Paul Lambert

[regular_john]

I know I will be outnumbered but I actually think he is doing a good job. Only 5 players are good enough for this level. Even if Mourinho was in charge the club would still be in a similar position. 

 

I agree.

 

I think the remit he's had to work under is probably the most difficult in the premier league. He's had to rebuild the club from the ground up in a manner that will help us succeed in the long term (i.e. young players) and has been given a pittance to worth with AND has to meet the expectations of the fans (top half finishes at the very least) AND has to get the team playing good football.

 

Trying to accomplish any two of those objectives would be a tough job, three would be a challenge for even the very best managers, but to accomplish all four is practically impossible, and would take a manager of Mourinho or Guardiola's quality to achieve.

 

I would say that more than 5 of our players are good enough for this level. I think we forget how young this team is, they are one of the youngest sides to ever play top flight football in this country. Even the lads that haven't shined so far could potentially go on to be very good players once they've matured, the talent is clearly there for most of them. I also think that a lot of these young players would do fine if they were playing alongside more experienced colleagues, instead of fellow youngsters.

 

I'm not saying Lambert is perfect, FAR from it, and I'm not saying he should be immune from some pretty heavy criticism, but to say he deserves the sack is to ignore the larger issues at the club and to be ignorant to the remit he's been asked to work under, which will NOT change if a new manager comes in.

[Big_John_10]

47% loss rate and the worst home form in the 140 year history of the club and its ignorant to want him sacked?

Laughable really.

[HeyAnty]

 

What still gets me is why did he take the job in the first place? yes we're are bigger club, better facilities and all that.

However, if he had stayed at Norwich, he would have been given more money to develop a successful team he had built.

Something just doesn't add up for me - he sometimes says that Lerner had said to him this will be your toughest few yrs in football. Now was that because he's been asked to come in and keep us up on basic money untill he sells, was it tread water for two yrs then we'll have money to push on.

Was it simply that the guy has balls and thought I can crack this.

Regardless of what people think now, at the time he was one of the bright young managers on the market.

I can't help but smell sale all day long when I sit back and look at it, but I also find it strange for a manger to come in a tread water untill it happens. Mcleish / curbishleys of this world yes, but not a young manager that had a good reputation, who in all honesty has maybe now ruined that.

Maybe the salary had a lot to do with it?

 

 

Na Salary would be nothing to do with it IMO. 

 

I think he has been brought in under false pretenses and if he doesn’t get the money he is promised in the Summer then he will most likely leave.

 

Lerner is trying to sell.  He has stripped back the business costs to look as attractive as possible to potential buyers.  I think Lambert is probably starting to realize this, due to his demeanor over the past 6 months  

[CrackpotForeigner]

Norwich fans have got their wish. Let's see how that works out for them. Personally I think Hughton is a decent manager. I remember him subbing on a player v us to chants of "You don't know what you're doing" only for the player to provide the assist for their equaliser about five minutes later.

 

No, this isn't the Norwich thread, but Fan Power and all that.

[McGregor1888]

47% loss rate and the worst home form in the 140 year history of the club and its ignorant to want him sacked?

Laughable really.

 

Would you have had Graham Taylor sacked in 1988-89?  Yep, I think you would have.

 

Put down the pitchfork and give the manager a chance to build something.

[penguin]

Norwich fans have got their wish. Let's see how that works out for them. Personally I think Hughton is a decent manager. I remember him subbing on a player v us to chants of "You don't know what you're doing" only for the player to provide the assist for their equaliser about five minutes later.

 

No, this isn't the Norwich thread, but Fan Power and all that.

I thought he was a decent manager and thought he got a real raw deal getting sacked by Newcastle but deservedly sacked by Norwich.

[Big_John_10]

47% loss rate and the worst home form in the 140 year history of the club and its ignorant to want him sacked?

Laughable really.

Would you have had Graham Taylor sacked in 1988-89? Yep, I think you would have.

