Ratings and Reactions: Villa 0-1 Palace

[wedge]

Many of you know how critical of the home support I have been, but today they were great, good gate, and singing right until the end despite the tripe we were served up. I honestly don't know how we can get out of this mess, the alternative management options to PL aren't massively appealing, AVB failed at Spurs with £100m to spend so he's not exactly going to flourish on Randy's shoestring budget.

 

I also think it's pointless speculating about who might come in, Lerner won't sack Lambert, even if we lose on Saturday, most of the players are Lambert's players so how would they react if he was sacked and a new guy came in?

 

I think we're in for another relegation battle unfortunately, and Lambert is living in a fantasy land if he can't see that, it's not good enough for Aston Villa!

[MCU]

Many of you know how critical of the home support I have been, but today they were great, good gate, and singing right until the end despite the tripe we were served up. I honestly don't know how we can get out of this mess, the alternative management options to PL aren't massively appealing, AVB failed at Spurs with £100m to spend so he's not exactly going to flourish on Randy's shoestring budget.

 

I also think it's pointless speculating about who might come in, Lerner won't sack Lambert, even if we lose on Saturday, most of the players are Lambert's players so how would they react if he was sacked and a new guy came in?

 

I think we're in for another relegation battle unfortunately, and Lambert is living in a fantasy land if he can't see that, it's not good enough for Aston Villa!

 

THIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS

[poitier]

The MOTD highlights of this game flattered us.

[JoeParker91]

First post, hi all. 

 

Went to the game today, first time I've ever booed my own team. I'm pretty sure we are all pretty unanimous about how we played so I won't bother going over how shambolic we were for the umpteenth time. I am very worried though, our football has been horrendous for the majority of the season, except possibly the West Brom fightback I can't remember us playing well since the first 20 against Everton. Confidence seems rock bottom, very few want the ball and even less are willing to take risks to create anything. 

 

I was heavily pro Lambert when he came but I have finally lost faith in him. I accept losing Okore was a big blow but every team has injuries. I'm constantly dumbfounded by certain tactical decisions; his clapping on the sideline like a performing seal and his need to defend the team in every post match interview is frustrating (I'm severely hoping he doesn't actually believe it). He has had a pretty impossible job given the absolute lack of any ambition from the owners and I wonder why he even took the job if he was made aware of this. Now I agree with the post by Wedge, no way can I see Lerner sacking Lambert, I honestly think Lambert would go down with us if that is the case. Lerner has clearly lost interest after the O'Neill romance crashed.

 

Whether Lambert should be sacked, I can agree with both sides but personally I'd like to see him go. Our football is worse than under Mcleish, surely the worst in the league? Victories over Southampton and Man City are proving to be flukes we feared by these performances, they are just papering over the cracks and we would be in the bottom 3 without them. I'd like to see Clarke come in, West Brom were playing great earlier in the season and although I agree this would be a short term fix to a long term problem (lack of ambition from the top), I'm honestly not sure if Lambert will keep us up. 

 

There were boos at the end but I'm really surprised the crowd have been so patience with him, I couldn't hear any clear 'Lambert Out' chants (Trinity Upper), losing to Swansea could be the final nail. 

Edited December 27, 2013 by JoeParker91

[TRO]

never in a million years, did i think Palace would score....says it all I guess.

[NoelVilla]

Welcome to VT JoeParker, we are all miserable, pretty much

[The Fun Factory]

I feel just as bad as in the worse days of December and January last year. No sign of  any progress and its so depressing its untrue. Football is supposed to be some fun light entertainment. I just feel like a grumpy git over the most festive time of the year. Again. Thanks a bunch Villa.

[srsmithusa]

Really bad day.

[Avflife]

How many people on here wanted lambert appointed? And when he was appointed were wetting themselves(me included). Things aint worked out but their is more than meets the eye. I am disapointed in lambert if truth be told but he has potential to be a very good manager. It probaly won't be at this club though. Remember southampton last year when they won and were clearly the better team like palace today. Time is running out but the fat lady aint sang yet. I'd rather lerner piss off first

Anyone was better than the previous manager, who was it again But seriously PL's football is currently on par with his.

