praisedmambo

We spent the 7th most amount on wages and finished 16th. Things needed sorting out. Total overhaul.

Completely agree. I also think though its just as easy to say 'who else could we sign' or 'who else would come' Transfers are difficult and we as fans no little about what happens behind closed doors. It's annoying though that Morpheus is going on about us not signing Diame, when he has no idea if we tried or not. It's total nonsense.

Remember too how unattractive a prospect we were in the summer, and I have a feeling, if we stay up, that we won't be the same unattractive prospect as before on account of us having totally gutted the deadwood team to sort out the financial mess, and to establish a solid foundation to build from with a progressive manager and a young team. This is what needed to happen. We could finish 16th like last year—be in exactly the same place in the table—and yet be a million miles away from being in the same bleak situation. Now we would be moving in the right direction for the first time in years. Hoping we stay up

Why can you not accept the fact we couldn't afford Diames wages? This is the same reason Cuellar wasn't resigned, 45k a week. Please please stop banging on about Collins - just because you weren't around or didn't read it for whatever reason, it's true. He was constantly causing trouble. Respected posters on here with 100% insight have confirmed this. He was a cancer. He had to go. I've had this debate with many posters and none have answered it. You criticize Lambert for putting this defence together. He put it together with the money he was given and the wage limit he had. Who should he have gone for? and none of them are on more than 25k. Premiership footballers don't come to clubs for 25k - hence why he shopped abroad and in the lower leagues. Also, mostly a defence is made up of 4 players, he signed 3 and wasn't given money for a fourth. He admitted in January he had targets but we couldn't afford the wages. Maybe with another CB he wanted things would have been better. You seem to constantly beat him with this transfer stick - he really didn't have any other options with what he had to spend. How do you know we couldn't afford Diame's wages? If we couldn't afford the wages of Diame why did we place a bid for Dempsey? We paid how much for KEA and then his wages yet you say we couldn't afford Diame on a free plus his wages. Sorry that simply doesn't wash with me. I criticise Lambert for the quality of defence he has built not how much it cost and how the feck do you know what our wage structure is especially when Lambert has already stated that the chairman made funding available for more established players but he choose not to go down that route in the summer. Of course he had other options. He could have purchased better players than KEA, Bowery, Bennett, Lowton and Vlaar. Benteke is a quality signing. How much wages is he on? How much are we paying Westwood. That proves the point that he could have purchased better quality but instead has built a defence on poor quality players and we've seen that all season with Guzan having to be MOTM on several occasions. I wish several posters on here would look at stats of this season and where we currently are before trying to defend a manager that could still relegate us. But you're making things up more than anyone!!! How do you know we didn't go in for Diame? How do you know Diame didn't choose to move to London as many players do? (In fact, I'm under the impression this is what happened). Not every transfer comes off (as in actually goes through) so you don't know that the plan wasn't to strengthen more. These are deals done for millions of pounds and put players on contracts worth millions of pounds!!! You can't just throw money about—we are the perfect example of the mess that causes!!!! This is the reason why we have been struggling the last few years AND we have been losing £50 million a year, including the transfer fees we've recouped. Lambert has talked about limited budgets etc. If you can't see the logic in building a young hungry team, in the name of being a sustainable club, then I think you are literally missing the point of every decision he has made. Lambert by accounts also thought he had a CB in January but the guy went to Italy. Are you comparing Benteke's and Westwood's wages? I don't get it. You know if you have a budget and you pay more for one thing it means you have to pay less for another thing? Right? My point was and still is now when Diame became available he was exactly what was needed at our club to cure an outstanding weakness. The player was also on a free but probably wanted wages around 40 grand plus which we may or may not have been able to pay. However he was a proven quality Premiership player. Lambert spent a fee on KEA plus wages and when that hasn't worked out he has now purchased Sylla. Would Lambert have not been better off purchasing a known Premiership quality player in Diame with obvious sell on value as he was on a free and paying him more in wages than buying one inexperienced player who has failed miserably and another who has still a lot to prove? Remember we are now paying two players two separate wages purchased for the same position and our midfield is still weak! There is no logic behind what you are saying: you are making things up! Maybe Diame wanted to go to West Ham! Lets stick to reality. Sometimes players choose not to come to Villa. Transfers take months to sort out sometimes. Diame signed for West Ham on the 20th June, and Lambert signed for us on the 2nd of June. There is every possibility his move to West Ham was far along at that stage. You do make things out to be more simple than they are in reality.

