Ghost_of_Pongo_Waring

I think the worry is pretty much understandable. Only 1 shot on target in the last 2 games is a big worry, no matter what league your playing in. It would be more of a worry if we weren't creating chances, but we are.

According to eurosport it's only the sixth time in our history that we've kept clean sheets in the first two matches of a top flight season. Lamberts summer business, so far, seems to have been good. Hopefully he'll be able to bring in the 'couple of players' that he's mentioned and we can have a reasonable safe and solid season.

Great to hear you had such a good time. Have a safe journey back.

Perhaps they think a new CEO would be able to work on more than one thing at a time. he wouldn't actually be designing any changes himself, after all.

You can wear a gold bracelet without being Bent

How would your mate know who Saints want to buy & how much they are willing to pay? Most of this sort of info comes from what people have read in the media and the media are, for the most part, guessing.

I'm with you on this but I think with the season so close it's just a reminder of how bad last year was. It means nothing. When we finished league runners up we were beaten at Crewe, for example. We've also had seasons where we've played well in pre-season game and then gone on to struggle. Minutes on the pitch to get fitness levels up is ALL that matters in pre-season games. Players aren't going to bust a gut and risk picking up a niggling injury, or worse, Lamberts job is to get the players fitness levels up, ready for the season. If that means playing players out of position, or playing defensive partnerships that are less than ideal then so be it. All the players, regardless of how far down the pecking order they may be, need to get minutes on the pitch.

Well the bomb squad ex-members will know what'll happen if they don't perform and will only have themselves to blame if they're excluded because of poor form or attitude. N'zgbia wasn't a member anyway. He was used in Lamberts first season and missed last season through injury. Despite a crippling injury list last season we still had a 'safer' season than the year before and with the additions and returning players we're stronger now. Of course there are no guarantees but if we can avoid injuries to key players there's definitely, in my opinion, reason to be optomistic this season.

Sometimes people don't deserve chances, if Bent was doing naff all during training all week and Bowery was giving it everything then it's fully justified. Not saying this is the case by the way as I don't know but something obviously happened with Bent as you don't go from being named Captain to being dropped altogether without some form of incident, or incidents Or it could be bad judgement by the manager. You think that Lambert thinks bowery is a better player than bent? No, I think it may have been bad judgement to bomb Bent out and use Bowery. It may also have been good judgement. It's impossible to say though without knowing the reason why it happened.

You're right, seems like an age ago.

With Scotland he's surrounded by International players. maybe he's not so good surrounded by less experienced players? Whatever the reason he can only be picked for Villa on his performances for Villa and they were not great performances. Performances in training and attitude will all have an impact and we have no idea about that aspect. I don't believe the way he has been treated has no reason behind it, just because as a fan I have no idea what that reason is.

well... averaging 8th placed finish during that period perhaps not. Actually between 1920 and 1957 our average position was 10th not 8th (10.26 to be precise). During Randy Lerners stewardship our average position is 10th or 11th, (depending if you round up or down as the exact figure is 10.5), so not a great deal of difference. Presumably supporters in the earlier period had more reason to moan though as they saw our first ever relegation in 1935/36

I've seen the idea that we were saved by Wigan & Hulls FA Cup runs posted a few times and it makes no sense at all. Regardless of whether Wigan had a fixture pile up or not it doesn't alter the fact that both Newcastle & Sunderland finished between us and the relegation zone in 12/13. Surely if anyone was 'saved' by Wigans cup run it was Sunderland. Personally i don't buy the 'one eye on the cup' as a reason for us beating Hull but even if you accept that it doesn't affect Norwich's points tally, who finished 5 points below us. Norwich didn't reach the points total we had after the Chelsea game, which was nearly a quarter of the season left to go. Thats got nothing to do with Hull reaching the cup final. If we'd finished 17th in both seasons I could see some logic in the statements but we finished 15th. As far as the takeover goes the fact that we are bringing in 'frees' at the moment doesn't necessarily mean a great deal. In a world Cup year transfers often happen later than a non WC year while players available on a free will be signed early to avoid losing out to other clubs. It would make no sense, to me, for Lerner to make no investment in the squad at all. I don't think he'll have a lot to play with but I do think funds are available.

