Zatman Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 It's like an abused partner in a relationship. Constantly trying to convince yourself it's not that bad and things will get better. yeah, its exactly the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Last season was utter garbage and while there are reasons that played their part the main reason is the manager didn't do a very good job. That's your opinion, I think injuries to key players including to our star striker we key. Benteke in our team we have a points to game ratio of 1.12 and without him we have 0.75. If Benteke had played every game we'd have been 12th in the League. That's not factoring in he was semi fit / out of form when he came back from his first injury earlier in the season and had 2 sub appearances. I am not saying Lambert is blameless, I think he's done with us when we get new owners and rightly so. His signings have been more miss than hit. Which has resulted in a line up that is in constant flux. Our home record is terrible also. But my point is, if we had less injuries, even just none to Benteke we'd never have flirted with relegation at any point. We'd have ended where most of us predicted at the beginning of the season 10-12th. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Last season was utter garbage and while there are reasons that played their part the main reason is the manager didn't do a very good job. That's your opinion, I think injuries to key players including to our star striker we key. Benteke in our team we have a points to game ratio of 1.12 and without him we have 0.75. If Benteke had played every game we'd have been 12th in the League. That's not factoring in he was semi fit / out of form when he came back from his first injury earlier in the season and had 2 sub appearances. I am not saying Lambert is blameless, I think he's done with us when we get new owners and rightly so. His signings have been more miss than hit. Which has resulted in a line up that is in constant flux. Our home record is terrible also. But my point is, if we had less injuries, even just none to Benteke we'd never have flirted with relegation at any point. We'd have ended where most of us predicted at the beginning of the season 10-12th. To be fair, your probably right....but it is equally as gauling to know that one player can make so much difference to us....and as a club we have allowed that to be so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Last season was utter garbage and while there are reasons that played their part the main reason is the manager didn't do a very good job. That's your opinion, I think injuries to key players including to our star striker we key. Benteke in our team we have a points to game ratio of 1.12 and without him we have 0.75. If Benteke had played every game we'd have been 12th in the League. That's not factoring in he was semi fit / out of form when he came back from his first injury earlier in the season and had 2 sub appearances. I am not saying Lambert is blameless, I think he's done with us when we get new owners and rightly so. His signings have been more miss than hit. Which has resulted in a line up that is in constant flux. Our home record is terrible also. But my point is, if we had less injuries, even just none to Benteke we'd never have flirted with relegation at any point. We'd have ended where most of us predicted at the beginning of the season 10-12th. To be fair, your probably right....but it is equally as gauling to know that one player can make so much difference to us....and as a club we have allowed that to be so. How important is Suarez to Liverpool? Ronaldo to Madrid, Messi to Barca? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 We still didn't win many home games with Benteke in the team and fully fit...indeed we won 3 of our 5 home games when he was injured I think. To me if you don't win many home games you're not going to be above mid table in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villanun Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I'm afraid that all this talk about Benteke annoys me a bit. If he'd remained fit we MIGHT have scored more goals and won more points, but that would still have only been covering up the gaping deficiencies in the rest of the team. I mean, Benteke's fitness had no influence on Luna's propensity to pull out of important tackles; it had no impact on Baker and Bennett's poor decision making and disastrous mistakes; it didn't force the midfield to crumble under even the slightest pressure or make them pass the ball straight into touch; it didn't make Gabby jog for most of the season or cause Weimann to get so few shots on target. To put it another way, when I hear people talking about Benteke they always comment on his ability to make something out of nothing. The something is great - it's the nothing he has to keep making it from that's the problem. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillanousOne Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 if dealt with/managed correctly a fit, Bent, Hutton, Grealish, Gardener, Nzogbia, Kozak, Okore could make a hell of a difference. maybe even Helenius and Tonev also, although unlikely. Just not convinced Lambert can do that. still need a left back either way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 It's like an abused partner in a relationship. Constantly trying to convince yourself it's not that bad and things will get better. yeah, its exactly the same Like or exactly the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Guzan, Vlaar, Baker, Lowton, Delph, Westwood, El Ahmadi, Gabby, Weimann, Benteke have all played in around 80% of our games over the last two seasons. In that time we have amassed 79 points in 76 league games. That alone would suggest that at the very least at this level our side isn't very good. I do maintain though that our first 11 is decent and would be capable of finishing around 10th - 13th if they all stayed fit, free from suspension and loss of form. That just isn't going to happen though. When you look past our first 11 then too many of our players simply aren't good enough for this level. Unless we get new owners I would imagine that isn't going to be changing any time soon and we are therefore looking at another season of struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I might sound crazy but I think even without a takeover we will be ok. Surely we can only improve? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 (edited) I might sound crazy but I think even without a takeover we will be ok. Surely we can only improve? I thought that after we added to the squad last summer but we went backwards in terms of points gained but more so in terms of performance. Lowton, Weimann, Baker, Clark, Bennett and even Benteke didn't kick on from 2012/13 and in fact went backwards last season and of the new signings only Bacuna and Kozak did okay. The rest we either didn't see much of (Okore due to injury) or were simply really poor and looked way out of their depth. Edited June 8, 2014 by markavfc40 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I might sound crazy but I think even without a takeover we will be ok. Surely we can only improve? Depends if we cut out the stupid mistakes and start doing the basics correctly If we can do this we will concede a lot less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I think we will improve next season, particularly if and when the likes of Okore, Kozak, Benteke and perhaps N'Zogbia are back up to full match fitness. I think Westwood will get a bit better again, hopefully Delph too and if we can get Agbonlahor motivated even just for a 10-15 game spell without him getting injured we can finish the season comfortably in mid-table at least Full backs the main worry but then Bennett did put in a decent showing at home to Chelsea in his only real chance during the second half of the season so perhaps he's learning/learnt something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted June 8, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted June 8, 2014 We only need Kozak fit and will see at least marginal improvement over the end of last season. Whether that means improvement over the whole season is another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I put this in the Bendtner thread, but fear it may be taking it off topic. As of today, for the start of the season we potentially have: Guzan, Steer, Given - no further need here Lowton, Hutton, Bacuna - not great in quality, but okay to start the season Vlaar, Okore, Senderos, Baker, Clark, Donacien - okay here, especially if Okore and Vlaar are fit Luna, Bennett, Stevens (if he returns from his loan) - needs adding to for sure, probably our weakest area on paper Westwood, Delph, KEA, Sylla, Gardner, Grealish, Tonev, Bacuna, CNZ?? - crying out for more quality and that elusive no.10. Grealish to get his chance?? Gabby, Bent, Bowery, Andi, Robinson - what's the best pairing here? - I think we need another striker - even if he helps us to an extra 2 or 3 wins, he'll be worth it. As things stand, what team do we start the season with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Westwood, Delph, KEA, Sylla, Gardner, Grealish, Tonev, CNZ, Cole - would like to see a solid DM player come in, if there's a good free transfer to be had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Preseason and with everything going on, or actually not going on, at the club I am quite confident to say that the squad we have today as at 1st July we will be going down next season. I have no doubts whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillanousOne Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I put this in the Bendtner thread, but fear it may be taking it off topic. As of today, for the start of the season we potentially have: Guzan, Steer, Given - no further need here Lowton, Hutton, Bacuna - not great in quality, but okay to start the season Vlaar, Okore, Senderos, Baker, Clark, Donacien - okay here, especially if Okore and Vlaar are fit Luna, Bennett, Stevens (if he returns from his loan) - needs adding to for sure, probably our weakest area on paper Westwood, Delph, KEA, Sylla, Gardner, Grealish, Tonev, Bacuna, CNZ?? - crying out for more quality and that elusive no.10. Grealish to get his chance?? Gabby, Bent, Bowery, Andi, Robinson - what's the best pairing here? - I think we need another striker - even if he helps us to an extra 2 or 3 wins, he'll be worth it. As things stand, what team do we start the season with? Well this may have been posted before Bowery has gone, but he's departed, Helenius hasn't yet. Bent looks as though he's on his way. Sylla bitched and moaned so would be surprised if he stayed and Herd is back (small fanfare that fades out to one misfiring trumpet). Is Carruthers and Kozak fit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Guzan Hutton Okore Vlaar Luna Delph Westwood Weimann Cole Gabby Kozak As things stand, I expect us to line up something like that for our first game. Good enough to stay up IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 (edited) Guzan Hutton Okore Vlaar Luna Delph Westwood Weimann Cole Gabby Kozak As things stand, I expect us to line up something like that for our first game. Good enough to stay up IMO. We'd have a bench to be made up from: Bacuna, Lowton, Baker, Clark, Bennett, Gardner, Grealish, KEA, Bent, Senderos, Carruthers, Robinson, Donacien, CNZ, Steer, Tonev Plus Benteke to return at some point. I think an experienced LB and CM on frees and I think the club will be done adding to the squad, unless Bent leaves for a fee - in which case I expect another striker to arrive. Edited July 1, 2014 by StanBalaban Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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