CannockVillan

He's not doing well, the players aren't doing well, the crowd are unhappy and what doesn't help is your overly aggressive tone in your posts which gets peoples' - like mine - backs up.

I would definitely straight swap Delphi for Dembele. Always rated him. Calm and composed on the ball and can play it long or thread a through ball.

So as well as signing Carles Gil (apparently) some think Lambert is likely to get the sack soon. Wise up!

Different times Richard. Football moved on.

I don't quitter know how cause I've never bothered to find out but I'm reliably informed that Wiki pages can be changed very easily by anyone. With that in mind I wouldn't put too much faith into a Wiki page that he or his agent have probably never even seen. It's more likely to be my Baggie mate taking the P155 with his other Baggie mates or some blue nose thinking he's funny.

That may be the case but unfortunately we play with 11 defenders! p.s. replying to the post regarding paying the bonuses and forgot to quote!

We've tried the counterattacking style and it worked for a while and still does when teams come and attack us. Unfortunately that stopped working when teams realised that was our sole tactic, most likely cause Lambert didn't have the belief that his squad was good enough so tried to shore things up and play on the counter. Teams wised up and sat back. He seems to have a squad that he has more confidence in defensively (shown by the decent defensive record we have). Still struggling going forward but the ball retention does two things. It puts less pressure on our defenders, the constant deluge isn't there anymore and we know that opposition can't score when we have the ball. The next stage has to be more incisiveness in attack. Increase the speed of thought and movement from our attacking play and we'll create more. Part of the problem for me is Gabby. On his day he is unplayable but so like many of our players their days are few and far between. Gabby is a statue in the majority of his games. He does not move unless it's a ball over the top for him to chase and he then always surprises me every time by not picking up the ball in his mouth and bringing it back! He's one dimensional due to his being solely a speed merchant with no footballing brain. We need more movement in the top three to create the space. It's not all about signing a creative midfielder (although I believe we really need one). It's a team game and its just as much a problem caused by a static strike force as it is by the lack of creativity in midfield. Defenders need to be pulled about by the strikers to create space for others otherwise they end up staying in their rigid defensive formation which, as we are seeing time and time again, is hard to break down. Better movement, quicker play. Who is training our players in terms of their attacking play?

All of this stuff about poor goal scoring record etc. Any one would think we are bottom of the league. Starting to play better but still a way to go. The next step is to get better movement from the front 3. Has to be said that that is diabolical at the moment particularly Gabby who looks like he only moves to shift from one leg to the other. Slowly starting to see some positives in the last few games. Hampered by some poor decision making from players resulting in playing most of last month with 10 men. Perhaps the change has come about because Lambert feels more confident about the team defensively now. Let's hope we see some better forward play in this second half of the season and 11v11 please.

He's about 5'9"

So this is a wish list thread as opposed to speculation thread then! in that case I'm going for: Robben Ribery Messi CR7; and Jimmy Bullard. If we can only afford one then it has to be Bullard

I didn't appreciate his circumstances had flown south for the winter! Seriously though, I tend to agree. He hasn't had the best hand but surely anyone could do more with this team than what is currently being servied up. ok we're light on umbers at the moment but you still have the basis of a decent enough team yet we always seem to be scrabbling for draws never mind victories. At no stage last night did I think we were going t owin that game and only one thought crossed ym mind after Southampton scored and that was "how long until the second goes in". it's just not good enough for a premier league team whatever your financial position is.

Well compared to other clubs our spending on wages is 24th in the league Our spending on transfer fees this summer was 23rd. We go again.

There's a quote in a Rise Against song from a movie I dont know that mocks this point. "What you don't understand is that it's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees" "But you have it backwards? It's better to live on your feet than to die on your knees" Completely off topic but I thought I'd throw that in. I don't see how the quote relates to a manager of a football club anyway but I like it. The quote isn't wrong. It's saying I'd rather end up giving it a go and failing than not bothering doing anything and just surviving with nothing to live for. Which is exactly what we seem to be doing every week.

