jasoncb Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 It baffles me why he sold Collins, fair enough he was looking to bring in a more youthful squad but NOT THE CENTER HALVES that is just suicidal. If we could only have a good backline I can take some positives out of this mess. Yes we brought in Vlaar but if we lose him we have no experience at the back whatsoever, which is what is costing us right now. Our defence was a shambles, an overpaid shambles at that, I'm glad Collins, Warnock and Dunne went. I find it funny that people are constantly picking out our defence for improvement, a defence that has much improved since last season apart from the last few games where Vlaar has been out injured. Vlaar runs the show at the back, simples, as soon as he'll back we'll be better again - just like last season. First off I only mentioned Collins as i believe we only need 1 experienced head to lead the line (as you said with Vlaar). Now you just proved my point by saying we are relying on Vlaar to run the show at the back so surely an experienced Collins would help the younger players in defense. Whilst you may not have rated Collins i believe he was a dependable player and i find thats what were missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillanousOne Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I genuinely don't think I have seen a squad as bad as the one we have now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I hear your point but again we come back to wages and money, wasn't Collins on like £50k a week or something ridiculous like that? Vlaar is surely on at least half of that, which although may not seem a great deal in the modern game it probably is for our current squad. As DK just said, we could have done with bringing in two Vlaar type defenders last season, clearly we didn't have the money to do so when spreading the funds across so many signings. I genuinely don't think I have seen a squad as bad as the one we have now. Not surprising considering how much it cost in fees and wages to build when compared to teams around us though is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt1874 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I think that overall, in terms of the players he's signed (and on the budget he's had) he's done pretty well and got some bargains. However what alarms me most is his team selection/substitutions and tactics. I don't think many managers would be bringing Bowery on to play right midfield (or at all). So while I quite like Lambert in some respects I think that other managers could do better, yes. At least when it comes to match day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoncb Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Vlaar was injured last season too and it costs us points yet he still remains the only experienced defender we have. Whilst I rate Okore there is no way you can keep staying in the premiership relying on 1 experienced defender especially one who's injury prone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Cropley Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 It baffles me why he sold Collins, fair enough he was looking to bring in a more youthful squad but NOT THE CENTER HALVES that is just suicidal. If we could only have a good backline I can take some positives out of this mess. Yes we brought in Vlaar but if we lose him we have no experience at the back whatsoever, which is what is costing us right now. Our defence was a shambles, an overpaid shambles at that, I'm glad Collins, Warnock and Dunne went. I find it funny that people are constantly picking out our defence for improvement, a defence that has much improved since last season apart from the last few games where Vlaar has been out injured. Vlaar runs the show at the back, simples, as soon as he'll back we'll be better again - just like last season. Our defence has not improved - it is as poor as any I have seen in 40 odd years of watching us. Baker is dreadful, barely Championship standard. Clark is caught out of position frequently and Vlaar is usually to be found making last ditch challenges due the lack of any positional sense of any of our back 4. Lowton is half decent - however our left backs are all, also Championship standard at best. Same people are making same mistakes, week after week - God only knows what they do at Bodymoor each day, with our 'defensive coach' ? Coupled with our paper thin midfield and lack of quality up front, I genuinely fear for what the rest of the season holds for us. The happy clappers would have us think otherwise but Lambert is taking us backwards not forwards. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClarrieBlue Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Our problem is that players who performed well in the 2nd half of last season are not producing so far this season, Benteke, Weimann, Lowton,Westwood, Clark. Saying that we are in a better place than we were this time last season. We have 2 home games over the holiday period and we need two wins, performance doesn't matter. With what we have available Lambert has to attack. He obviously decided to get numbers in for the money he had rather than better quality. Would another manager bought who Lambert did, probably not but they would have had the same budget and wage restrictions. So I don't think any manager could do better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoncb Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I may regret saying this but Newcastle are looking to loan out Steven Taylor, could this be an option if we can't buy anyone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) The defence has improved a great deal, or had done until these last few games. Following the defeats to Fulham, Manure and Stoke, things have evened out to similar as they were last year. At the start of the month we had only conceded 14 goals and had a goal difference of -1, compared to last season where we had conceded 23 and had a GD of -11. I thought or at least hoped we'd actually be a lot better off in comparison to last season come the start of January, as things stand with injuries and such I'm not hopeful of it happening any more. Edited December 21, 2013 by samjp26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoncb Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 The defence has improved a great deal, or had done until these last few games. Following the defeats to Fulham, Manure and Stoke, things have evened out to similar as they were last year. I thought or at least hoped we'd actually be a lot better off in comparison to last season come the start of January, as things stand with injuries and such I'm not hopeful of it happening any more. With Vlaar in the defense we can manage but without him we are risking relegation. Yes we might have been lucky and got enough points on the board from smash and grab wins but why would you want to risk our premiership status if you can avoid it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Replacing Lambert would just cause us to start all over again. Lambert must stay as manager for a longer period to build a good side, even if we are relegated during the process (I hate to say that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Lerner needs to go before Lambert. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I may regret saying this but Newcastle are looking to loan out Steven Taylor, could this be an option if we can't buy anyone ? He'd walk straight into our team Thats how bad it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Okay, we'll pretend Lerner never actually said it himself then. Said what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) Replacing Lambert would just cause us to start all over again. Lambert must stay as manager for a longer period to build a good side, even if we are relegated during the process (I hate to say that). Are you serious? If Lambert did something that our worst ever manager couldn't do you would reward failure on the basis of him still being able 'to build a good side?' He has shown very little so far to suggest he can build a good team or having the tactical ability to even get the best out of what he has on a consistent basis. Edited December 21, 2013 by Morpheus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited December 21, 2013 by samjp26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) I'll also add that until the season is over I can't really comment on whether Lambert should go after this season, maybe his job is complete by sorting the rebuild of our squad and somebody else is needed to continue the development of the squad and our efforts to move up the table, but it isn't fair to judge in my opinion until the season is over or things go drastically bad. As things stand I do not think he should be sacked, I do not think anybody else could be doing better, but maybe further on or at the end of this season my view will change. Edited December 21, 2013 by samjp26 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Lambert can neither build a good side, nor get them playing anything approaching good football. We had far less possession than Stoke today, which tells its own tale. Dreadful manager, who has assembled a dreadful team, who play dreadful football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Replacing Lambert would just cause us to start all over again. Lambert must stay as manager for a longer period to build a good side, even if we are relegated during the process (I hate to say that). Are you serious? If Lambert did something that our worst ever manager couldn't do you would reward failure on the basis of him still being able 'to build a good side?' He has shown very little so far to suggest he can build a good team or having the tactical ability to even get the best out of what he has on a consistent basis. Sadly Yes. Morph I am confident it will not come to that under PL, but he has his hands tied behind his back with the wage structure that is currently in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) Lambert can neither build a good side, nor get them playing anything approaching good football. We had far less possession than Stoke today, which tells its own tale. Dreadful manager, who has assembled a dreadful team, who play dreadful football. He does not have the funding to build a good side quickly Risso. Edited December 21, 2013 by GENTLEMAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts