AntrimBlack

I have said that I will give him to the summer window, and I will, but what you say above is absolutely right, it is down to Lambert. And this is also why I think the club should not be looking at his contract until at least the summer. That decision is just crazy.

Would not necessarily say great, but this team definitely has put in some good performances, so when they put in abject performances like today, it surely has to be down to the manager.

Very much agree with this, though I do think West Ham did threaten quite a lot in the first half. Also agree about Baker, he seems to have gone backward.

Not really. Lambert saw a problem at attempted to correct it with Albrighton and it almost paid off. West Ham just sat back as we wasted chances. It's like Jonoridge says, big Sam nailed Lambert today, the entire game.

Surely Lambert should have sent them out with fire in their bellies like big Sam did. We were the home team after all.

Benteke and Agbonlahor were terrible, agreed, but I thought Weimann was ok.

2-0 looked about right to me. They were the better side.

He is banned, regardless of their legal shenanigans. If we beat west ham on sat and they go to court and get a ruling in their favour, will we have to play them again Well, they are a London team, so probably yes.

Completely different type of player though. not only clearly better than them but clearly better than westwood too, as i am still unsure what westwood actually does for us, cant tackle, cant take set pieces and his passing is not very good. I'd have a fit GG starting ahead of anyone midfielder we have except Delph Not sure what you are basing this on. I am definitely not a fan of our midfield, but he has not shown anything when given a chance to indicate that he is any better. And when in the past 2 and half years has he been given this chance? It takes a while to get going again after long injury lay off's and my worry is we'll let him go and then he'll eventually get going again and we'll have another gary cahill on our hands. Well, that is my point. He has had limited chances, but in my opinion has not shown anything. Based on the same appearances you are saying he is better than all of our midfielders except Delph.

He is no longer our player. Please someone take this thread away - it is depressing me!

Completely different type of player though. not only clearly better than them but clearly better than westwood too, as i am still unsure what westwood actually does for us, cant tackle, cant take set pieces and his passing is not very good. I'd have a fit GG starting ahead of anyone midfielder we have except Delph Not sure what you are basing this on. I am definitely not a fan of our midfield, but he has not shown anything when given a chance to indicate that he is any better.

I have always said that I will judge Lerner/Lambert at the end of this summer's window, and no matter what stories come out in the meantime, that will remain the case.

To be pedantic, Upperlands is a small village in mid-Ulster, about 30 miles from Derry/Londonderry, and this is probably the most exposure they will ever have had.

Seems like a crazy time to be negotiating a new contract. He still has 18 months left, surely the time to do this would have been at the end of this season. We do not know where we will finish, and although I like Lambert and can buy into his vision, I am still not convinced by him at this stage. He has set too many records of the wrong sort during his time in charge, and often his tactics are baffling. He turns up some gems, but also some dodos, and quite a few who are just bog standard whose potential we still await, while our own young players are apparently not good enough to displace them. While I can see the benefit of continuity, I am afraid on this one I think the board are moving too soon.

We played defensively against a top 5 team who struggle to break down tough and organised defenses, if Lambert had reacted appropriately to how the game unfolded second half, we would have come away with 3 awesome points. Alas we didn't, one Vlaar mistake and a wonder goal later, we lose. We won't set up in a similar manner against those sides, possibly Newcastle, but I've not really watched them this season and don't know how they play. For West Ham, we'll most likely set up with the diamond again, similar to WBA, and we'll win, as long as Nolan is dealt with. As for Cardiff, don't let a win against Norwich fool you, they're piss poor, they hadn't won in 7 games before yesterday, and with their squad, I can't see them suddenly going on a winning run. We'll probably set up like Plop, close down quickly and try beat them on the counter, I imagine Gabby should be back by then, and I think we'll rip them to shreds, as we did for the first half v Plop. Newcastle, tough to say how we'll play, and they're almost as inconsistent as us, I don't know how we'll set up against them but i think it'll hinge on their next two games, if they hit form again, we may set up defensively, try nullify Ben Arfa, if they continue to slump, I reckon we'll go for the throat. Norwich, I imagine Lambert will desperately want to win and we'll really go at them in that game, and i think we'll set up either with the diamond or go for our 433 from last season. I think we'll set up in the ways I've outlined above, and that will get us between 7-10 points, possibly even 12, although that is a stretch. I don't think yesterday showed Lambert's "true picture", he set up in a way that stopped Everton, it worked, but he made poor decisions in the second half which cost us inevitably. We have good enough players to deal with the teams around us, but aren't quite good enough to deal with teams above us yet, hence the more defensive formations. You can't approach every game in the same manner, if you're not world class, you get quickly found out and exploited, you need to tweak for each game and sometimes even play completely different systems to counter teams. But yet we have been unexpectedly beating teams above us and inexplicably losing to teams around us.

Lambert does seem to have a plan which would entail him remaining with us for some time, and I cannot believe he would not have agreed everything, including spending, with Lerner, before signing the contract. But I suspect a lot of questions will be answered this summer.

I think Okore will be a very good player, but we need to be very careful not to expect too much from him.

Quite right, nor does any academy, but a couple every so often is all that is required. I believe he does watch our young players, and perhaps he does not believe they are good enough, and he may well be right, but I feel that he has had opportunities to play them from the bench instead of some of his `own players', which he did not take.

Very much this, I am afraid that he will throw away our emerging young players in order to play his own bought-in young players. Some of these guys, nurtured for years by our youth system, could well be our premiership stars of the future, but they need the right manager to progress them.

Not sure that showing up at Villa Park at the moment would be anything other than counter-productive. He does not appear to be the sort of guy who wants to get public abuse. Interesting to see that his pal Short at Sunderland turned up for the first time since Poyet took over only a couple of weeks ago. As for selling up, I would not give too much credence to a report in a tabloid. I do not think there is anything Lerner has done over the last 3/4 years that would convince me whether he will sell or otherwise.

In his very limited appearances he has looked good, and has certainly not been phased by the opportunity. A number of players his age are now playing in the premiership, but will he get a chance under Lambert. I am beginning to get the feeling that Lambert, in spite of all the hype to the contrary, is afraid to involve the young players.

I like this guy. Baines is a quality player, and Bacuna handled him very well, and that should not be underestimated

Well I am not happy to be a mid-table team, although that is preferable to relegation. However, I do not think we can keep on flirting with relegation, or we may well go down eventually. I know we are in 10th, but I check the results of the teams below us before the teams above us, and I think that indicates where my anxiety lies.

Yes, 10th is great, but I am anxious that we are so close to the relegation battle. The next few games are so important.

Yes, does not comput. With being out of the cups Villa have had a lot more rest than most of the others.