praisedmambo

But if it is as we speculate that Lerner is not giving him any funds and that he hasn't written down any gettable experienced (quality) players on that list of his then im sure Stephens is at least a smudge better than Bannan and Delph and that he might come in handy next year when we play in the Championship

I don't want to disappoint you but it's halfway through the season and we're not in the relegation zone. That's with Bannan and Delph playing significant parts for the first half of the season. By many accounts Stephens is actually good, and he's over 6 foot. Maybe he will make it so we're even further away from the relegation zone. The defence might have taken all the flak for the Bradford game but if there were midfielders infront of them not giving the ball away all the time and providing no challenge to get through then things might have looked better.

I don't think we're going to get relegated.

Dale Stephens, that's another one for the future right?

Or are Lambert expecting him to come in and do what Sigurdsson did for Swansea last season?

That's the kind of impact all our signings (if there are any) need to make. is Stephens that good or is he just a player we hope can help us in next seasons promotion fight?

He never said any of the signings were for the future. He said young and hungry, that's all. And signed Vlaar and KEA (yeah, KEA's not working out so well at the moment, but that happens). Our squad is thin and being shown up because of the likes of Bannan at CM not really being much of a presence unfortunately.

If Stephens is an improvement then we improve. That's all we need.

And I can see Lambert walking if we lose tomorrow.

Funny how we all see things so differently. January is renowned to be a tough period for buying players. Wasn't Lambert even quoted today along the lines of players prices are inflated in January...so implying maybe the issues surround trying to get players at non-panic-freak-out prices.

I see Lambert has learned his lesson....

Oh wait, you say Dale Stephens? My confidence has just literally dropped through the floor, more money being frittered on lower league players.

I don't care what anyone says, he's building a Championship side.

It's not so much the signings he made but the academy players though. So I don't know why you're wingeing. If Stephens is better than Bannan, then we're moving in the right direction. Lets face it he probably is too.

So they're saying we offered and he's not sure he wants to come, sounds like - or he's jus thinking about it. (not saying it's not agents doing games)

Don't let this fool Lambert anywhere near that cheque book, he should collect his things and leave, no more Lower league players, unless there from Bradford LOL

Think about it - the really shit players are the ones he didn't sign.

Bents chance was a woeful miss.

And it's hard to defend it but its not going to help your best goal scorer stay sharp by **** rarely playing him.

You do know he's been injured?

Was having lunch with an Arsenal supporting friend of mine and we got talking about how both clubs have been going in recent years, eventually he asked if you were gutting the club right now who would you actually keep from that squad, and when I really thought about it, I came to the conclusion that the only players I'd keep for a first XI moving forward would be Lowton, Vlaar, Bennett, Westwood, Weiman, Benteke. Granted the likes of Baker & maybe even Clark are good prospects but right now I'd rather see them be options as opposed to definites. When you look at those players 5/6 are Lambert signings, just goes to show how much of a job he had coming in here and why he deserves a chance no matter how bad this season goes, obviously I've factored in wages in not including Bent, Guzan was another I thought hard about and he has done very well and was unlucky not to be included. The only two PL signings who didn't make it were KAE & Bowery. Anyways, I look forward to see who he brings in next.

I been saying exactly this, but a little less harsh on Guzan and I'm still willing to see if KEA can turn it around - he looked good to begin with but has gone off the boil. Hopefully he can do a Petrov.

Any chance of a brief resume of this mornings activity (I've been locked in a course)

Dale Stephens played in the cup for Charlton yesterday and James Chester was on the bench for Hull, so maybe these two deals are far from complete or maybe we are no longer after them (if we even were)

Because I'm wasting time I checked if Stephens played in the league cup for Charlton. They got nocked out by Leyton Orient and he did not play, so at least he's not cup tied in that one (if he comes!)

Regardless Westwood is cup tied! We need to buy some midfielders just to play in the final (if we make it)

AvfcRigo82 - If you can't see the ludicrousness of your logic then there is no hope for you! (If you mean both those contradicting quotes)

Delph has been here ages anyway, and so he'd be one of the examples where he hasn't turned it around, which KEA still can (having been here half a season).

I wanted to add the way I see it to the debate about the lower league players:

The problem isn't who we've signed but THE REST OF THE TEAM. As in, all those academy players that really shouldn't be in the team. I feel awkward saying it but only Weimann should be there out of the academy players, and people like Clark and Baker on the fringes breaking through.

