Dodgyknees Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 As we gained confidence in the 2nd half, the football improved. Exact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 It's pretty simple, when we can get close to our first XI on the park we are competitive. If we can add what Lambert says he wants in Jan then we will be fine. The football will improve when our confidence improves and players find their form again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Any successful business succeeds on results VillaCas. 11 wins in 48, one relegation battle and Lambert looks likely to repeat that feat when the next five games are over. You argument would only stand if Lambert hadn't spent 40 plus million and made our squad worse. £40m worth of £10k players in and £80m worth of £50k players out would not normally indicate that you should be getting substantially stronger The point i'm clearly making with the aforementioned players is that not all of our players are earning 5k-15k which you keep using as an excuse for Lambert's poor performance. Those players are first team regulars and are earning much more than 5k-15k. You remember your argument wages v performance. Doesn't really stack up does it. Yes it really does - McL's first XI must have been on three times what Lamberts first XI is on - you would expect McL misfits to do better but incredibly Lambert's team performed better - a higher finish and more points I have never said that I support Steve Bruce taking over from Lambert and you would be more respected on here if you'd stop making things up to suit your debate. You 'liked' the suggestion, so from that I took it that you liked the suggestion - don't worry though Hull lost so Steve Bruce won't be the chosen one today, probably Mullenstein as Fulham won To answer your last point no-one on site is suffering from over-expectation but you are living in denial concerning Lambert. Equal on points for 10th place - where exactly do you think we should be?????????? I predicted 24 points for the end of Jan and we are on 23 so well on track in my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Over the moon with the three points which were much needed. Can't deny that given our last 6 fixtures I am disappointed that we have only taken 4 points from those games whilst serving up some dire football. However at least with a draw and a win we have stopped the rot. Hopefully that can continue with a win in the cup on Saturday and we can at least go into the Arsenal game at home with far more confidence and belief than the way we went into the last league game at home against Swansea. It would also be nice if before then Lambert can bring in one or two players of the experienced ilk he has alluded to. I said a couple of days ago the manager was drinking in last chance saloon for me and I guess he still is. However after the vital 3 points were secured today I am happy to get him another drink in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) In last 12 months we have played 38 games and taken 41 points. Whilst that is not fantastic it gives a typical League position of about 15th. Over the 13 seasons prior to that (leaving out MON's 3 6thplace finishes when we were trying to compete for top 4, but still covering 10 actual seasons,) we averaged 49 Points. So considering the money many competitors have invested, and the total rebuid job he is doing, I still rate PL's record. Our defence, long considered a weak point, is 9th best in the League, and has 6 Clean Sheets, something else that was an issue. And that 9th best is even though we let the opposition have the ball much much more than the defences ahead of us. So a case could be made out for our defence now being amongst the very best in the League. Which given its cost, inexperience, and youth, is something really good for the future. I think that is all pretty good. Whilst I can see things that irk people, it is nowhere near the position where he should face calls for the sack. Edited January 1, 2014 by terrytini 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 If we had lost at home with one shot on target like Sunderland did today we would be singing the praises of the away team and manager. Time to give ourselves a bit of credit I think. Strangest thing though, we had several moments of pure passing class in todays game. Which stood out amongst the majority of crap. Not sure what that means but I am going to give credit to the manager and coaching staff for some progress. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Under Lambert we have won 11 in 48 games only winning 2 out of 10 at home this season with the lowest ratio of goals scored at home this season in all four divisions. Until the game against Swansea we also failed to score in the first half at home this season but please continue to aail us of your graphs while the rest of us concern ourselves with more important stats like results. Expectations Morf, Expectations...you think we should be much much better...I think that is about what I would expect at the moment....We are in a unique situation - few clubs have gone through such a radical realignment of finances so it's understandably that you are struggling to come to terms with the situation No not struggling at all just rather amused that someone wouldn't have better expectations of a Villa manager than possibly two relegation battles, winning only 11 in 48 games and playing the worst football this club has seen for some considerable time. My expectation last season was lower bottom half and we finished 15th, my expectation this season is 10th-12th and we are currently equal on points for 10th. I'll worry about a 'possible' relegation battle this season when we drop down into the relegation zone. But please enlighten me - what expectations should I have had of last and this season - top half finish? Europa Cup? We are a lower mid-table team who is playing lower mid-table football. If we were playing better football we would be winning more games and would be 7th or 8th which is a totally totally unrealistic expectation for this season....expectations morf - you need to alter yours accordingly Presently our situation is neither radical or unique due to Lambert being given money to replace players Yes replacing £50k a week footballers with £10k a week footballers and other clubs having also to cost cut throughout their history. Concerning you last point you believe wrongly and if you are so concerned with my past comments on site then please feel free to show me where I have stated that I want Steve Bruce as our manager? I obviously wont be bothering but I'm confident that they are all 100% accurate Still no graph I see showing our team's performance under Lambert. I'm happy to use the league table for this purpose :D It's what most teams use to judge their progress dont you know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I think everyone would be behind the idea of giving a manager time. But risso is