KennyPowers

He clearly deserves a lengthy ban but it's all, once again, massively OTT. Sky really piss me off. All this "it's disappointing to sit here and have to talk about Suarez biting". Such hypocrites, if you don't want to talk about it then don't. Just show a replay, address it and move on. Their post-match interviews, this incident is the only thing they want to talk about it. I'm not asking why, it's very obvious. Controversy = ratings. Sky are incredible hypocrites though. I don't mind them talking about it but don't pretend you're not rubbing your hands with glee when something controversial happens.

Daniel Finkelstein does some interesting articles in the Times on a Saturday which involve statistical analysis for anyone that is interested. The thing people have to understand is that supplementing opinions with statistics is generally a good thing, done largely by intelligent people. It should be encouraged. Using statistics to test and postulate relationships is a significant step further though and without an understanding of research methods and statistical analysis you will make yourself look very foolish which is what has happened on this thread.

I must have read Moneyball at least 10 times. Fantastic book, there are a lot of messages/principles in there, it's unfair to boil the them of the book down to one or two principles. I have to agree this Bannan discussion has become ridiculous though. Points per player, even if you were to postulate a stable relationship (which is a ridiculous hypothesis in football anyway), you would need a big sample size to have any confidence in the data. It would be naive to think that stats can't be used in relation to better player analysis in football, it needs to be big samples of data though. Points per player is ridiculously crude and on the verge of offensive to someone who has even a basic understanding of research methods and statistical analysis.

Wigan have to be feeling the pressure now. Spurs up next for them, a side with a lot to play for. I suppose their ace in the hole is that they only have to stay within 3 points of us to have a shot at staying up on the final day. In our own hands though, Sunderland and Norwich, very winnable games, I'm very confident of our chances, we will pick up 4 points from those two games. Sunderland draw, Norwich win if I had to predict.

Newcastle are a decent side to be far. Cisse, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Sissoko are quality players. They looked abysmal last Sunday They didn't look good but 3-0 hugely flattered Sunderland. Newcastle played on the Thursday night as well remember. To me, Newcastle are a textbook example of a team stretched by the demands of playing in Europe. Too many Thursday night games has hurt their league position this year.

Newcastle are a decent side to be far. Cisse, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Sissoko are quality players.

I think Norwich will win so it didn't help illustrate my point. I would fancy Newcastle to get at least a point (maybe three) at West Brom as well. I think those games are fairly predictable. Wigan, Stoke, Sunderland, who knows today.

The big games for us today: West Ham v Wigan QPR v Stoke Sunderland v Everton Wow, they are some unpredictable games. On the Talksport predictor I've gone for 1-0, 2-0 and 1-2 but it's probably just wishful thinking. I definitely wouldn't be betting on those games.

The guy clearly needed special treatment, some ingenious man management, to get the best out of him. I don't know for certain but my impression is that Lambert doesn't do special treatment. I don't really blame him for that but I also think there are some players who are worth making an exception although in fairness Ireland probably wasn't one of these.

This thread has gone a bit OTT. I'm pretty confident every Villa fan is hoping Lambert will be a big success, I'm sure people recognise this but it's worth reiterating that short comments on the internet (without the benefit of witnessing body language), often appear a lot more exaggerated, a lot more definitive, a lot more like a rant than they are actually intended to be. I think if you imagine every post has a big IMO at the start of it you'll find their opinions a lot less objectionable.

Time to find out what was going on in his evil little mind

about time

By the way I agree with your initial post anyway. I just don't like what you are insinuating with regards to fans criticising Lambert being somewhat a) traiterous and unintelligent

Crowds are up, support is pretty good right now. What exactly are you looking for? We'll have to do better than 17th (possibly 18th after tonight) and knocked out of both cups by lower league opposition for some of us to be convinced of Lambert's divinity. There's nothing traiterous about that. We don't have a crop of young players like Man U did in 1995 and this isn't football manager, it's not as simple as buying youngsters and then being patient. I'm quite clearly referencing people in this thread, not our support in general. I didn't imply it, I said it, right there. Using words. Turns out I'm referencing you. Who said anything about divinity? Not me. Binary, lacking nuance. Poor show. Firstly, if you're trying to sound intelligent, go and research what the term binary means because you have no clue. Secondly, what you are saying, is you object to Villa fans scrutinising the manager on a Villa forum on a thread clearly marked for discussion of the manager. So what would you prefer, then? No discussion? No scrutiny? Just empty, uniformly positively platitudes? Managers come and go, we should be supporting the club, that entails supporting the manager but not to the point of blind loyalty.

