Could any manager do better.

[legov]

On this sort of budget? No.

[1974Centenary]

I don't think Lambert or Mccleish can bang their own drum when it comes to managerial careers, and unfortunately they have both managed the Villa.

[Deano'sLob]

I was recently in the company of a colleague from Buenos Aires and we got to talking about football, he was a Boco Juniors fan and we watched match of the day on the Saturday night over a couple of beers.  When he heard booing at half time in one of the matches he asked me 'why are the away fans out-singing the home fans with boos?' when I explained it was the home fans booing he nearly chocked on his pint.  He could not believe that home fans show such negativity to their team, he said in Buenos Aires it is unheard of whether you are a BC or RP fan, I told him the same thing occurs at Villa Park and he genuinely seemed quite sad, his comment was 'how can any team feel free to play football when they know they will get booed for everything'.  This really hit home with me, Villa is our club and we are entitled to voice an opinion, I know we get frustrated with form, individuals, the manager and the owner but we can have an impact, lets stop the negativity and support the club, owner, manager, and players if we all pull in the same direction things can improve, I for one do not believe a change of manager is warranted or required, lets back Lambert and the squad they need us.

[Pilchard]

Yes, because it only happens at Villa Park and no other grounds.

[briny_ear]

I was recently in the company of a colleague from Buenos Aires and we got to talking about football, he was a Boco Juniors fan and we watched match of the day on the Saturday night over a couple of beers.  When he heard booing at half time in one of the matches he asked me 'why are the away fans out-singing the home fans with boos?' when I explained it was the home fans booing he nearly chocked on his pint.  He could not believe that home fans show such negativity to their team, he said in Buenos Aires it is unheard of whether you are a BC or RP fan, I told him the same thing occurs at Villa Park and he genuinely seemed quite sad, his comment was 'how can any team feel free to play football when they know they will get booed for everything'.  This really hit home with me, Villa is our club and we are entitled to voice an opinion, I know we get frustrated with form, individuals, the manager and the owner but we can have an impact, lets stop the negativity and support the club, owner, manager, and players if we all pull in the same direction things can improve, I for one do not believe a change of manager is warranted or required, lets back Lambert and the squad they need us.

It would probably have been simpler to explain to him that you get a distorted impression of the crowd noise on MOTD. It depends where the microphones are placed.

[PieFacE]

 

 

As we all know though, what managers do in the lower-leagues and the first season in the Premier League with a newly-promoted club doesn't really prove anything. The countless examples that back this up are well know.

Just a random question, who's record in their career is more impressive: paul lambert, or avb?

I'd say AVB. He won the quadruple at Porto and has managed at the highest level already.

 

Failed at the highest level, no? 

[Morpheus]

 

 

Okay, we'll pretend Lerner never actually said it himself then.

Said what?

 

 

That rebuilding the squad from the ground up was a decision made by himself and the board before Lambert was even appointed. 

 

Of course I know he gave Bent a go and even Ireland, I'd suspect this was because Bent was our top scorer and Ireland our POTS in the season before his appointment. You'd be daft to not at least try and use these players initially, being as he was alien to the squad. After a while though they were obviously dropped, eventually completely dismissed - he tried, it didn't work for whatever reason. Do I think Bent and Ireland would be playing in our colours still now if they had performed really well last season? Yeah I do actually as it would be stupid to get rid of them if they had, but I also think this would have affected Lambert's financial resources.

 

We'll never know 100% exactly how things went with the bomb squad and so on, but it was definitely Lambert's objective to overhaul the squad (on the cheap), in which case it is obvious why A: Certain players have left or are set to leave / B: Lambert has had to buy so many players with the money provided to him.

 

I definitely agree with anybody saying our team/squad isn't up to scratch, I believe we're punching above our weight and beyond our first team we have no real quality at all for this level, but I don't think Lambert could have done or could be doing a great deal more with the restrictions in place - especially not in regards to transfers.

 

I just hope to god we stay away from that dreaded relegation zone and that in turn Lerner begins to allows the purchases of some real talent.

 

Which is exactly my point!

 

If Lambert's remit as you have suggested was to get rid of all of the high earners in the way that he has done then why even try to give those players a chance to prove themselves and to give one of them the captaincy? It just doesn't make sense!

 

Thats the difference in your point of view which excuses Lambert's record of 15 wins in 55 games to those who state that change could have been more gradual over a longer period of time given that it would have impacted on his budget but at least there would have been some basis of stability to build from.

 

What Lambert has presided over is tantamount to an earthquake hitting a town and destroying any foundation that was there and then trying to rebuild that foundation with cheap materials because he didn't have the required budget. Now that building is showing cracks and subsidence and having spend the budget available he hasn't enough to repair his mistakes.

 

The issue has never been that he didn't have to reduce the wage bill. The issue has been the allocation of his budget.

[briny_ear]

 

 

 

As we all know though, what managers do in the lower-leagues and the first season in the Premier League with a newly-promoted club doesn't really prove anything. The countless examples that back this up are well know.

Just a random question, who's record in their career is more impressive: paul lambert, or avb?

I'd say AVB. He won the quadruple at Porto and has managed at the highest level already.

 

Failed at the highest level, no? 

 

Why in the name of McGrath are we talking about AVB, FFS?

[Morpheus]

The answer is yes there are managers that could do better. But the real question is why would any of those managers want to come to Villa given the ridiculous financial restrictions in place. There are real problems with our squad both in terms of first 11 and depth but its pretty much impossible to fix this without having the funds to even loan in good players.