F*** it. Drop gabby and Andy and play Zog off Benteke. Just try something Paul, anything, give it a go FFS.

He doesn't score enough, he doesn't create enough and he doesn't work hard enough. He lives off the odd good game her and there. It's not enough at this level

There's David Moyes out there waiting. A man who has taken a team who haven't had much cash over the years and consistently lost their best players to the Mancs to be pushing regularly for top 6. Before it's too late I'm afraid I've lost faith in a guy who is so paralysed by his own fear he can't see the woods for the trees. Enough is enough now. I've not said this before but: Lambert has to go.

If he just showed us some sign that he's trying to fix it. Show us some willingness to change things for the better. Everyone could see it wasn't working and he has 25 mins while we were still in the game to do something else, change things, mix it up, look for a new way. We get two subs who come on when we are 2-0 down and play exactly the same ineffective way. I could do that for 500k a year Randy!!!! It simply not good enough.

Where is the manager that we took from Norwich? Where is the attacking exciting play we were expecting? I watched 300 Rise of an empire last night and there was a phrase which summed it all up for me: I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees. Stop being paralysed by your own fear and have a f***ing go, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

Drop him to the bench. Waste of space who needs to know he's not indispensable. Might give him food for thought. Play 2 up top with Weimann off Benteke. Can't be any worse than the dross being served up at the moment.

They wouldn't have been as miserable because all those managers back in that time didn't have as bad home or cup records as this idiot we've now got in charge!Yes when Villa were relegated for the first time in their history I'm sure the fans weren't miserable at all because over eighty years later a manager was going to have a really bad home record.Not a really bad home record...just the worst ever in our history. Most of the fans (not me) wanted Lambert and defend him to the hilt and cannot ever admit that he's not a very good manager and one of the most negative ever.When people say its the worst ever in history, you mean losses right and not based on points gained. As McLeish gained less points at VP than any other manager so surely that's the worst. See with stats you can twist them anyway to make a point in an argument.He's lost 10 matches at home in the League.....I think I'd rather draw than lose Well he'd won 6 compared to McLeish's 4, and still gained more points than him with his draws. So I'd rather win. He's no better than McLeish...We had not lost to Stoke or Fulham at home in decades and yet Lambert managed to do that last season.... He's also just given us the best start to a league in 16 yrs. Your point is silly. It's not where you start it's where you finish! And his point is valid as for the past 2 seasons Lambert's points total has been very similar to McLeish. Being 3rd after 5 games means diddly in May. Just because Lerner has given him an extended contract to add to his long list of idiotic decision making we don't all have to be gushing praise onto a manager who preformance has been below average so far. You can't polish a turd but my God some people certainly have tried to roll him in glitter! When you said you can't polish a turd I thought you might be on to something but then you started to talk about Lambert. The fact is the turd has been the team not the manager and yes you certainly couldn't have polished them in the last few seasons.

I've been saying this for years. What an outball to have if Guzan catches the ball. Really don't know why we've never done it. i think most teasm now use their attackers to defend corners if they are generally up for it. We do it with Benteke and you will always find people like Drogba, Rooney and Wellbeck (just to name 3) who always do that too. I think (not 100% sure i've got the right game or player here but it was v recent) it might have been the Notts Forest Game recently where Pearce was talking about their Striker (long and funny soundign name that i'm not going to try to guess or google) who was gettign praise for hs goals and Pearce said that it wasn't just his goals it was his all round play and he was often the first person to be heading danger away from their own box. If Gabby is better in the air than say Westwood or Wiemann then of course he'll be defending corners as will Benteke when he returns. The fact is at those points in the game we are DEFENDING our own goal not attacking the oppositions and that has to be the priority. So given the 1 or 2 in 10 opportunties from an oppostion corner or advanced free kick where we may actually break quickly compared to the 8 or 9 in 10 where we can't I think i'd rather have a solid defense thanks and play the percentages. We're more likely to concede more than we'd score if we changed it around. In my opinion Lambert and the coaching staff are spot on in this. Defend as best you can with your best defensive weapons when your goal is at threat from a set play corner or advanced free kick. It's just basic common sense. If we shipped 3 or 4 goals because Gabby and Benteke weren't defending these plays then I'm pretty sure Lambert wouldn't be heralded for his positive attacking set up he'd be completely lambasted for being stupid and not setting up his team to defend set plays as best it can. Given that pretty much all teams set up that way is probably an indication of what is considered best. Yes gabby defends corners well and I can understand having him (like other strikers back). But for having everyone back causes pressure as the opposition can put more men forward and even when we clear the ball comes straight back at us. Someone like weimann who isn't that strong in the air would be better left half way line for me. That wasn't the point that was being made tho. i agree we don't need 11 players in the box defending and need an outlet. The opposition will normally have one more person to defend with from their own set pieces. The qestion is how many do you choose and who.

