AstonMartin82

This problem was apparent during the last window. He signed 7 players and sold 8! What does that even mean? The need for creativity was apparent last summer (completely exposed during the Liverpool home game), he signed another striker instead. Ok, if you are talking about specifically about a creative midfielder then fair enough, but he tried sorting the defense out during the summer and bought in Tekkers replacement for when he leaves at the end if this season. To say he didn't bother to sign any players is a little harsh,,, he worked hard during the summer to bring in the number of players that he did and I'd imagine if he'd prioritised a creative midfielder over defenders then the rumblings on this site would then be about how obvious it was that we needed the right cover in defense and how Bennett should have been dumped a year ago, He'd have been hard pressed to sort everything out in one summer so as I say, now he has bolstered his squad considerably then if it isn't refined over the next couple of windows then serious questions should be raised... but not right now.

This problem was apparent during the last window. He signed 7 players and sold 8! Lambert hasn't got the PLAYERS to break down a team that sits back. If we have the same problem next season then it is a serious issue. Right now Lambert deserves the time to try to correct this. He isn't going to when he doesn't bother to sign any. I disagree with the fact he doesn't have the players, and more the fact he doesn't know how to use them. There are a number of different tactics he could use, but he is either too stubborn, or unwilling to change. Enlighten us as to how to do this?

The window has only been open 4 days... jeez.

Lambert hasn't got the PLAYERS to break down a team that sits back. If we have the same problem next season then it is a serious issue. Right now Lambert deserves the time to try to correct this.

Delph was anything but poor today. He was a class above every other player on the pitch. We'll do well to keep him this summer, he's worthy of being at a top 4 club. A bit of an exaggeration... This thread is also known as the "exaggeration thread" so it's cool.

He is referring to the countless people who use the 'nobody could have done any better with the same resources' argument. That is tantamount to saying he is the best man for the job isn't it? If you check the full history and the below he has twisted the conversation into claiming people are stating Lambert is the best person in the world for the job - which nobody has ever done. Just correcting a wrong. More to the point, does anyone believe that anybody could turn us in a side competing for Europe in 18 months? Who do you suggest that could do this dounavilla? It's pretty obvious to me that there is no one available to do this... the manager needs to alter the team in the coming transfer windows. He should be judged on next seasons performances, not this one. On the whole of planet earth there is not a better football manager for Aston Villa FC. Mmmmm................!

Don't forget, there is nobody better. Nobody has stated this so stop acting like a petulant little kid. You know when someone has a weak argument when they have to resort to insults in response. No, you know when someone has a weak argument when they start making up responses to suit their own. Please prove where someone has stated that Lambert is the best person for the job? You can't because you made it up. You also know when someone has lost an argument when have nothing to come back on within a conversation. Please prove that there is no better manager for AVFC at this time. Works both ways. lmao. If you are unable to read and understand a question please don't even bother responding. For the very last time: Please prove where someone has stated that Lambert is the best person for the job? I'm not going to prove that there is no better manager for AVFC because I haven't, nor has anyone else, ever claimed this. Please read the above in bold VERY carefully before responding once again.

Don't forget, there is nobody better. Nobody has stated this so stop acting like a petulant little kid. You know when someone has a weak argument when they have to resort to insults in response. No, you know when someone has a weak argument when they start making up responses to suit their own. Please prove where someone has stated that Lambert is the best person for the job? You can't because you made it up. You also know when someone has lost an argument when have nothing to come back on within a conversation.

Don't forget, there is nobody better. Nobody has stated this so stop acting like a petulant little kid.