Crowds are up, support is pretty good right now. What exactly are you looking for? We'll have to do better than 17th (possibly 18th after tonight) and knocked out of both cups by lower league opposition for some of us to be convinced of Lambert's divinity. There's nothing traiterous about that. We don't have a crop of young players like Man U did in 1995 and this isn't football manager, it's not as simple as buying youngsters and then being patient.

I prefer to stay out of politics but I have to say the amount of thinly veiled 'America deserves it' comments I've seen are sickening (not on here). I have a brother in the Middle East so have been far more concerned about the earthquake today which he felt btw before anyone says tragedies happen other places as well.

So Lambert is some kind of messiah or visionary? Or are you saying that you're just a lot smarter than the average fan. I think most people, like me are lukewarm on Lambert. I do struggle to see why some people are fiercely behind him. Football league and Premier League as a whole a manager lasts around 2 seasons (although Premier League figures are a lot higher due to Ferguson, Wenger and Moyes). There's not much reason to think Lambert will be much different. Let's face it, even if he turns out to be a managerial genius,the result will be that he jumps ship for a better job when one comes along.

The football has been better this season, no doubt. There are some positive vibes around the club because we are playing a young side and this gives the impression that we are building for the future although in a cynical way, it illustrates that the Chairman has given up on competing with the big spending clubs. If we go down this year, then it hasn't been worth the pain of blooding youngsters and persisting with them, simple as that. I posted extensively earlier in the thread about Lambert. To summarise, I think he's a poor tactician. I think he relies on a shared team spirit, a shared philosophy if you will. I think all this business of playing young players is not just because of financial constraints. I think he wants to play young players, I think he wants this because they are easier to control, more willing to buy into what he is preaching. Other than the players we have unceremoniously booted out I look at his treatment of Ireland and Bent. They are older players, have played under multiple managers and have money in the bank. They are far less likely to buy what he is preaching, in terms of a shared spirit/philosophy than young players, especially young players that he has himself brought to the club. That's my thinking on Lambert. I'd like to see him be a bit more pragmatic but it will probably come with time. I wouldn't say I dislike him but I am very on the fence right now. I haven't fully bought into what he is doing.

Saying that you were close to giving up on the club and football completely because of a dull season is quite an extreme view to be fair. If you're being honest it surprises me but fair enough. I suspect you were exaggerating to illustrate your dislike of McLeish but if you were being honest then yes I would suggest you are in a small minority so it is somewhat "outlandish". I think a few people have echoed my view that Lamber should have been a bit more pragmatic this season. I think we should have been playing 3 central midfielders for most of the season because a) we're weak in centre midfield and the defence needs the protection. It annoys me that Lambert has gone back to 4-2-3-1 again, I just don't think he's much of a tactician.

There's clearly a slight trade-off. Allardyce and Pulis have repeatedly proven they can build an uninspiring team that can stay up. The problem with it is the fans eventually turn on the manager anyway.

"Would you rather have another season of McLeish, 0-0's everywhere and 6 defenders on the pitch, staying up by 1 point or have the season we've had with its huge highs and lows and go down?" That I would describe as putting words in another person's mouth. No one has said, at least on the last few pages, that they enjoyed the football under McLeish so there's no reason to imply that they have. On the issue of fandom, I don't know what you expect people to think when you post things like this. "football is about entertainment."...."Seriously, last year I was so close to giving up on caring about football. So staying up didn't really matter."

Now who is putting words in another person's mouth. You're basically saying you're a fair weather fan which is fair enough. I went to fewer games last season but I was never going to give up on the club or "football completely".

The thing is though if you want guaranteed entertainment go to a film, a gig, the theatre. Football is relevant due to it's history, cultural impact and the bond a football club has with the local community. It's not just about entertainment at all.

I suspect your post might offend other football fans, not just Wigan! Of course your opinion is valid but not necessarily one I agree with on this occasion. Wigan have what, 1 player that has come through their youth system (McManaman). They basically rely on finding cheap, underrated, foreign imports. Credit to them for what they've achieved, they have punched above their weight for several years but I'd prefer they went down. I don't think they're particularly good for English football or the Premier League.

Bring back Sylla, play a tight 4-3-3 and we will be able to contain them and frustrate them for long periods. We'll still make a few chances, have to take one or two of them. If we concede early we could easily get hammered though.