AshVilla Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) We can't build any kind of form with the current players, we will be banking on vlaar and benteke returning and hoping they make a difference. For the good of our premiership status i hope they do Because Lerner spending a mill in January won't save us So bored of watching Villa play. No spark, no excitement, no quality. It's just shit really. How can 11 professional footballers struggle to pass the ball to each other so much? We get the basics wrong time and time again. What do they do in training? But Lambert is always exonerated of all blame and i do not know why. He's been at the club for a while now and we have not improved We still very much can only play one way and when it doesnt work were abysmal He may do the occasional shift to 3 at the back but apart from that it is very much a process of picking ourselves up and going again Opposition scouts must have it so easy i wonder if they even bother coming to watch our games.if i were them i wouldn't He is just as much to blame as our pennypinching chairman Edited December 21, 2013 by AshVilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I do blame the fans, always have. That said, Lambert did not react to the Adam sub today. Poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 All the fans fault again today. Don't recall anyone ever slating our away fans. They're top-notch and always have been. And yet with excellent support we were poor and beaten. Blaming home fans or away fans it utter shit. Yes I can see that thanks. I don't think it's the main factor (or even in the top 3) but if our home support was anything like our away support maybe we wouldn't quite be so poor at home? Our home support is not going to make technically poor players better. Spending more money on players and better coaching will have much more of an effect on the way we play than fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HongKongVillan Posted December 21, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted December 21, 2013 Last year one of our saving grace was that we were able to eat teams below or around us - now we have lost to Fulham and stoke. And now potentially palace - and obviously banning with the winner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanky Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) We are an absolute embarrassment. That team we sent out today is barely championship standard. Edited December 21, 2013 by Hanky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) All the fans fault again today. Don't recall anyone ever slating our away fans. They're top-notch and always have been. And yet with excellent support we were poor and beaten. Blaming home fans or away fans it utter shit. Yes I can see that thanks. I don't think it's the main factor (or even in the top 3) but if our home support was anything like our away support maybe we wouldn't quite be so poor at home? Our home support is not going to make technically poor players better. Spending more money on players and better coaching will have much more of an effect on the way we play than fans. I think you should read my post again. I never said it would make "technically poor" players better and I never said spending more money and better coaching wouldn't have more of an effect. Edited December 21, 2013 by Mantis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) Last year one of our saving grace was that we were able to eat teams below or around us - now we have lost to Fulham and stoke. And now potentially palace - and obviously banning with the winner I think we will get the results to stay up. Edited December 21, 2013 by GENTLEMAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMcKenna Posted December 21, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted December 21, 2013 All the fans fault again today. Don't recall anyone ever slating our away fans. They're top-notch and always have been. And yet with excellent support we were poor and beaten. Blaming home fans or away fans it utter shit. Yes I can see that thanks. I don't think it's the main factor (or even in the top 3) but if our home support was anything like our away support maybe we wouldn't quite be so poor at home? Our home support is not going to make technically poor players better. Spending more money on players and better coaching will have much more of an effect on the way we play than fans. I think you should read my post again. I never said it would make "technically poor" players better and I never said spending more money and better coaching wouldn't have more of an effect. As anyone can see from this thread, you really do write a lot of drivel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Lambert is a accountable for today's result, no question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Last year one of our saving grace was that we were able to eat teams below or around us - now we have lost to Fulham and stoke. And now potentially palace - and obviously banning with the winner We should certainly be hungry for some wins given our woeful current form under Lambert! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 So where are we? – at worst, “a disgrace to this great club and its history” or at best “lower mid-table overachievers” dependent on which posters you ascribe to To post my colours to the mast (and this should come as no great surprise), I’m a Lambert supporter. He wasn’t my first choice after McLeish, but he didn’t look a bad appointment either – certainly back-to-back promotions with Norwich and a very decent debut season in the Premiership (without massive resources) pointed to a manager with real promise. In my opinion, Lambert was certainly at the very top end of managers that we could attract at the time, given the incredibily difficult brief that he seems required to work to. I have no inside knowledge, but my educated guess is that managers like OGS or Martinez gave the job a wide berth because of the impossibility of short-term progress due to the swingeing cost cuts that were required. In that case why did Lambert take the job? I think he has taken a calculated gamble, a gamble that said he had taken Norwich as far as they could go and so if he could keep the Villa in the premiership whilst books are balanced over the first couple of years of his reign, then there will be great potential and perhaps a promise of better things to come in years four and five of the project In return for taking on such a tricky task, and helping Lerner out of the hole that he has dug for himself, he has been given almost unconditional support and (non-financial) backing. I can’t envisage any scenario in which Lerner would sack Lambert, before Lambert would go of his own accord Many here have looked back at the first season and a half of Lambert’s tenure using the 20/20 vision of hindsight and the criticisms seem to have a number of themes “Why didn’t he keep the existing squad?” In my opinion this was not a viable option, the main reason being that this was probably specifically against the agreement made with Lerner when Lambert took the job on, but also this was a squad that had collected just 15 points from the previous half season – not just relegation form but humiliating, bottom of the table form. There was nothing to suggest that this could be turned around “Why didn’t he integrate Bent?” I think he tried but I think Bent didn’t come to meet him halfway. A quote from one the Villa backroom staff was “Bent wouldn’t run 15 yards for you”. Certainly, from what we’ve seen at Fulham there is nothing to suggest that out-and-out poachers like Bent are anything but a dying breed “Why didn’t he sign fewer, more experienced players” Suggestions here have been players like Berbatov or Adam. Overlooking the un-overlookable fact that Lerner would never have sanctioned £60-£80k a week wages, adding a couple of very mercurial ‘talents’ to an unsuccessful and underachieving squad already awash with them (NZog, Ireland, Delph at the time, Bent) would seem a very risky strategy indeed. If that is the approach Lerner required he would have appointed Redknapp “Why didn’t he sign 4 x £10m players or 6 x £8m players (or some combination of this)” because this would have left us with a first team squad of around 15 (particularly as in the first season he would only have had the finance to sign 2 x £10m). On this point Faulkner’s comment of “Lambert is able to spend the budget in any way he sees fit” is less than helpful as it supposes that he had many more options than in reality A recent addition to the criticisms are “Why didn’t he build a squad around the successful NextGen players?” There are many reasons why this is an absolute non-starter, not least of which is that these youngsters are still, in the main, 12 months away from being ready to integrate into the premiership were certainly nowhere near ready 18 months ago. A player like Baker who is really struggling would look like a monster and a world-beater in the U21 team “Why doesn’t he give Grealish / Doncien etc a game?” this criticism usually goes hand-in-hand with the bizarre comment that “Lambert loves buying young players but hates giving our own young players a chance”. I’m certain Lambert would love nothing more than to have two or three academy players to drop in who would be ready for the premiership but much as we would wish otherwise they’re not Finally we have a group of criticisms which say “Newcastle (for example) bought loads of new players last season and, at first, they struggled to settle but now they are pulling up trees” except Newcastle bought a load of £60k a week footballers “The team is littered with inexperienced players not up to the standard of the Premier League” on this one it’s hard to know what type of players Lambert was expected to bring in on £8k-£10k a week, and even more puzzling that anyone might think that a bunch of these would be giving footballing lessons to even middle-table sides. “We just simply have no style, no shape, and seemingly no strategy under Lambert” On this one quite the opposite is the case. Lambert has a clear style and strategy and has amassed points so far utilising that style. It’s not pretty and it’s not the style that Lambert would like to play I’m sure, but it’s necessary in order to allow these ordinary players to compete “He could have bought better players for the same money” and by implication the same wages. This is a very subjective one, It depends on how many better young players you believe are available out there and to some extent on how extensive and well-financed Villa’s scouting network is. I think the signing of Benteke hindered Lambert here as it started the expectation that Lambert could pull rabbits out of hats. When signing players for such small amounts, in my opinion, it will enevitably by hit and miss. People moan why did we sign Vlaar when he had known injury problems, probably because if he was injury-free he would have been three times the price and in demand elsewhere. As it turns out his knee injury has not been a major problem and so in that respect the gamble paid off Finally “Why didn’t he sign a creative midfielder / another centre-back / a holding midfielder etc” probably because he didn’t feel we could bring in anyone better than we’ve got using the money available. Lambert wanted Sissoko, Kiyotake and Lukaku and it’s clear that we would be a different proposition with players like that in the team Last season I was happy to stay in the premiership and we generally progressed as the season went on except for a terrible run over Christmas. This season my expectation was/is a 10th-12th place finish with perhaps a little less drama than last year. Given the nature of the premier league, 10 points often cover the teams from 8th place down to 18th and so in the ups and downs of a season it is almost impossible for a mid-placed team to feel insulated from relegation. Panic-mongers will spout “we are only two games (6 points) away from the relegation zone, but of course it doesn’t really work that way with most teams in the bottom half on average capturing around a point a game. The defeat to MU was predictable, but the defeats to Fulham and Stoke were much more disappointing. We massively struggle when we have not got our first 11 available. I doubt that even if we struggle in the next three games – which given the absence of Benteke and Vlaar seems likely, I think that it is still not on the cards that Lerner will support any great transfer activity in January I’m sticking with Lambert for the time being – despite all the criticism I don’t doubt his determination to succeed. From the little I hear, he is an incredibly hard-working and dedicated man. I can’t see any possible advantage of bringing in another similarly skilled manager to the same circumstances and expecting a different result Personally I’ll continue to support Lambert and the team for the rest of this season and reassess then. At the moment I can’t see how any criticism or vocal dissent can help the team I understand those with genuine concerns but I think my position is pretty clear, I’m not going to spend Xmas responding to snipe-y or sarky comments cherry-picking one point or another, instead I’m hoping for a Xmas gift of three points against Palace and a decent return from the next couple of games 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 How many threads was it necessary to post that in? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 How many threads was it necessary to post that in? I would have just posted it in the Paul Lambert one if not for the fact that sarky, child-like posters have had that one locked 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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