Put down the pitchfork and give the manager a chance to build something.

OK if you say so.

You do know just giving any manager endless time doesn't guarantee success.

[DelboyVilla]

 

 

What still gets me is why did he take the job in the first place? yes we're are bigger club, better facilities and all that.

 

However, if he had stayed at Norwich, he would have been given more money to develop a successful team he had built.

 

Something just doesn't add up for me - he sometimes says that Lerner had said to him this will be your toughest few yrs in football. Now was that because he's been asked to come in and keep us up on basic money untill he sells, was it tread water for two yrs then we'll have money to push on.

 

Was it simply that the guy has balls and thought I can crack this.

 

Regardless of what people think now, at the time he was one of the bright young managers on the market.

 

I can't help but smell sale all day long when I sit back and look at it, but I also find it strange for a manger to come in a tread water untill it happens. Mcleish / curbishleys of this world yes, but not a young manager that had a good reputation, who in all honesty has maybe now ruined that.

 

Maybe he was about to be found out at Norwich too?

 

 

3 seasons and back to back promotions is enough time to be found out.

 

 

But there is the second season syndrome which strikes many a manager/team?

[regular_john]

47% loss rate and the worst home form in the 140 year history of the club and its ignorant to want him sacked?

Laughable really.

 

It's ignorant to focus only on the results and ignore the wider problems at the club, yes.

 

The financial issues will not go away with a new manager (in fact, they'll get worse as we'll lose money having to pay off Lambert and his team)

The remit of building a young team will not go away with a new manager

The issues of naivety and inexperience in the squad will not go away with a new manager

 

A new manager means starting, yet again, from square one. 

A new manager means trying to find someone crazy enough to take this job on, knowing they won't have money to spend, and knowing they'll only have two seasons to succeed with the toughest remit in the league lest they also be sacked.

A new manager means trying to find someone who'll take this job on who is significantly better than Lambert, which leaves very few options.

 

Make no mistake, I don't want to see us lose ten home games in a season, and I don't want to see us doubled by the likes of Fulham and Stoke, but in the absence of massive financial outlay our only choice as a club is to build slowly with a young side, which unfortunately means trawling through shit seasons like this one before we see any tangible success.

 

We'll stay up, and hopefully Lambert can focus on bringing in quality (which he's shown himself capable of doing), rather than quantity, in the summer.

Edited April 8, 2014 by regular_john

[Ulver]

For what its worth , i think if Lambert doesn't get a decent financial backing in the summer  he'll walk.

 

AH YOU TEASE!

 

How sweet would that be ?, save us a few quid in compo too. 

 

Sadly it's not likely, Lambert knows after the way he's ballsed this chance up he'll never work in the top flight again. It's either Scotland or back to the lower leagues for him once we get rid.

[briny_ear]

 

I know I will be outnumbered but I actually think he is doing a good job. Only 5 players are good enough for this level. Even if Mourinho was in charge the club would still be in a similar position. 

 

I agree.

 

I think the remit he's had to work under is probably the most difficult in the premier league. He's had to rebuild the club from the ground up in a manner that will help us succeed in the long term (i.e. young players) and has been given a pittance to worth with AND has to meet the expectations of the fans (top half finishes at the very least) AND has to get the team playing good football.

 

Trying to accomplish any two of those objectives would be a tough job, three would be a challenge for even the very best managers, but to accomplish all four is practically impossible, and would take a manager of Mourinho or Guardiola's quality to achieve.

 

I would say that more than 5 of our players are good enough for this level. I think we forget how young this team is, they are one of the youngest sides to ever play top flight football in this country. Even the lads that haven't shined so far could potentially go on to be very good players once they've matured, the talent is clearly there for most of them. I also think that a lot of these young players would do fine if they were playing alongside more experienced colleagues, instead of fellow youngsters.