You state that we are only in phase 2 so I guess you are referring to the 5 year plan (each year being a phase). If I were poor at my job and I wanted long term job security I would also convince the gullible prospective employer that it will take 5 years to achieve the goal. If halfway through year 2 (the second phase) my performance was no better than it was halfway through year 1 (the first phase) and my employer didn't sack me I would be laughing all the way to the bank. Lambert does not seem to know how to improve the team or the performances. If he did we wouldn't be seeing the rubbish that we are seeing every game. If your job description was get into Europe within 18 months then it wouldn't be remiss of you to expect the sack. If your job description was reduce the wage bill by nearly 50% and keep us in the Premier League then you wouldn't expect the sack. I'd imagine this scenario is pretty close to the job description that Lambert was given by Lerner. This doesn't make Lerner gullible and it doesn't mean Lambert has failed. Ultimately, he has succeeded in his job to date. I'd imagine the conversations with Lerner now will be along the lines of how to improve the team within a business model that is sustainable for the future without the need to be bank rolled by Lerner himself. With a couple of experienced players bought in to subsidise our youthful squad I wouldn't have thought we are too far away from being competitive in the Premier League whilst being sustainable. On track as far as I see it despite today's poor result. So far Lambert has succeeded in the job given to him. The problem is that the job he accepted isn't aligned with fans expectations. I'd imagine next season the alignment between Lerners expectations / Lamberts job description and the fans expectations will be as close as they have been since MON left. It is for this reason I'm suggesting people wait until next season before judging Lambert and anything in between is more likely to be over reactions based on expectation levels which are set too high.

More to the point, does anyone believe that anybody could turn us in a side competing for Europe in 18 months? Who do you suggest that could do this dounavilla? It's pretty obvious to me that there is no one available to do this... the manager needs to alter the team in the coming transfer windows. He should be judged on next seasons performances, not this one. On the whole of planet earth there is not a better football manager for Aston Villa FC. Mmmmm................! Your sarcastic response coupled with not giving a candidate is pretty shameful. And your comment about it being 'pretty obvious to me' is rather self opinionated drivel with no evidence to back it up. It's getting more obvious by every post that goes by without you supplying a candidate. This may surprise you but it's not my job to supply a candidate. However, unlike you, I reckon that there must be someone on this planet that could do a better job. If you believe that Lambert is the best manager that AVFC could possibly have then fine but I have a sneaky feeling that someone somewhere just might be better. It's not your job to comment on my posts either but you do. If you think Lambert shouldn't be the manager of Aston Villa then if you were able to provide a solution which would have us competing at the top end of the Premier League within 18 months then it would strengthen your argument. It would appear you are unable to do this. Also, I never stated that there wouldn't be anyone available who wouldn't be better suited to Aston Villa - I stated that there wouldn't be anyone available who would get us competing for European places on the budget provided within 18 months. Especially one that took over McLeish's side. This side is a long way away from being at the top of the league but we are only just entering phase 2 of the rebuilding project. Anyone who thought that phase 2 involved challenging for Europe is very deluded. I'd expect the club to be competing a lot harder than they are at home at the moment but I don't believe the situation is as grave as people are making out and next season if we haven't improved once again then questions should be asked - but right now isn't the time.

More to the point, does anyone believe that anybody could turn us in a side competing for Europe in 18 months? Who do you suggest that could do this dounavilla? It's pretty obvious to me that there is no one available to do this... the manager needs to alter the team in the coming transfer windows. He should be judged on next seasons performances, not this one. On the whole of planet earth there is not a better football manager for Aston Villa FC. Mmmmm................! Your sarcastic response coupled with not giving a candidate is pretty shameful. And your comment about it being 'pretty obvious to me' is rather self opinionated drivel with no evidence to back it up. It's getting more obvious by every post that goes by without you supplying a candidate.

More to the point, does anyone believe that anybody could turn us in a side competing for Europe in 18 months? Who do you suggest that could do this dounavilla? It's pretty obvious to me that there is no one available to do this... the manager needs to alter the team in the coming transfer windows. He should be judged on next seasons performances, not this one. On the whole of planet earth there is not a better football manager for Aston Villa FC. Mmmmm................! Your sarcastic response coupled with not giving a candidate is pretty shameful.

More to the point, does anyone believe that anybody could turn us in a side competing for Europe in 18 months? Who do you suggest that could do this dounavilla? It's pretty obvious to me that there is no one available to do this... the manager needs to alter the team in the coming transfer windows. He should be judged on next seasons performances, not this one.

It's been 18 months of absolute shite, not just one bad game! We're supposed to be improving, but clearly aren't. Look at our next bunch of league games, can't see a win anywhere in the next 4 at least. It's not 18 months of absolute shite. We are a club in transformation. Lambert is going to be here until the end of the season whether you like it or not. The best thing the fans can do right now is accept that situation and support the team and any players Lambert brings in this window. The FA Cup is a low priority and losing to Sheff Utd is not good but is pretty meaningless in the bigger picture.