right, just giving someone time does not guarantee success. If you gave the wrong person time it could in fact really damage the club. I agree that time does not equal success but I disagree with risso that last season was "an absolute disaster".........some peoples expectation is stuck in the MON era, given the budget employed it would be crazy to expect anything other than a struggle for a couple of seasons - even then our ability to get back in the upper reaches of the league will ulrimately be determined by finances That is some post VillaCas. Thanks I remember there were those on site who absolutely ridiculed anyone suggesting that we would struggle with Lambert at the helm. We would struggle for a couple of seasons no matter who is at the helm - you don't rebuild a squad on peanuts and expect it to be a stroll in the park. As you will remember I wanted OGS or Poyet to replace McL but I predict that the decision to appoint Lambert will prove that I was mistaken.......Stability and expectations - two words to keep in mind during 2014 morf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 In truth, we can't sack him while we're 11th in the league with a wage bill that's probably closer to 16th and that's with the bomb squad members still on the books. The football was better today, it's clear to me just having Benteke around match fit or not is enough to give us more of a foothold going forward. I'm still very disappointed that we have no clear plan B and the disorganisation in midfield is still plain to see. Get these players in and see how it goes I guess. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 In last 12 months we have played 38 games and taken 41 points. Whilst that is not fantastic it gives a typical League position of about 15th. Over the 13 seasons prior to that (leaving out MON's 3 6thplace finishes when we were trying to compete for top 4, but still covering 10 actual seasons,) we averaged 49 Points. Shows how much we've dropped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 In last 12 months we have played 38 games and taken 41 points. Whilst that is not fantastic it gives a typical League position of about 15th. Over the 13 seasons prior to that (leaving out MON's 3 6thplace finishes when we were trying to compete for top 4, but still covering 10 actual seasons,) we averaged 49 Points. Shows how much we've dropped. I agree and that's RL's responsibility not Lamberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted January 1, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 1, 2014 I don't think we were that much better today. Sunderland just went for it and we had a lot of space to run into. Most teams won't gift us a goal, so wont have the need to attack us the way Sunderland did. It's not these games which annoy me, it's when teams sit back and we have no way of breaking them down. I'm quite surprised that some seem to be changing their mind on Lambert based on beating bottom of the league away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I don't think we were that much better today. Sunderland just went for it and we had a lot of space to run into. Most teams won't gift us a goal, so wont have the need to attack us the way Sunderland did. It's not these games which annoy me, it's when teams sit back and we have no way of breaking them down. I'm quite surprised that some seem to be changing their mind on Lambert based on beating bottom of the league away. Why not? People changed their mind based on us getting narrowly beat by Palace. Seems more than fair to change it back again based on Sunderland. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstonMartin82 Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I don't think we were that much better today. Sunderland just went for it and we had a lot of space to run into. Most teams won't gift us a goal, so wont have the need to attack us the way Sunderland did. It's not these games which annoy me, it's when teams sit back and we have no way of breaking them down. I'm quite surprised that some seem to be changing their mind on Lambert based on beating bottom of the league away. Bruce OUT, Lambert IN!!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Hopefully other teams can keep gifting us goals that seems to be the only way we can score at the minute other than gabby's goal the other week Don't get me wrong im happy with the result but come on something like 35% possession again? Having concrete ron back is makes such a massive difference to us thats for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I think (I hope) today was a big win. It is very important to stop a dodgy 4-5 game run to turn into a meltdown, which is what happened last year. I hope they have learnt from this. If Lambert can persuade Lerner to provide funds for some more signings I don't think it is mad to hope for a 10th-13th place finish. Which I would be happy with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillakevBromsgrove Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Whilst the possession was low it should be noted most of their possession was in their own half and we let them get on with it. For all their possession there was probably only 3 or 4 clear chances to our 7 or 8. we looked like we had it under control hence their frustration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAnty Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Though we didn't play great today I still thought we looked a lot more organised. The team that started looked more balanced than it has been since the start of season. Obvs prob down to having our 2 best players back and Sunderland not sitting back inviting us on to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstonMartin82 Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 35% possession against a truly terrible team is still way short of acceptable and any other team would have given us problems today. However, I'm relieved to get the win and hopefully it will take some of the pressure off Lambert and the team because they need the fans behind them, and they need the stability that Lambert will bring. I'll judge Lambert by the end of next summer and see whether he has sorted our midfield out b then because this is the area which is by far our biggest problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oaks Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Whilst the possession was low it should be noted most of their possession was in their own half and we let them get on with it. For all their possession there was probably only 3 or 4 clear chances to our 7 or 8. we looked like we had it under control hence their frustration. Yeah I don't mind them having the ball in first 2 thirds of the pitch, and we are creating chances. It's the games when we have no ball or counter effectively that I hate. I think injuries in big areas were a massive reason for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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