All this hysteria about the lower league players is pointless - we had one window, signed eight players, spent one of the highest amounts in the prem and the team still needs massive rebuilding. The way I see it - the rebuilding work is definitely in progress and will take time.

I trust Lambert to sort us out. We do have experienced players and they are all injured (how can anyone not see that?). The level of faith put on youth has been forced on Lambert because of injuries (to the extreme level it has done), and I think it is quite sensible trying to implement a sustainable transfer policy (unlike the last god knows how many years, which has left us with horrendous deadwood and **** the wage bill up).

His signings, Vlaar, Westwood, Lowton, Benteke all look like some of the most consistent and promising performers in the team. It's a shame KEA went off the boil because he should have been significant. Not every transfer works out and he obviously still has time to make an impression anyhow. If his signings look the most consistent and promising then it's the squad players like Bannan, Delph, Herd, Lichaj, Albrighton, Stevens - all that lot who play too many games at the moment. We don't even need the experience particularly, just BETTER PLAYERS! (Although an experienced CB would be very good)

He does very often lose the ball.

When we made the subs we were being overrun. Bringing Ireland and Bent on would have made it worse, in my opinion, because they add very little workrate (Bent particularly). WE WOULD HAVE LOST!

**** this imaginary bollocks that we might have won that game - QPR were all over us in that second half. Redknapp had them pumped up. A point isn't bad but losing would have been terrible. I don't love the subs and the formation but...well...we are a work in progress, that's for sure.

Holman loses the ball more than KEA, so that must be a positive substitution

They're not so much negative substitutions as neutral substitutions

I have no faith in Delph

what a belter!

How did you see it!? The stream thread is dry!

This site never fails to amaze me....(not picking on you per se, just using your quote as an example).

A couple of weeks ago after the Southampton game people were saying he should be sold back to lower league and now after he could be in the midfield for one of England's best team...

Think we just need to give the mad time, he could be awful or could be great... Let's wait and see

I agree. Some people are frikking crazy on this website. A bit of patience both when things go bad and when things go good wouldn't go amiss.

You don't get points for performances you get points for results

Performances get results that get points? I fail to see how a good performance against man u with a team averaging 23 - considering the turmoil of the last few years - and how things are definitely looking like they are coming together and improving under Paul Lambert is a bad thing.

Villa created many chances today. We are a completely different team to last year. Last year was a nightmare, there is a lot to take as positive at the moment.

Lol! Same old load joke.. Remarkable how this club manages to find so many new ways of completely cocking up a promising (Although sadly all to predictably false) position. It's actually boring now. It was so obvious that the annual F**K it up against Man U from a winning position was going to happen i actually stopped watching at 2-0. "The Mrs said have a look you never know" to which i gave a "suprised at such a ridiculous comment" glance. I genuinely didn't even bother to check the result until now what 8:15 as i am off out to work & wouldn't have been able to see the inevitable until tomorrow otherwise & i simply couldn't be arsed to wait that long.

Groundhog day continues at Villa Park.

How smug and uninteresting this post is. And what a game you missed. Nevermind, up the Villa. Hope to see the progress under Lambert continue.

Yep Southhampton did the same.

Mate, if you can't see the positives after that game you're hopeless.

As for the other thing...Westwood was very good I thought.

Weimann was knackered

May I say, I think Lambert's signings have all looked good - they've freshened up the team no end. What a difference. The difference between us and a team like Spurs is in ATTACK, which is the area of the team Lambert hasn't really added anything. I don't blame him for that either - the squad has been woeful for the last few seasons and it is going to take a few transfer windows to sort all that out.

Lowton was quality today. Bennett looked impressive, and Vlaar and KEA. We matched them until they scored, and maybe should have been ahead eh. Spurs are good and they have a lot of attacking talent, while we are missing a couple of players to unlock defences.

I think those players will come given time.

Apart from the miss his play was very good I thought. I think it was right for him to start against Spurs - Bent wouldn't have done half the team play that Benteke did - as a unit I don't think we would have been as solid or as much of an overall threat if Bent had started.

Ba and Cisse didn't need time to settle? Neither of them were 21 when they were signed. Loads of strikers take time for different reasons so just saying BaCisse is a bit of a nothing thing to say. Some of his passing was excellent.

and then Clark to get our first from a corner since Pongo Waring.

Or our first from a corner since last week when Bent scored?! I'm sure that was a corner.