Ghost_of_Pongo_Waring

Prove it

I think it's just coincidence that we've had a run of red cards, these runs do happen. I remember a few years back under either O'Leary or MON when we seemed to give away penalties in every game, usually conceded by Ridgewell if I remember correctly. A few were ones that could have gone either way, a bit like our sendings off this season. The annoying ones, to me, are the incidents like Clark because although it's good to see fight in the squad, and the squad standing up for each other, the ref is never going to change his mind and it's not worth the risk of losing players for games.

I agree we could get a short term boost by sacking Lambert. It might be necessary if things carry on the way they are. But we shouldn't expect to land a very good one with finances the way they are. We'd just end up with another manager whose popularity has a constant downward trajectory. The current manager is a calm head in a crisis. He is happy enough to be working in the current conditions. He is slowly improving the team. Sacking him would put is either in a slightly better position or a much, much worse one. I am struggling to come to terms with this comment. I think he's right but as everything it's not a 'black or white' situation. In his first season we spent a lot of time in the relegation zone and at the end of the season we fought our way out of there. Last season we spent most of the season mid-table, even though the style of football was worse. So far this season we've been around mid-tale most of the time, again with the football worse than his first, and if we avoid the sort of collapse that ruined last season we could still have our best season under Lambert. Of course we could drop down the table and be fighting to get out before the end of the season but it's by no means guaranteed. Over our dismal Christmas performances we were having shots but the majority were off target but these players have shown they're capable of scoring before and they have to start being more clinical again.

He took on a job in challaging conditions. The fact that he'd have known the conditions were challanging doesn't make them any easy to deal with. I've seen it posted before that if he had any 'self respect' he'd walk away but that notion is ridiculous. Going by that if Lambert left any incoming manager would then, because he'd be constrained by exactly the same conditions, have to walk as well if he had any 'self respect'.

I supported Villa from the early to mid seventies but as my old man was a wolves fan he wouldn't take me to any games. He said it was because of the hooliganism but it was probably more to do with the fact he was as tight as a gnats chuff, My first game I saw live was an away game against wolves, in the central league, in the 80/81 season. My old man said a reserve game should be fine but I had to go with my elder brother, who supports Villa, but has always been more into cricket than football. We went 1-0 up, just before half time. The second half started and virtually straight way wolves scored to make it 1-1. My brother jumped up and started cheering as he hadn't realised we we had changed ends. As he'd been shouting for Villa all first half he got a few strange looks, not to mention a few choice words from me. After going to a lot of reserve games that season, my first 'proper' game was the first game as Champions, at home against newly promoted Notts County, which we lost 1-0. I remember finding a picture of the scorer McCulloch, in Shoot (or something similar), and fixing it to my dart board. I hope he felt every dart

Interesting article in the Telegraph. Despite the injuries & suspensions this weekend we can play what is probably our strongest spine of Guzan, Vlarr/Okore, Delph and Benteke for the first time in nearly a year, although I would be quite happy to see both Okore & Clarke together considering the partnership they seem to have developed.

Lambert has dropped him this season hasn't he? Or am I going mad? Yes, he was dropped for the Spurs game.

What exactly happened then? Because apart from internet rumours, which are hardly the most reliable sources, there's been no confirmation about what exactly Culverhouse & Karsa were doing. How do you know he didn't have a word with them? How do you know it wasn't Lambert that instigated the disciplinary procedings. It used as a reason to have a go at Lambert but it seems nobody has any real knowledge on the incident.

To be fair holding the ball up is normally one of his strengths but he just had a bad game where it wasn't happening for him. He's still young, still learning and I'm sure he'll improve even more. He'll still have bad games though, nobodies perfect. There are a few players who deserve criticism, in that match before Weimann, and Benteke's one of them.

It wasn't a foul, it was just an unfortunate collision. It could've happened to anyone regardless of age. It is a pretty wild leap to assume what you are. Also, by this argument, never give anyone below the age of 20 their debut just on the off chance that they get injured? I don't think anyone is saying that, they're simply disputing your assertion that injuries and confidence are never linked. For whatever reason Koemans decision didn't end well, for either the player or the team. It just seems bizarre for this to be used as a reason to have a go at Lambert when there are other genuine reasons to be critical of him.

"The point remains he had the confidence to start an 18yo" : That point is valid if you think starting a 18 year old is more important than getting something out of the game. High flying Southampton lost to Burnley and the kid ended up in tears on the bench. In what way is that a success. "Grealish created more off the bench against Leicester than Gabby and NZogbia put together" : No he didn't. Gabby was instrumental in both goals. Gabby can be ineffectual at times but he certainly wasn't in the Leicester game. "We have had plenty of chances to start him or to try something different yet he keeps picking the same players and hoping for a different result" : There have only been three games this season when Lambert has had the opportunity to start with the same eleven for consecutive games. 'He keeps picking the same players' is just plain wrong although I'm sure he'd like to be able to have a settled first team. "Okore got his chance because there was no one left and has took it with both hands will it take another injury crisis this time in attack to use Grealish?" : Okore had to wait for his chance, whats wrong with that? None of Vlarr, Senderos, or Baker had deserved to lose their place through performance. Clarke has also played well since getting his chance. Yes Okore has taken his chance with both hands, maybe because he had to fight to get it.