 

I'm not saying Lambert is perfect, FAR from it, and I'm not saying he should be immune from some pretty heavy criticism, but to say he deserves the sack is to ignore the larger issues at the club and to be ignorant to the remit he's been asked to work under, which will NOT change if a new manager comes in.

 

We are all familiar with all these issues that get raised over and over again in this thread. I think it is an extreme exaggeration to say that Lambert had to rebuild the club from ground up" - he had experienced players such as Gabby, Guzan, Albrighton, Delph, Clark, Baker and Herd to draw on. I've got a feeling he does actually see his job as "rebuilding the club" (HairyHands said as much in a post before he bombed himself out of the site) but I think this is a delusion - he won't be around long enough to rebuild anything. I'd rather he concentrated on getting a squad that could just get us more consistent results.

 

It's also OTT to say that he has had a pittance to spend. He's had about £40m, hasn't he? It is his choice to have so many inexperienced players in the squad - he chose to put a number of our experienced players into exile and he spent the money on players without premier league experience. As you say yourself,

 

 

 

a lot of these young players would do fine if they were playing alongside more experienced colleagues, instead of fellow youngsters.

 

So don't you think it would have been better to have brought in some more experienced heads from the start, if only on loan (an approach he now finally seems to have grasped)?

 

Nobody's saying Lambert hasn't faced a difficult situation at the club, though not one as extreme as you set out, but the belief that he has handled it as well as might be expected (and, as some say, is the ONLY manager who could do the job) lacks credibility in my view given the poor, inconsistent, up and down results we have had, especially at home - home results should be the absolute bedrock of a club looking to improve and perform more solidly .

 

When you look at what a manager like Tony Pulis has done at Crystal Palace, who had a weak and chaotic squad when he took over, and looked doomed to relegation, you can see that there are other managerial approaches to dealing with the sort of position we are in, that can be more effective because they are more pragmatic and more focused on just getting consistency and a run of results.

 

I doubt whether Pulis talks about a "project" but you wouldn't now want to bet on Palace finishing below us this season

Edited April 8, 2014 by briny_ear

[Ulver]

A new manager means starting, yet again, from square one. 

 

Good. that's exactly what we'll need to do.

 

For a start finding a home for all the dross Lambert has signed will be priority #1. I guess plenty lower league sides might take a gamble on a few of em, seeing as thats their level. Then the new manager will have to set out to build a whole new side capable of playing in this league competitively. Basically we've wasted two years, a 45m transfer kitty and isolated a bunch of experienced players (and thus their sell on value) that could've helped steady the ship

 

It's going to take quite a manager to sort this **** Lambert mess out make no mistake.

 

But the sooner we get on with it the better.

[Nigel]

 

 

47% loss rate and the worst home form in the 140 year history of the club and its ignorant to want him sacked?

Laughable really.

Would you have had Graham Taylor sacked in 1988-89? Yep, I think you would have.

Put down the pitchfork and give the manager a chance to build something.

OK if you say so.

You do know just giving any manager endless time doesn't guarantee success.

 

Giving him limited time guarantees not to.

[avfc1982]

47% loss rate and the worst home form in the 140 year history of the club and its ignorant to want him sacked?

Laughable really.

 

Would you have had Graham Taylor sacked in 1988-89?  Yep, I think you would have.

 

Put down the pitchfork and give the manager a chance to build something.

Stop talking nonsense. Taylor had just dragged us back to the top division by the skin of our teeth and kept us in the division which was perfectly acceptable, and you could see the improvements he had made to a club that was recently relegated.

Lambert on the other hand has lost us 19 home games in less than 2 seasons and has "built" one of if not the worst Villa team I have ever seen in my life. He has been an unmitigated disaster for Aston Villa - from the laughable home record, to the 8-0 thrashing at Chelsea, the humiliation of the Bradford semi, the Millwall results etc etc.

he is categorically NOT doing a good job (unless you happen to be a Bluenose). How anyone in their right mind can say otherwise is beyond me.

