat on Lambert and then not ask where we got it. Remembering of course that hindsight is 20/20. Bent was heading off on loan with Derby agreeing to pay a large part of his wages, Benteke was just back after injury, and possibly not fit enough to play every game, in a wait and see sort of scenario. It was considered judicious maybe then that we would sacrifice a few months of Robinson's game time in League 1 in order to maybe have him come in and play back up to Benteke at Villa, in case we needed a striker in his mould. I think we're all sort of getting too bogged down on how important a loan spell like that is to a player's development. Especially a loan to League One. Probably not too much of a difference between League 1 and Reserves. And certainly if there's a chance of him getting a game in PL now and again, it might tilt the balance in favour of him coming back. Which it obviously did. Some players just don't go out on loan before they start in the Premier League and they don't turn out worse players as a result. There's no one saying that Drennan's loan to Portsmouth turned him into a superstar, or that Jack Wilshere would be a better player if he had done a year in Carlisle. He had Agbonlahor and Weimann as strikers, and could have recalled Robinson when he actually needed him. And I disagree with you about loans, playing against men instead of boys must be valuable experience.

Didn't use him when he was uninjured, though.

If Sinclair is anyway decent and gets balls in to the middle, Benteke will need to try to be in a position to attack them. I think there have been plenty of balls going into the centre recently and Benteke has been nowhere near them. So I am not convinced that a can't-be-arsed striker and a couldn't-be-arsed-for-two-years winger are going to be the answer to our problems up front. And I do not think Gil operates best as a winger.

Once again: Lambert was NOT "given 8 million to buy Cleverley". 8 million was the buying option price set by Man Utd as part of the LOAN deal.permanent What the agreed transfer fee was before the deal fell through nobody knows, but it may have been more like 3 million. As others have said, the results under Lambert have been bad enough without having to make stuff up to use against him. And now you are making things up!

Absolutely. The handling of Robinson is completely indefensible.

No wonder the football took a back seat.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-would-love-rush-8552889 Only two and a half seasons to figure that one out? No, two and a half seasons to scrape the cash together for some wide players. As Lambert says in the rest of the article, scoring goals hasn't been a problem until this season. Presumably he is talking about Gil and Sinclair, one very cheap, one on loan, so I cannot agree with you on that one. And your second sentence would indicate that he did not see the necessity for wide players during that time.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-would-love-rush-8552889 Only two and a half seasons to figure that one out?

Well, Lambert must have some sort of knowledge since we signed the likes of Benteke and Vlaar in his first transfer window. However, it can't entirely be down to him and as I just said a minute ago, we've introduced several new scouts since Tom Fox arrived. I think it is definitely important for us to continue improving our scouting network if we're to succeed without spending too much money. Thanks. I must have been writing when you posted.

This would seem to be something that the club organise, Delph to meet and greet Sinclair, Sanchez to do similar with Gil. A friendly face, good idea.

And another one bites the dust. Someone is wielding a hatchet on our young players recently.

I really do not know this, but who is actually responsible for picking out signings? Is it the manager, and if so how does he do it, or is it someone in our scouting network employed by the club? Lambert is getting the kudos (and brickbats) but how much of it is down to him?