I can't believe how easy some people think football management is. There are many factors contributing to our current performances, as far as I see it. One that must not be overlooked is the return of Gabby and N'Zog from injury, and Delph actually—finally!—starting to play well. Should Lambert not be credited to be the only manager to have Delph actually perform? To have got Gabby playing well again? To further developing Weimann? Ah. Seriously. **** it. I can't be bothered to read some of this nonsense, let alone get involved................

Why can you not accept the fact we couldn't afford Diames wages? This is the same reason Cuellar wasn't resigned, 45k a week. Please please stop banging on about Collins - just because you weren't around or didn't read it for whatever reason, it's true. He was constantly causing trouble. Respected posters on here with 100% insight have confirmed this. He was a cancer. He had to go. I've had this debate with many posters and none have answered it. You criticize Lambert for putting this defence together. He put it together with the money he was given and the wage limit he had. Who should he have gone for? and none of them are on more than 25k. Premiership footballers don't come to clubs for 25k - hence why he shopped abroad and in the lower leagues. Also, mostly a defence is made up of 4 players, he signed 3 and wasn't given money for a fourth. He admitted in January he had targets but we couldn't afford the wages. Maybe with another CB he wanted things would have been better. You seem to constantly beat him with this transfer stick - he really didn't have any other options with what he had to spend. How do you know we couldn't afford Diame's wages? If we couldn't afford the wages of Diame why did we place a bid for Dempsey? We paid how much for KEA and then his wages yet you say we couldn't afford Diame on a free plus his wages. Sorry that simply doesn't wash with me. I criticise Lambert for the quality of defence he has built not how much it cost and how the feck do you know what our wage structure is especially when Lambert has already stated that the chairman made funding available for more established players but he choose not to go down that route in the summer. Of course he had other options. He could have purchased better players than KEA, Bowery, Bennett, Lowton and Vlaar. Benteke is a quality signing. How much wages is he on? How much are we paying Westwood. That proves the point that he could have purchased better quality but instead has built a defence on poor quality players and we've seen that all season with Guzan having to be MOTM on several occasions. I wish several posters on here would look at stats of this season and where we currently are before trying to defend a manager that could still relegate us. But you're making things up more than anyone!!! How do you know we didn't go in for Diame? How do you know Diame didn't choose to move to London as many players do? (In fact, I'm under the impression this is what happened). Not every transfer comes off (as in actually goes through) so you don't know that the plan wasn't to strengthen more. These are deals done for millions of pounds and put players on contracts worth millions of pounds!!! You can't just throw money about—we are the perfect example of the mess that causes!!!! This is the reason why we have been struggling the last few years AND we have been losing £50 million a year, including the transfer fees we've recouped. Lambert has talked about limited budgets etc. If you can't see the logic in building a young hungry team, in the name of being a sustainable club, then I think you are literally missing the point of every decision he has made. Lambert by accounts also thought he had a CB in January but the guy went to Italy. Are you comparing Benteke's and Westwood's wages? I don't get it. You know if you have a budget and you pay more for one thing it means you have to pay less for another thing? Right?

We conceded 17 goals over a 4 game period. Tell me, what was our defensive lineup through those games? I brought this up with him before and it didn't go into his head then but in the Chelsea game our defence was: Lowton (note, the only Lambert signing), Herd, Baker, Clark, Lichaj. This back line also won us the game at Liverpool mind, but I think BJ10 could do with opening his mind to the effect of injuries etc on a young team. Is it me or has he gone a bit mad recently? He's on here all the time not letting anything go, stomping his feet as if he is demanding to be miserable.

