VillanousOne

he has potential but the problem is we may have to watch a lot of embarrassing defeats until he and some of the others fullfil that potential

Ok so i've been pretty harsh on Lambert of late so I wanted to cut him some slack and say that in terms of injuries we forget that he has been putting a team out without Gabby and Vlaar. Love or hate them he has also had Ireland and Nzogbia injured most of the time, as well as Dunne and of course Petrov. Even just as Bent seemed to at least be back in the squad he got injured. Bennett might have improved had he played more games and Stevens was starting to look the part. But he needs to learn that gambling on the same golden generation that failed the last three managers is not going to get him anywhere. He also needs to stop the 'i'm the boss ego trip' which is starting to get tiresome. Finally he needs to gamble again in January and flog the deadwood.

he probably should play CB or RB, he's always looked iffy at left back. We don't really know how good or bad Bennett is yet, even if so far he's not been great.

Didn't most say that come Jan we'd be in a much better position, presumably meaning we'd be 13th or higher? Right? Well this time last season we had two more points on 20pts, and had a -4 goal difference and were 12th. We are 16th now, 18pts, -17 goal difference. Even if we allow for order of fixtures against big teams and injuries - this is not an improvement. Now i appreciate that you can make stats tell any story and that many would agree we look better than we did under McCleish football and optimism wise (apart from what happened Saturday). But the cold hard fact is that although many think Lambert is pointing the club and players in the right direction, there is still no proof whatsover that we are ACTUALLY walking in that direction. If we lose to Spurs all of the recent optmimism/momentum will have gone completely if it hasn't already, a win or draw against Wigan will mean we go back to tredding water, a loss and the conversations will all focus on relegation again. Lambert has to either work out a way of re-integrating some of the expensively paid talent we still have or replacing them with new talent and experience.

0:0 draw or a comfortable win for Spurs.

Not saying any of them are any good as that is a different debate but Ireland and Nzogbia certainly have not had as many chances as Bannan and many others. How many times has Ireland actually played 90 minutes and what has Bannan done to be considered better than him??? Is it now a rule that because we pay someone high wages we can no longer give them the same crack of the whip?

is that someone Ron Burgundy? stay classy Birmingham

i've edited it, as i think the sentiment behind me thinking we are a laughing stock and players not wanting to come to us - is more down to the 8:0 defeat than rational logic. Agreed though, it is like watching a league two cup side play cup football against the big boys. I think i was wrong to think that Lambert would bring the X Factor back to us, well at least quickly. We need a three year plan to undo the two years since MON and the damage his failed three year plan did. It just doesn't make it much fun to be a Villa fan watching us lose week in week out for those years, praying we don't get relegated.

It is hard to see why any player would want to join us at the moment. We are flogging a dead donkey in terms of wheeling out the same youngsters and the same excuses. We have no proper width except Lowton, the strikers have to set up their own chances and crosses. Gabby is all we have and he is injured, Zog doesn't seem able to do a winger's job, We have no-one who can take set pieces - Bannan gets a good cross in 1 in 5 which is poor, Westwood should takeover. We still have a whole list of players who Lambert doesn't rate or don't deserve to play taking up squad places and wages: Warnock, Hutton, Bent, Nzogbia, Delfouneso, Ireland. Incredibly average and limited players players like KEA, Herd, Bannan, Lichaj (harsh as he's been forced to play left back when i think he looks much better at CB or RB), Delph, Stevens, Bennett (hopefully the jury is still out on the last two) And then inconsistent players who have shown promise and flashes of form but can't be relied on week in week out: Holman, Clark, Weimann, Baker. Which leaves Vlaar, Guzan, Lowton, Gabby and Benteke as players who still have plenty of off days but are about the best we have. I used to be able to speculate who should play where and what tactics we should use, now i haven't a clue, i just have to hope that each game Lambert has the kids so fired up that they close the opposition down like wild fire and we get a lucky breakaway via Benteke. Our tactics are all about stopping the opposition playing, we can't even score from set piece, it's a **** mess.

if he got a consistent run free from injury it'd be interesting to see if Lambert could get the best out of him and Ireland. If Bannan and Herd deserve to play then i can't **** see why others can't get a 100th life line.

where the **** was he today, injured or binned?

I guess people do forget that we've had Vlaar, Dunne, Bent, Zog and Ireland all out (Ireland has only just returned from sickness and broken wrist) no idea where Zog is? Gabby is still out and it's a shame Bennett isn't still out. Either way you look at it we aren't a club that can afford to have many injuries.

Last weekend was the first in more than a year that i felt proud of being a Villa fan, I had a reason to smile. Yes the win against Norwich was good, but it had been a long time since we had a win like the one against Liverpool. And we got lucky, but we still scored some world class goals. To go from that to 8:0 just makes me question why I bother. I want to get behind me team and Lambert, but under McCleish I was already thinking to myself - I never want to see the likes of Clark, Baker, Herd, Lichaj and Bannan start for us again. Then this season came along and we signed decent-ish players in Lowton and Vlaar and class in the form of Benteke. The rest have been 'meh' ok so Westwood is ok, but KEA, Holman hardly set the world alight and Bennett looks pants. Then Bent gets pushed out, Zog disappears, Ireland gets benched in favour of Westwood/Bannan. And we get injuries to every other player with experience we have while the foundation of our team then becomes the players that almost got us relegated last season and the season before. All that's changed is we've hoofed out Hutton and Warnock and sold Max Branning to West Ham for whom he is doing really well. I don't see anything different in Herd and Lichaj that I did last season and the season before...... or Delph or Bannan. Clark and Baker have each had their first real run in defence this season so at least they've shown some promise, but not enough to make me think they should be first choice.

Lambert said the players need to 'atone for the loss' think the only way that can happen is if they go outside and very quietly shoot themselves, or none of them play the next game.

amen

we have been shit more often than good under Lambert, so until we get a few more wins and good performances then there is no evidence to say that wins against Norwich and Liverpool weren't flukes. How many managers at Villa will try and play the same group of youngsters and realise they are not good enough, is there not a dossier on Bannan and Herd that gets passed onto each new manager?

Did Norwich ever lose 8:0 under Lambert? Funny how they are now doing better since he left. So we got a pretty fortunate win against Liverwank then end up being wiped out by Chelsea. The way we play reminds me of a League one side playing Prem sides every week in the cup, loads of heart and drive, precious little quality of experience. People can say we knew we would lose today, i mean we got spanked by City also, but 8:0? Really? I agree with some on here, we'll play the same team vs spurs and get destroyed again.

Bannan, Lichaj and Herd are all squad players - they should not start week in week out.

i agree, just hope Lambert and Randy think the same. My worry is we will continue to buy players from the lower leagues - which has helped build the foundations of the side we now have but we won't improve much if we keep on that path.

Expected yes, acceptable no. it is like watching a pub team take on Barcelona. we are so limited and poor it hurts, yes we expect to lose to Chelsea but if ever you needed a showcase of why we need strengthening and experience then this is it.

down?

no its all about the kids

not sure how much more i can listen to off the chelsea wank off fest

where is Zog?

Guzan might stand a chance, Bent, Gabby and Ireland when and if they are playing and playing reasonably well then maybe. The rest are a mix of nearlies, maybes and potential. The smash and grab raid we did on Liverpool was awesome but also quite lucky as I imagine Chelsea will mark Benteke and Weimann better and not underestimate us. If Ireland or Zog don't play (and even if they do) there is no guarantee of any creativity in our midfield that would open Chelsea up, Westwood, KEA, Delph and Bannan are pretty unlikely to set up any goals or score any themselves.