[Wainy316]

Bowery actually came closest to scoring for us.

[sidcow]

Pitch looks fin amazing. Up the groundsman

[NoelVilla]

Bowery actually came closest to scoring for us.

and he is the one that made me Lambert out.

[Jonoridge91]

Pitch looks fin amazing. Up the groundsman

 

Our groundsman got robbed by PSG in the summer! ;O

[Hamburglar]

Haven't been to villa park for a while out of protest. I'm not giving Lerner my money, in a nutshell! That game was THE worst I have ever seen, utter trash. Such poor quality, at twenty minutes I suggested that we looked like a team that needs a new manager somebody turned around and looked at me with disgust! These are just a couple of reasons why I won't be wasting twenty five quid in a hurry again. Ps a friend took his lad as a birthday present, poor ki, he'll probably turn and support a proper football team in the morning, such a shame

[ozvillafan]

A questions for HairyHands when you read this thread.

 

Lambert goes on about creativity after the game and says it's not good enough. We must get on the front foot etc... Isn't he the one setting out the tactics for the players? Is he the one who sets the tempo of the game? Isn't he the one who works with the players all pre-season on patterns of player that allow us to be creative?

 

Our players aren't the best, but the look clueless.  The should still be able to pass a ball to a teammate and run around and look like they know what they are doing.You can't blame this on Vlaar and Benteke being missing, because we have been like it all season. The movement is very poor, they move so slowly round the field. How is Lambert earning he wages each week on the training field. The team is getting worse each week; not better.

This sums it up for me.

As hard as it was to watch this time last year, there was always the hope that they would get better, that Lambert would turn it around and we would come good. And we did.

I expected Lambert to build on that - but we are playing exactly the same way. What, exactly, do they do at training each week? What kind of style is Lambert trying to build? Based on that game today, we ARE the worst team in the league.....

... and, even at this stage in our rebuilding, that is simply not good enough.

[VillaAndLoyal]

After Stoke, I said the next two games would determine where I stand with Lambert but unfortunately my patience cannot be stretched any further after that utter diatribe served up in front of a magnificent home support today. He is absolutely clueless and this club is in free-fall. But do you know what, this stems back to last season when one person and one person alone kept us in the Premier League: Christian Benteke. He contributed to a ridiculous number of goals, be it directly or with assists and it was only a matter of time that our one and only threat was targeted by other teams or had a period off form. Unfortunately for Villa this season, both has happened and this 'team' of dross is what we are left with.

 

Let's get one thing straight, and I can't believe no-one has mentioned it yet, but Lambert now officially has a WORSE goals and points per game average when playing at home than under Alex McLeish, a manager that many can't even bare think about. Paul Lambert I'm afraid has been given an incredibly easy ride up until now BECAUSE he succeeded AMC and for that reason only. The fans wanted OGS if I recall correctly, but when Lambert came in he was backed by everybody, as would any manager have been after the McLeish debacle. But he is now performing on a par and the football is just as bad as under a manager which many labelled our worst ever, so what does that make Lambert? Yes, he has had a small budget but I'm sorry that excuse just doesn't cut it anymore when you buy two players (Kozak/Helenius) for the same position and neglect to buy anyone for positions which really need attention (attacking midfield). Surely, if your budget is tight, you buy even more carefully? But Lambert has bought trash in terms of personnel and in terms of where that money has been targeted which are two major flaws of the "he's had no money" argument. Other people have said it but that team is just not Premier League standard, the only surprise is that we've already accumulated 19 points but without Benteke, who do we have to save our bacon this season?

 

Frankly, and this may sound defeatist, but we've been very lucky for a long time now. We should have been relegated long before now and 2013/14 is looking like our luck might finally run out as I can't think of three teams worse than us at present. This club is rotten from the very top down to the very bottom. Randolph Lerner was a mistake from the very day he walked into this club, knowing absolutely nothing about football and appointing non-footballing people to make the catastrophic short-term decisions which have resulted in the collective mess we see before us. However, I've argued that point for years and, alas, Lerner doesn't care what I or any of us think. We are his business.

 

In terms of manager though, i think he has to go and with immediate effect. When you have head coaches and players swearing at fans for daring to give an opinion, I think it just highlights what a shambles we have become under Lambert. We play no better football than under McLeish, are no further forward 18 months down the line, he seems completely unwilling to accept that anything is going wrong, nor able to inspire/motivate and try and change things to put things right. He is out of his depth, particularly, with the scale of the challenge presented to him at Villa and, for me, the statistics speak for themselves. His position is untenable. As I said in the Stoke thread, he comes out with lots of buzzwords, inspirational visions and bleats on about his "project" when the only thing he has achieved is to turn a really bad team, worse. The majority of our players can't do the basics such as pass and move or trap a football and I'm sorry, that is just completely unacceptable and is a legacy Lambert must live with. What on earth do they do in training? I can accept limitations and I don't think many Villa fans have 'unrealistic expectations' nowadays - I just want a half-decent team which can do the basics well and occasionally excite me, this team is way out on both counts and things appear to be getting worse, rather than this so-called 'improvement' Lambert bored us with for the first period of this season. Funny that Paul, I thought statistics meant very little to you?

 

Lambert out. Lerner and Faulkner, as I've been pleading for years, out.

Edited December 27, 2013 by VillaAndLoyal

[dakid007]

Our players have terrible first touches, no vision, take 2 touches when a 1st tine pass is available etc etc they are not good football players

[GasGasGas]

Things about this is, we have played similar football to this nearly all season. We got battered by Man City and Southampton and escaped with 3 points from each game. Had those games gone with the performances we would be in the bottom three now! We have a nucleus of a team - Guzan, Vlaar, Delph and Benteke. When any one or two of those are missing, we are shocking! Last season we started off poor and grew into a better team after the debacle of Christmas. This season, we started off well and have gradually faded into a worse team than last season's. I just hope we have the same finish that we mustered last season, otherwise we could be in that bottom three at the end of it.

 

Want to finally highlight the poor "footballing brain" of our players. Delph is one v one with Gayle and what does he do? Show him on to his right foot where he can get a shot at goal. All he had to do was shepherd him down the outside and away from danger but he couldn't do it.

 

Delph is no nucleus of a team unless it's a Championship standard one. At even a mediocre Premier League club he'd be a squad player at best. Non-existent passing ability that obviously played a part in our shambolic passing this season, can't shoot or score, can't tackle or defend and just lunges wildly at opponents racking up fouls. He's just this season's best player because he does have a little bit of skill to retain the ball and take it past opponents compared to the others who have zilch footballing ability whatsoever.

 

We were worse off last season I feel. But whatever plan that Lambert has about young and hungry players appears to be going nowhere except backwards if anything wiping out any progress that was actually made.

[GasGasGas]

If HH is correct and the only business we are able to do in jan is a loan, then no half decent manager would come to us.

As for the game, they all worked there socks off imo, they are just not very good. We won't get that amount of possession again this season so the fact we couldn't muster a half decent chance is worrying. We're it trouble make no mistake.

 

You must be drinking if you think they worked their socks off. Either that or you don't understand the definition of the phrase. 

 

They did work their socks off for all of 10 or 15 mins early in the second half, played well, put Palace under pressure and created chances. The rest of the game they were just pedestrian, unmotivated, disinterested, passing the balls sideways and back devoid of any ideas as everyone was just standing or walking around and then lazily lumping the ball up the field where no one would be bothered to chase.

[Rugeley Villa]

I would definately agree that the football at the moment is as bad as anything that's gone before lambert. Absolute shit. Infact we are worse away from home this year than we were last year