AntrimBlack

He's bought some decent players, but I don't think he's used his money well at all. He bought Bennett, Luna, Bacuna and Lowton as full backs, none of whom were any good there, so he's had to go back to using a player that was frozen out for two years. Then there are the nothing players like KEA, Tonev, Bowery, Sylla and so on who individually didn't cost much, but when you add it all up we'd have been much better with fewer, more expensive players, As everybody rightly points out though, it's his complete lack of coaching ability that is the main reason he should be sacked. But all of those players probably cost around 10m alltogether. I think the most expensive of the bunch was probably Lowton for about 2m. They were mostly cheap buys in the hopes that they could improve into a decent PL player. You will always get misses when you do that, and even from your list Bacuna, Lowton and KEA were / are ok. They aren't the best but can fill a position in the squad and deputise in the case of injury. If you wanted to be sure that you would fill those positions with proven quality you'd probably be talking about at least 5m per player. He has been good when buying players around the 5m mark, so 2 quality players would surely have been the better option. He went cheap, young and hungry, because of inexperience or naivete, but has now changed tack. That is ok, he is a relatively inexperienced manager, and can be forgiven for wrong decisions. It can be rectified, but I think he does not know how to rectify it. That is his problem at the moment. Lambert's transfer business, though rather hit and miss, has provided us with a squad which should be doing better, but poor management and coaching is holding them back. To me, that places the responsibility firmly with Lambert, in spite of Lerner's mishandling of the club.

Maybe, but same outcome: we don't get him. To be fair, it does depend on the level of the asking price.

Vlaar might sign another deal through lack of interest, but the club might possibly not now offer a deal because of the emergence of the young guys. Do not know about the young lads, but if the club think any have potential, they would be cheap and might be an idea to sign then up and get them loaned out. I would say it might be too soon to get rid of DJ, who has shown he might have potential.

And how much was wasted, considering how many are out on loan/never coming back.

Great to see Fox saying it how it is. It's obvious Lambert has been denied signing his first choice targets and probably has had to resort to signing his 3rd or 4th choice targets. If he was properly backed then I believe we would have a beast team. His hands have been tied throughout his time here and most of his big signings have been crippled with injuries. He is slowly getting a decent team together now, we just need to get Gabby out of the starting 11 and hopefully replace cleverly ASAP. Commercially we have been run very badly according to what was said we have the lowest shirt sponsorship deal in the premier league , simply not acceptable Well that's just pathetic as we must be in the top 8 teams for fanbase numbers and should be easily able to attract decent sponsorship money. I'm glad Fox is on board now as he seems to know what he is on about and we now have him and Lambert who are genuinely looking to improve the club. The sponsorship probably reflects the fact that we are the most boring team in the Premier League that no one wants to watch.

It seems to me that Lambert is going nowhere, so I would love it if he was given decent money, not only because it might help us survive, but also to see if that is really what is holding Lambert back.

Football is a results business. Lambert isn't get results. If Fox and Randy are really not even considering the possibility of a change in management because of some belief that Lambert is doing a good job then this football club really is doomed. how do you know he isnt getting the results that have been set for him and isnt hitting his goals and objectives? You think the goals and objectives they have set are to avoid relegation by a small margin each season?

If you want to believe that Ellis would not have sacked Lambert by this stage, I have to disagree. ?? I said he would have. You had the proviso that I highlighted. Ellis sacked managers for poor performance even when he provided little funds.

I really think we need to have Weimann on with Gil and Benteke. Sanchez and Westwood are both defensive midfielders. Surely that would be enough with one other and the back four. How many defenders does one team need???

Correct in this respect. Ellis would have sacked Lambert long ago. Yep. Ellis tended to provide a budget that a top 8 side would expect, so he would definitely sack a manager whose side did as badly as Lambert's budget battlers are doing. If you want to believe that Ellis would not have sacked Lambert by this stage, I have to disagree.

Correct in this respect. Ellis would have sacked Lambert long ago.

I think Grealish and Robinson should both go back out on loan. Lambert clearly does not intend to play them, and all that is happening at the moment is that their development is being interrupted.

Possibly that says more about England, Paul.

Agbonlahor and Benteke need to be dropped. Bring in Robinson - a striker in form. I would bet he will put in far more effort than Benteke.

Very much this. Surely Lambert must start with these guys next time out.

Grealish fills one of those spots for me Got to have Weimann in there.

None of those midfielders do. We've had about one or two assists from the four midfielders that started this season. One assist in about 85 hours of football. No goals. Sorry meant that started the game yesterday. The only really good midfielder we have is Sanchez. The rest are average or poor.

He certainly has skill and can beat his man, but has no end product. Definitely not a game changer in my opinion.

Neither Lerner nor Lambert are going anywhere soon, and I suspect Lerner is not bothered enough to be moved by any protests. Falling attendances may have some impact on Lerner, but apart from that I am not sure what else can be done. It really is a dire situation, and we can only hope that we can avoid relegation year on year until a change of ownership.

One or two improvements, versus 12/13 who have gone backwards. Do you REALLY want to go there? Oooops I forgot, Negativity Rules. \m/ Reality rules.

Surely he must be dropped. It is obvious that he is off form/ over rated/ whatever, and really adds nothing at the moment. Put Weimann or Robinson up front.

Weimann and Gil looked good together. Did not think Benteke looked any better.

Nope. Neither of them is on form.

Looks that way! But still he plays. Hopefully Everton will want him, but cannot understand why.

Okore and Clark, to me , are the better pairing. I also think Clark is the better player, but Baker is terrific back up. Quite lucky to have 3 excellent young centre backs.