Who do you think signed these players? He's got a creative player in Grealish on the bench who he won't play and instead goes with Weimann. Sorry but he's been here ages. If we aren't creating anything then that's the managers fault. Lamberts under the illusion we have creative players but the stats are awful. Give Benteke service and he'll score. Koeman gave an 18 yo his full,debut away to Burnley where as Lambert is unwilling to give Grealish a start. He brings Robinson back from loan where he was doing really well and never used him and he'll now end up playing u21 football again. If we was creating loads I'd understand but we aren't. If you don't pick an attacker because of his defensive abilities something's wrong! The same one that was tackled horrifically, got injured, and was in tears on the bench? They also lost the game. Lambert got slated for only drawing with Burnley yet Koeman is praised even though they lost, with a stronger squad.

They were losing and the game was coming to an end, of course they went all out. To go all out with 10 men, for 70 minutes would have been ridiculous.

We had 27 points after 19 games last season. And what a wonderful season that ended up to be! As DCJonah said above we had 20 points after 19 games, not 27. We also spent the majority of last season in mid table, until the collapse at the end. So if we can reach 27 points after 19 that would surely show improvement.

To start off with: Club A: Has Delph Club B: Has Aguero Therefore to start off with Club B is ALREADY in a superior position than club A as it ALREADY has a superior and more valuable player. Both teams then, in your example, increase their net transfer spend by £8m. The final outcome is club A is still superior therefore totally logical! Exactly, club A is still superior but that isn't shown by just looking at the net transfer spend. The net transfer spend is the same but that doesn't refect the quality, or cost, of either squad. Yet thats what you're doing, just looking at the net, even though, as you say above, that two clubs could have the same net and yet have a massively different cost & quality of squad.

A draw against Burnley, hip hip hooray!! They hit our bar twice and are probably the worst team in the league. Other teams we got coming up are are much better. Burnley didn't hit our bar twice. They hit the post once, unless you're counting when they decided to play volleyball. The other teams coming up are better than Burnley but are they better than the in-form Southampton and West Ham that we drew against. Southampton were not at there best against us! Although its hard when we park the bus after every goal. But its was a great win..............Draw I mean?? So Southampton were not at there best because we made it hard for them? Isn't that what we're supposed to do against opposition teams?

Lamberts lucky? Last season only Arsenal & Spurs had worse injury problems than us and Saturday was only the second time this season he's had the option to name the same starting eleven in consecutive games. I'd hate to see what happens if he 'loses' this luck.

A draw against Burnley, hip hip hooray!! They hit our bar twice and are probably the worst team in the league. Other teams we got coming up are are much better. Burnley didn't hit our bar twice. They hit the post once, unless you're counting when they decided to play volleyball. The other teams coming up are better than Burnley but are they better than the in-form Southampton and West Ham that we drew against.

Not a one man team, but that the one man lifts the whole team so significantly. We've added good players in the summer. Benteke lifting them means we'll be looking at 46 points+ imo Benteke improves us. Is it good enough though? The last two years would suggest not. We're expecting a lot from one man, and again we might as well have anyone as manager if it's all down to benteke whether we do well or not. So people thinking the progress we've shown in the last few games should increase with one of our major players coming back and you twist it into "that it's just down to Benteke if we do well". Where has anybody said that.

It's no different to posters who complain about performance when we win but dismiss the performance now because we didn't win. Well we've stopped the run of losses but really have to stop conceding so late on. A better performance but we have to now start turning the draws into victories. Benteke will be a big addition against Palace

OGS managed Cardiff for 30 games and got 9 wins. In Paul Lambert's last 30 games we have managed 7 wins. Ouch. That hardly tells the whole story though. Of those 30 games for OGS nearly a third were after relegation to the Championship (nine to be precise) and included four of the nine wins. "Manager finds it easier to win games in a lower division" isn't a major shock.

and how's that been working out for him? How do you know it wouldn't have been worse if he'd adopted a different approach? It may well have been the wrong decision but there's no way of proving it either way.

Bent doesn't exactly work hard for the team so that's probably what he was referring to. Good point. Bent is a poaching striker, and he doesn't fit with the shape of the team as it is, so I actually have no real problem with him being loaned out even when or goal tally is so low. The question for me is: should we really be playing the football that we are right now? Sitting back and counter attacking is not going to suit Bent, but it's not exactly providing us with great results or entertaining matches, so should we be sticking with it or should we perhaps try something else? We weren't playing so defensively in his first season and he wasn't defensive at Norwich, so maybe with the freakish injury problems we've experienced, over the last year, maybe he feels that a 'safety first' policy is the best way to go?

Why is it so difficult to bloody well comprehend? You don't need to slag people off or condemn them in public to give straight answers to simple questions. What lambert actually does, is mumble and stumble around the issue to the point where he just spouts shite that actually means nothing. He speaks a lot, but says nothing. If he's "incoherent" and "mumbling", how do you know he's not getting to the point?

Prove it. Where's your proof that anyone has? Bent was given a chance under Lambert, was dropped and then got injured when he got back in the team. He came back was played and got injured again. I'm not sure what Lambert did wrong in that first season. Last season he was sent on loan to Fulham and didn't exactly impress under Jol, Meulensteen or Magath. How is that Lamberts fault? I don't recall saying it was Lambert's fault how he got on at Fulham but to be fair which Fulham players did do well? You don't think his season at Fulham has affected his re-sale value? Why are teams going to sign a player who is obviously regressing in quality and is reportedly on 60k a week. Lambert can only sell a player if other clubs are willing to buy him. Bent had a whole season, away from Lambert, to show the footballing world what a valuable player he is and failed to do that. Lambert gave Bent a chance at Villa in his first season, he gave Bent a chance at Fulham in his second season, and Bent has looked unfit and uninterested in his appearances so far this season. What exactly is Lambert to have done differently.