Are you being serious? If you are then let me explain. He took a side on the decline. A side that were hovering around the drop zone but were only ever going in one direction. They were on the decline. They were old. They were overpaid and they were shit. Hutton can hardly get his game for the worst team in the Primera Liga (Mallorca), Warnock has dropped into the league he was trying to drag us into (Leeds). Collins has admittedly had a good season for West Ham and Dunne; while he has been missed on occasion; has not been mourned by the Villa faithful. Even the previously-mercurial Bent has had to make way for the best strikeforce and the best striker to come Villa's way since probably the days of Saunders and Atkinson. We now have a side who are in a similar position to last year's one, but this is while they are learning their Premier League trade. This Villa side are as good as the other one but with 10 years in hand. We're on the up and we are doing it the right way. If you are intent to contain your opinions to simple glances at the league table without looking at what he's trying to do and how he's trying to do it then that's your prerogative but you're missing the point. We will be in this league next season and we'll be in a helluva better shape than we've been in a long long time. Well put sir. This is the oft mentioned bigger picture that some don't seem capable of grasping. It might look like we're in a similar position to last year but now we have the potential to be sustainable and build, to not be losing £50million a year (which PussEkat, is money we could be spending on improving the squad and not on past it players)—our young players who are improving will increase in value, bringing more money in, as opposed to 90% of the transfers that have happened over the last 6 years, where we have lost money. Finally we are building sensibly, and admirably. It is the ONLY way we can do it without Abu Dhabi or somesuch coming in and spending billions on top of the incredible amount of money Lerner has already put in. Why can't some people see this!

Is not scoring lots of goals and winning enough? At Norwich Lambert was never known for being the most defensive manager...relying on attack more than defence, which seems to be coming to fruition with us now.

Funny how picking the right formation made such a huge difference. Shame our manager needed so much TIME to figure this out. Maybe if he hadn't wasted TIME playing a diamond formation, then more TIME with 3 CB's we might all be having a better TIME as fans not worrying about relegation for the 3rd TIME in a row. Injuries. It's not as simple as you always make out. You literally discount so many things and repeat the same small minded nonsense over and over. Go support bluescum where you belong.

Oh come on, We all know lambert is a yes man, Lerner says get the wage bill down so lambert being the prick he is thinks by not selecting him will force him to hand in a transfer request. Same treatment applied to given, ireland ect, Seriously If anybody thinks that trio will be here next season then more fool them. Lerner and faulkners small minded tactics have turned us into a small club again and more fool lambert for being there bitch! Pathetic excuse of men thats all!. I don't think i'd mind those players you have mentioned "not being here" next season. Lambert is also anything but a yes man—he's stuck to some pretty ruthless guns this season. This Sutherland guy is really talking nonsense. Thinking about it, what manager is going to come in, with a budget and say "**** you chairman, I'm going to spend TWICE your budget, and you better like it." Penis. I have had a moment to think and I think Sutherland is a troll. LAMBERT IS A YES MAN??!

Oh come on, We all know lambert is a yes man, Lerner says get the wage bill down so lambert being the prick he is thinks by not selecting him will force him to hand in a transfer request. Same treatment applied to given, ireland ect, Seriously If anybody thinks that trio will be here next season then more fool them. Lerner and faulkners small minded tactics have turned us into a small club again and more fool lambert for being there bitch! Pathetic excuse of men thats all!. I don't think i'd mind those players you have mentioned "not being here" next season. Lambert is also anything but a yes man—he's stuck to some pretty ruthless guns this season. This Sutherland guy is really talking nonsense. Thinking about it, what manager is going to come in, with a budget and say "**** you chairman, I'm going to spend TWICE your budget, and you better like it." Penis. I have had a moment to think and I think Sutherland is a troll.

Earlier BJ10 was saying it only counts as a success for the academy if they make it in the Villa first team. They are a failure if they make it elsewhere - except if they are Walcott and Bale from Southampton's academy. Maintaining a consistent argument is not what BJ10 is doing at present... IMO. I'd be happy if I could work out how to block him.