The players are more at fault here than the manager. I don't care how bad the team selection is or the tactics. The worst selection should beat Sheff Utd. Lambert should be given time to sort out the players. I think calls for sacking the manager are premature and once again just another massive overreaction to a result.

Good player from the limited amount I have seen of him. Can't be any worse than what we already have, or what we shipped out last summer, so I'd definitely be happy about this signing if it were to happen... and that is a very big if IMO.

So you did... it's still early!

So if we play a weakened side and win 5-0 he will have lost your faith?

Why isn't it acceptable? We won which is the stat I am 100% pleased with. Fed up with all this football hipster shite about possession.That worked out really well when we placed Palace. I was really pleased we had 65% of the ball that day. Because it isn't a blue print for a successful football team. If we have ambition we can't be accepting this and as my post implies if a similar thing happens next season then questions have to be raised. This season we can win ugly and it will do with the squad we have. Next season it won't. About 80% of the time since I have been seriously watching Villa (about the last 10 yrs or so) we have either played crap and lost, or played average and ground out wins, with the occasional classic match. Villa never play free flowing Barcelona football or ever will. Its either functional or deeply depressing. Moving to the functional at present methinks. I took the below stats off whoscored.com... we can conclude that if we want to be taken seriously in this league we need to improve our possession quite drastically. It is very rare for a club with such low possession to finish in the top half of the table. Of course there are exceptions to the rule as you would expect as if football was this easy then teams would be told just to knock the ball around defense for 90 minutes. As I stated yesterday, I think winning matches with 35% possession this season will suffice. But if we want to improve and ultimately try to compete to be a top 6 team on a regular basis then anything under 50% is not acceptable. The beginning signs of this changing HAS to be made by at least next season else there is no hope and we may as well all give up supporting a lost cause.

I'm not overly concerned about possession stats - they don't show the full picture. (Not picking on your post - just used it as an example) We could spend the majority of the game passing the ball around the back 4 and keeper. That would definitely make our possession stat higher - but so what? We would have created nothing with that extra possession. What matters is effective possession. That is, possession compared to the number of chances/shots. That, imo, is a better indicator of a teams performance in any given game. By all accounts we could have had more goals against Sunderland, so our effective possession was good - especially compared to recent home performances. Not sure I fully agree. Although possession is not directly related to results it is directly related to player fitness. The more you have the ball the more your players can rest. The less the opposite. The possession stat will possibly have an impact over the course of a season as players should be fresher - a small impact maybe but margins are fine at the highest level and I for one would feel more comfortable if we held possession a lot better. If anyone has the time, or the stats readily available, perhaps they could post last seasons league table with an average possession column? Might go a little way to see if there is a concept behind my argument or not...

Why isn't it acceptable? We won which is the stat I am 100% pleased with. Fed up with all this football hipster shite about possession.That worked out really well when we placed Palace. I was really pleased we had 65% of the ball that day. Because it isn't a blue print for a successful football team. If we have ambition we can't be accepting this and as my post implies if a similar thing happens next season then questions have to be raised. This season we can win ugly and it will do with the squad we have. Next season it won't.

Had written this kid off a number of months ago. Pleasantly surprised with his mini-comeback. Can't see him being a Villa regular but a decent squad player and Villa through and through so hopefully he'll continue to play well enough to stay with us for many a year.

Whilst I agree with this, the bigger problem as I see it is how hard the players have to work when they don't have the ball... not just physically, but also mentally ensuring they are concentrating enough to be in the right place and track their player. If we had 70% possession each game our players would be a lot sharper towards the end of games and a hell of a lot more energized at the end of the season when 3 points will be invaluable. Having 30% possession against Liverpool is one thing. Even Swansea is fine as they keep the ball so well. But against Southampton and Sunderland it really is unacceptable for us and I would expect much better next season.

35% possession against a truly terrible team is still way short of acceptable and any other team would have given us problems today. However, I'm relieved to get the win and hopefully it will take some of the pressure off Lambert and the team because they need the fans behind them, and they need the stability that Lambert will bring. I'll judge Lambert by the end of next summer and see whether he has sorted our midfield out b then because this is the area which is by far our biggest problem.