 

I can't help but think back a couple of seasons ago when Martinez rejected us. At the time I couldn't understand why someone who manages Wigan wouldn't jump at the chance to come to our club. But even a talented up and coming manger looked at us and the restrictions in place and said i'd rather risk relegation with my current club.

 

As much as its easy to blame the players and the manager the biggest problem is an owner who wants to have the team on a budget that will see us in constant relegation battles.

Hughes at Stoke has had very little money to play with yet is in the process of changing their style of play and doing it successfully.

 

Its very narrow minded thinking indeed to suggest that no-one could do a better job than Lambert on the same budget. (Not directing this last comment at you DD).

[Risso]

I was recently in the company of a colleague from Buenos Aires and we got to talking about football, he was a Boco Juniors fan and we watched match of the day on the Saturday night over a couple of beers.  When he heard booing at half time in one of the matches he asked me 'why are the away fans out-singing the home fans with boos?' when I explained it was the home fans booing he nearly chocked on his pint.  He could not believe that home fans show such negativity to their team, he said in Buenos Aires it is unheard of whether you are a BC or RP fan, I told him the same thing occurs at Villa Park and he genuinely seemed quite sad, his comment was 'how can any team feel free to play football when they know they will get booed for everything'.  This really hit home with me, Villa is our club and we are entitled to voice an opinion, I know we get frustrated with form, individuals, the manager and the owner but we can have an impact, lets stop the negativity and support the club, owner, manager, and players if we all pull in the same direction things can improve, I for one do not believe a change of manager is warranted or required, lets back Lambert and the squad they need us.

 

A simple Google shows this to be bollocks:

 

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/river-plate-keeper-juan-carrizo-makes-another-error-booed-off-by-own-fans/

[AValon]

Starting to think Lambert may be somewhat lacking the experience to get the utmost from the players he has at this level, where possibly a more all-round manager might prove more succesful tactically. It would be interesting to see how he managed with the kinds of budgets we see at other clubs. But, to be fair, he is allowed to manage 'his' way, with very little restraint other than financial ones.

 

I still believe he's completely hogtied by the American, though.

[stewiek2]

You see we talk about budgets and players at his disposal but he is failing to get them to do the simplest of things, such as passing the ball, ball retention, movement, intent, closing down. For such a young squad there is a real lack of energy or purpose. Yes more funds mean a high calibre of player but there is simply no excuse for constantly getting the basics wrong. And that is down to the coaching.

[VillaChris]

I assume River Plate got booed off and a lot more besides when they were relegated the other year?

[VillaCas]

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 10^th-12^th 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 8^th place down to 18^th 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

[Isa]

 

 

 

As we all know though, what managers do in the lower-leagues and the first season in the Premier League with a newly-promoted club doesn't really prove anything. The countless examples that back this up are well know.

Just a random question, who's record in their career is more impressive: paul lambert, or avb?

I'd say AVB. He won the quadruple at Porto and has managed at the highest level already.

 

Failed at the highest level, no? 

 

 

The question was who had the more impressive career. Will Lambert even get the chance to 'fail at the highest level'? Probably not...

[jacketspuds]

I highly doubt that a different manager wouldn't be able to improve on some of Lambert's failings so far, including our poor Home form, players' inability to do the basics (there are League 2 teams who play better football than us at times), and a poor use of budget.

[Electric Avenue]

Difficult question. He's had some bad luck with injuries but tactically he appears inept. I'm not enjoying his tenure. Do I want him sacked, not sure. If we lose to palace and Swansea I think it will be difficult for him to stay . What's frightening is the thought of Faulkner and Lerner choosing the next manager. I think we need Sir Graham Taylor in as DoF to steer the ship in the right direction and into calmer shores.

[sne]

I was recently in the company of a colleague from Buenos Aires and we got to talking about football, he was a Boco Juniors fan and we watched match of the day on the Saturday night over a couple of beers.  When he heard booing at half time in one of the matches he asked me 'why are the away fans out-singing the home fans with boos?' when I explained it was the home fans booing he nearly chocked on his pint.  He could not believe that home fans show such negativity to their team, he said in Buenos Aires it is unheard of whether you are a BC or RP fan, I told him the same thing occurs at Villa Park and he genuinely seemed quite sad, his comment was 'how can any team feel free to play football when they know they will get booed for everything'.  This really hit home with me, Villa is our club and we are entitled to voice an opinion, I know we get frustrated with form, individuals, the manager and the owner but we can have an impact, lets stop the negativity and support the club, owner, manager, and players if we all pull in the same direction things can improve, I for one do not believe a change of manager is warranted or required, lets back Lambert and the squad they need us.

Ask your friend if he supported his manager and owner when they got rid of Riquelme? Or about the River Plate riots when the got relegated. 

[Zatman]

for the budget we have I dont think another manager could do better. Ferguson or Mourinho would struggle under these conditions

[foreveryoung]

The problem I see with Lambert is the players he bought, he obviously must have saw something special in them, a bit of quality, weather it be passing ability, skills or holding the ball up etc. He scouted the likes of Lowton, Tonev, Helenius, Luna, Bennett and Bowery. Yet I am seeing no quality in these players at all. At the start of the season I saw graft but now they have been playing for a season the hard work has seem to have disappeared. This is where I doubt Lambert's motivation and discipline. Im dreading the games around Christmas, because at the end they are a bunch of kids who will want to go out an party, I can see us struggling even against Palace and I will be watching the game after Christmas with much interest.