No, if Gabby & Bowery played as forwards then they wouldn't of tracked back to help Bennett & Lowton defend. I think you're being a bit silly.

Its called tactics innit. Bowery did a lot of work today, and he's a big guy suited to away at Stoke—he won a lot of headers. We dominated that game so seems it worked. A wingers job isn't winning headers. He wasn't a winger, so that's ok.

Its nice to know that staying in the Premiership is now viewed by some posters as an achievement for our club. Did you hold that same view with our previous managers? I think a large proportion of the board thought 14th-17th would be a good result when doing the predictions at the start of the season. Not that any of us would like to have come there but realistically with the way the squad's needed revamping many of us did expect it. Lambert is trying to fix the mess the previous managers have put us in which is where he gets more leeway. I seem to remember someone on the board mentioning qualification for Europe and not many fans mentioning another relegation battle apart from one or two on here who voiced their concerns with the imbalance within our squad. We've been in a mess for a while and we've not been able to throw loads of money at fixing the team and the amount of money we've been losing. It doesn't matter what people hoped for this season—nobody wanted a relegation battle—but in the context of the last few years it's not that surprising what has happened. The difference between Lambert and McLeish, for me, is obvious. One manager played horrible football and bought badly, had a history of relegations and was totally wrong for the club, I felt doomed last year, and then there is Lambert who has a history of attacking football, good buys, and promotions, and also of turning clubs around who have been in a mess and making them good. Just like us. It doesn't happen instantly. As long as we survive this season we can build and Lambert is ideal.

The bad spell happened when we had lots of injuries funnily enough. The injuries also coincided with the wingback period.

Its called tactics innit. Bowery did a lot of work today, and he's a big guy suited to away at Stoke—he won a lot of headers. We dominated that game so seems it worked.

Trolls are about. People criticising Lambert? Did they watch the game and see how we were in total control for the whole game until they had a little spell around the 70th minute? His game plan was fine. Good work from the manager. Well played Villa. We are growing as a team and it is nice to see, now the young players are getting some confidence.

Well put.

How do you explain that at Under 11 Sunday League football, I knew not to do it! And all of my team did too. And if they did, they were rightly criticised. Its basic! None of you dickheads were playing against Suarez

Time to stop now, eh.

God. Would you be like this if the women's team win the league? Did you used to go out and dance in the streets when the reserve team won their league? Are you glued to the Internet in full kit trying to find out how the U11's got on? Its kids winning a youth level competition. It's pleasing, it's a good achievement but that's about it. You might want to go and reserve your space for the parade. How do you block people again? I never worked it out yet?

Based on what? A number of reasons for me Big John 10. Mostly down to the fact that change seems to be getting us no where at all. What's wrong with seeing how keeping a manager for more than one season? If we go down, I will personally blame the players and the owners/PF. I won't be blaming Mr Lambert. Don't get me wrong there have been a couple of things that he has done wrong, mainly substitutions and when best use them but he has tried to build something here which means we can continue to build for the future. Randy has clearly said he no longer wants older overrated players just collecting wages and so we must try to get rid and buy young, raw talent. I personally quite like this approach. Lambert needs to stay. He is building and should be allowed to continue to build to get us where we belong. Whether that means a season outside of the top flight then so be it. I have come to accept it anyway after the past 3 years. DON'T FEED THE SAD TROLL BIG JOHN 10 MAN!!! Definitely don't use logic with him. He spends days on this site saying the same thing, waiting for someone to say something positive about Lambert to say 'Based on what?' And whatever you say he'll say the same stuff back he's done already. Why he doesn't just go to bed and realise there is no point repeating himself over and over, I will never know.

At half time I was going to post on here how I thought he was playing brilliantly (he was). There was a time Suarez was clean through and he muscled him off. Baker had a good game and looks like he should be starting with Vlaar for me. At half time I didn't post because I didn't want to jinx him.