LAMBERT OUT!!

[penguin]

He's the fifth longest serving manager in the premier league, it's hardly like he's been given five minutes and people are calling for his head.

[Ulver]

Two years on, and still none of us have a clue about our footballing philosophy and the side still has no identity / style of play (well, unless you call hoof and run a style of play)

 

That must be a first for any manager.

[regular_john]

We are all familiar with all these issues that get raised over and over again in this thread. I think it is an extreme exaggeration to say that Lambert had to rebuild the club from ground up" - he had experienced players such as Gabby, Guzan, Albrighton, Delph, Clark, Baker and Herd to draw on. I've got a feeling he does actually see his job as "rebuilding the club" (HairyHands said as much in a post before he bombed himself out of the site) but I think this is a delusion - he won't be around long enough to rebuild anything. I'd rather he concentrated on getting a squad that could just get us more consistent results.

 

Gabby is experienced but limited, Guzan had been released, the rest were not anything like experienced when Lambert arrived. 

 

 

It's also OTT to say that he has had a pittance to spend. He's had about £40m, hasn't he? It is his choice to have so many inexperienced players in the squad - he chose to put a number of our experienced players into exile and he spent the money on players without premier league experience. As you say yourself,

 

£40m is a great deal to spend on 2 or 3 players, the type of players that can bring real quality to a team and make the difference between 6th and 4th, for example, but it's nothing when you have to buy a whole squad. Nobody in their right mind would expect a squad with a value of £40m to be significantly competitive in the prem.

 

So don't you think it would have been better to have brought in some more experienced heads from the start, if only on loan (an approach he now finally seems to have grasped)?

 

Experienced heads means high wages unless you bring in experienced cloggers. Bringing in players on high wages was the exact opposite of what Lambert needed to achieve, regardless of their impact on the squad.

 

Nobody's saying Lambert hasn't faced a difficult situation at the club, though not one as extreme as you set out, but the belief that he has handled it as well as might be expected (and, as some say, is the ONLY manager who could do the job) lacks credibility in my view given the poor, inconsistent, up and down results we have had, especially at home - home results should be the absolute bedrock of a club looking to improve and perform more solidly .

 

I didn't say he was the only manager for the job, but the options for us are very limited given the financial circumstances and fan expectation. Of the managers crazy enough to take the job, the number that would have done a much worse job than Lambert is practically guaranteed to be much higher than the number of managers who could have done a better job.

 

When you look at what a manager like Tony Pulis has done at Crystal Palace, who had a weak and chaotic squad when he took over, and looked doomed to relegation, you can see that there are other managerial approaches to dealing with the sort of position we are in, that can be more effective because they are more pragmatic and more focused on just getting consistency and a run of results.

 

Pulis has done brilliantly, but there is a ceiling on what he'll be able to achieve at Palace, and that ceiling is midtable at best. I don't want to see Villa coasting in midtable for the next twenty years, I want to see Villa back amongst the top 6 and competing for silverware, and the only way for us to do that is to build a team slowly and with young players. We simply don't have the money to do it any other way!

Edited April 8, 2014 by regular_john

[regular_john]

He's the fifth longest serving manager in the premier league, it's hardly like he's been given five minutes and people are calling for his head.

 

That's only because too many clubs in this league sack managers at a moments notice. Two years is absolutely nothing, and it's a shame that managers are sacked so rapidly these days that people think otherwise.

[Eames]

47% loss rate and the worst home form in the 140 year history of the club and its ignorant to want him sacked?

Laughable really.

Not ignorant no.

 

Short sighted, reactionary, counter productive and unnecesary. Yes.

[Big_John_10]

47% loss rate and the worst home form in the 140 year history of the club and its ignorant to want him sacked?

Laughable really.

Not ignorant no.

Short sighted, reactionary, counter productive and unnecesary. Yes.

For fans like yourself who have extremely low expectations maybe.