So you think we should be in the top four by the end of December? Because thats where we'd be if we had 38 points by then.

None of us can say how many of the players may have been omitted for contractual reasons but that's the point it's not as simple as you and TRO seem to believe. It wouldn't have been done on a whim, for the hell of it. Just because we don't know what the reasoning was behind the situation doesn't mean that there wasn't a good reason for it.

nub of the whole problem. .....as simple as it sounds. simple game football. Agreed - so much for getting them off the wage bill. LOL If Lambert is to stay let's hope he has learnt from his numerous mistakes from the 2013/14 season. Except it's not that simple at all, players have all sorts of bonuses written into contracts including appearance bonuses. Do you really think that there wasn't a reason why players were not included in the first team squad. That Lambert just wanted to make the job that bit more difficult?

I think, despite all the difficulties, that Lambert really appreciates the size and potential of the Villa job. He has always talked the club up, in what it should be looking to achieve, even if the current situation is far from rosy.

Unless the new owner or a representative is also present.... It doesn't make any sense to sack Lambert & Faulkner, even if prospective owners are in attendance. What if the takeover falls through, as theses things can. What other manager or CEO are going to come in when there is no guarantee of who will be owning the club in a month, or six months, time?

I do hate this wait for the compo mentally!! Would you walk away from millions of pounds? Stupid thing to have a go at him about. I can only think what I would do in my current situation where I don't earn millions and I would like to think that if I were in a situation where I had not performed to the best of my abilities that I would fall on my sword and leave a job. If I had being earning millions for a few years I would look at the compo in a different light I would like to think! You'd walk away from your job forsaking any money? I don't believe that for a second. You don't know me so don't judge me by your own standards, thank you! Well in the real world away from football management if you are shite at your job and not performing a company will go down a disciplinary procedure and have you out without paying any compo and most people are only ever entitled to 4 weeks pay, for most that's not in the millions. If you've signed a fixed term contract then you'd be entitled to have it paid out, if the company decides to get rid of you. Also if Lambert, as is widely believed, was told to get rid of the high earners while maintaining our Premier League status then he has done the job asked of him. If that is the case then why should he walk?

Actually we were safe after the Chelsea game. It took until Saturday to confirm it but we've been safe for weeks. Not really. If we hadn't won on saturday we'd be on 35 points and one of three teams who could realistically still go down. As it happens we are on 38 points and now safe thanks to that victory To be totally accurate if Norwich fail to win against Arsenal then we were safe after the Chelsea game, as non of the three relegated teams would have overtaken the points & goal difference we'd achieved after that game.

Actually we were safe after the Chelsea game. It took until Saturday to confirm it but we've been safe for weeks.

Probably signing Benteke on a longer contract would do that alone... Doubt Benteke is on more than Dunne, Ireland, Bent (on loan, granted), Makoun, Collins, Warnock... The wage bill had gone up by the end of March last year, which is where the published accounts go up to. There was always going to be a period when we had the wages of the high earners we were trying to get rid of and the replacement players on the books. So the bill initially increasing isn't much of a surprise if you think about it. I'd be very surprised if there isn't a big difference to the wage bill now, to then.

I don't think he's done an admirable job, but he has done an ok job considering the conditions at the club. If we hadn't have had the post Chelsea collapse we'd have had a reasonable mid table season. As it stands it's looking likely that we were actually safe after that game, unless Norwich get a win against Arsenal, but the results since then have been unacceptable. I feel Lambert has built the foundations of a decent team, under difficult circumstances. I'd really like to see what he can do with funds and would be happy for him to remain but we HAVE to push on from this.

I agree. It's annoying how some people focus on silly little stats instead of things that matter. This isn't me defending Lambert by the way - our home record is dreadful, I just wish people would stop banging on about this "most losses" stat because it's misleading. It's the same as the 'worst start of a season' statistic. Which is totally meaningless without any sort of agreement on how many games a start actually constitutes. As for the 8-0, as bad a result as it was, it isn't just an indication of how bad we are. Large one sided results happen more often now across the whole of the division, where they were once extremely rare. For example Arsenal have lost 6-0, 5-1, 6-3 this season but are still in 4th

It is.