I've been saying this for years. What an outball to have if Guzan catches the ball. Really don't know why we've never done it. i think most teasm now use their attackers to defend corners if they are generally up for it. We do it with Benteke and you will always find people like Drogba, Rooney and Wellbeck (just to name 3) who always do that too. I think (not 100% sure i've got the right game or player here but it was v recent) it might have been the Notts Forest Game recently where Pearce was talking about their Striker (long and funny soundign name that i'm not going to try to guess or google) who was gettign praise for hs goals and Pearce said that it wasn't just his goals it was his all round play and he was often the first person to be heading danger away from their own box. If Gabby is better in the air than say Westwood or Wiemann then of course he'll be defending corners as will Benteke when he returns. The fact is at those points in the game we are DEFENDING our own goal not attacking the oppositions and that has to be the priority. So given the 1 or 2 in 10 opportunties from an oppostion corner or advanced free kick where we may actually break quickly compared to the 8 or 9 in 10 where we can't I think i'd rather have a solid defense thanks and play the percentages. We're more likely to concede more than we'd score if we changed it around. In my opinion Lambert and the coaching staff are spot on in this. Defend as best you can with your best defensive weapons when your goal is at threat from a set play corner or advanced free kick. It's just basic common sense. If we shipped 3 or 4 goals because Gabby and Benteke weren't defending these plays then I'm pretty sure Lambert wouldn't be heralded for his positive attacking set up he'd be completely lambasted for being stupid and not setting up his team to defend set plays as best it can. Given that pretty much all teams set up that way is probably an indication of what is considered best.

I am concerned by the same things but at the end of the day we have to be solid at the back before we can play a more expansive game. Walk before we run. The confidence at the end of last season was shot and that's not just the team but the fans too. You always felt that in the last 10-15 minutes we were waiting for a goal to be scored, almost sucking it in to the net ourselves. Chelsea and Man City on their day can spank anyone plus we don't play them every week. Outside of those two teams i feel a hell of a lot more confident than previously. They are head and shulders above anyone else in this league. We are heading in the right direction at last and some may feel that is becasue of Keane's influence on the training ground but even if that is the case then Lambert should take an awful lot of credit for that. Ii think it's a combination of the two personally as i would imagine Lambert is much more hands on too. If the club want to give Lambert a new deal now then i have no problem with that. I don't like the constant change particularly when we were in a difficult postion with all the problems we have had. Cosistency (and shed loads of money) is the key to success not changing things every 5 minutes. That said, I would still like to see a complete root and branch review of our playing philosophy from junior to first team as well as a review of our training methods and staff. I want to see us be less concerned with results at a junior level and more concerned with improving skill levels and technique of the players. There are a thousand reasons why we may not finish top of a junior level league and i would rather see us finish last but playing fluent attractive football that will hold them in better stead when they move up levels. For that we need the right coaching staff at all levels. i'd personally like to see Villa youth/junior ban long balls or high balls (other than when practising defensively) until players have mastered how trap a ball quickly, pass and move using one or two touch possession.

See, you can't even get past me Phil, what on earth makes you think you can get past Nathan?

I'm still counting to 40 points no matter what. I think Chelsea will be way too strong but i think we could just get something from the Gooners. That said, we could also get hammered in both :-)