Paul Lambert

[bannedfromHandV]

It must've been a right old struggle only having 43m to spend. Good job his sound tactical knowledge was intact otherwise we'd have gone for sure

 

perhaps we could get Ian Dowie in on a 12 month 'football consultancy' contract. 

 

 

I'd be willing to give that a go

 

 

That's £43M to largely rebuild a squad, not even a team but a squad, i know we're all super pissed off at the moment but we need to keep perspective.

 

If he'd had a fairly decent squad and spunked £43M on 4 or 5 players then I'd agree but that's not the case, he inherited an overpaid, overaged, disinterested and unmotivated squad of players and that £43M has been spent across what? 15 odd players?

[dont_do_it_doug.]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lambert is very tactically astute. Or at least, he is tactically aware. He often doesn't have the personnel to fit his systems though and so it boggles the mind at times why he sends them out as he does.

Surely the second part of that paragraph pretty much sums up exactly why he isn't tactically astute in the slightest. Astuteness implies pragmatism and flexibility while as you concede, he plays a set system regardless of whether it is conductive to the players at his disposal or not.

I did adjust to "tactical awareness". Ideas vs implementation.

Though to be fair to him, I wondered all season why players who had performed so well towards the end of the previous season seemed completely unable to string two passes together.

I think motivation is a weakness of his.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

By the way, just because you implement a certain system in a certain game and you lose that game, it wasn't necessarily the wrong system to implement.

[TrentVilla]

I think the mentioning of "four transfer windows" when it comes to putting Lambert's transfer funding into context is deliberately misleading.

No it isn't it's simply a matter of fact.

[ozvillafan]

I agree, let's bring Dr Jo back.

 

 

Interesting you should mention Dr Jo.

 

Sadly, his time was a few years before I started following Villa. But from the small amount I can read up on his time, it appears his biggest problem was introducing new ideas to a largely British roster (old article can be found here).

 

The real tragedy is that, according to the likes of Dwight Yorke, some of these were practices taken up by clubs years later.

 

Sounds exactly like the kind of shake up we could use right now, imo.

[omariqy]

 

I think the mentioning of "four transfer windows" when it comes to putting Lambert's transfer funding into context is deliberately misleading.

No it isn't it's simply a matter of fact.

 

 

Yeah not sure how that is misleading.  I am no massive fan of PL but it is hard to argue against what he has had to work under.  We had an awful squad that nearly relegated that PL had to rebuild with some sellotape and blu tack.  However, PL's tactics and management skills have been massively lacking for me.  He has made poor decisions on a number of occasions. 

[Isa]

By the way, just because you implement a certain system in a certain game and you lose that game, it wasn't necessarily the wrong system to implement.

Over a singular game yes. When it results in the worst home-form ever including ten home defeats in one season then clearly the tactics haven't been very successful.

No it isn't it's simply a matter of fact.

Indeed but saying £40m over two seasons doesn't quite give the same impression.

Edited July 17, 2014 by Isa

[Adam_]

Long ball, short ball, passing non passing ............but for me his biggest problem has been his inability to construct a defence that is anything approaching 'tight' - which I believe is the basis for any team - you can't build on a leaky defence.

Liverpool managed pretty well, I wouldn't care if we let in 2 as long as we score 3 lol

[dn1982]

Lamberts tactics are hit and miss for me. He knows how to set up against superior teams and sometimes he'll go a bit too defensive but he's result and performances against the top 6 are good. We destroyed Liverpool with a diamond yet it never worked against others. Beating Man City with 3 at the back with them not having many shots on goal. I'm not sure if he's limited as he changed systems too much for me at times or the players aren't good enough to swap mentalities when playing certain systems. Our ball retention needs working on but I think that comes with confidence but also having better players. Hopefully with the introduction of a few exp players we won't panic in position as much.

[TrentVilla]

 

No it isn't it's simply a matter of fact.

Indeed but saying £40m over two seasons doesn't quite give the same impression.

 

No it doesn't but you are saying over two seasons not me.

 

I can understand that saying £40m over two seasons works better for your stance in being critical of Lambert but as you now admit, the fact is that its £43m over 4 windows.

 

And that to me is important, not only because its accurate but because there is absolutely nothing to suggest that all the money spent in either season was available to Lambert all in one go in the summer window. Now it might have been, and he might have held some back for the January windows.

 

But the impression I've got is that he has spent what was available to him in the two summer windows and then had to try and prize more out of Lerner in the two January windows.

 

That is to me at least a factor or possible factor that should be considered because it reduces the amount available to him in the summer windows from the £20m you are suggesting that he had.

 

So, £43m in 4 windows is the accurate picture for discussing his spending.

[Richard]

 

I agree, let's bring Dr Jo back.

 

 

Interesting you should mention Dr Jo.

 

Sadly, his time was a few years before I started following Villa. But from the small amount I can read up on his time, it appears his biggest problem was introducing new ideas to a largely British roster (old article can be found here).

 

The real tragedy is that, according to the likes of Dwight Yorke, some of these were practices taken up by clubs years later.

 

Sounds exactly like the kind of shake up we could use right now, imo.

 

Believe me it isnt

[briny_ear]

Interesting you should mention Dr Jo.

 

Sadly, his time was a few years before I started following Villa. But from the small amount I can read up on his time, it appears his biggest problem was introducing new ideas to a largely British roster (old article can be found here).

 

 

I fear his biggest problem was actually that no-one in the Villa team (and probably coaching staff too) could understand what he was talking about and as a result  most matches were chaotic tactically and complete misery to watch.

 

And Dwight Yorke had only just joined the club and didn't feature much that season so perhaps is not the most reliable witness.

[rodders0223]

I just said his name flippantly.
Paul McGrath mentions him in his book, basically he had lots of new and bright ideas but he wasn't manager material, personality wise and was walked over. Been a while since I read it, but that's how I remember it.

[SikhInTrinity]

 

 

No it isn't it's simply a matter of fact.

Indeed but saying £40m over two seasons doesn't quite give the same impression.

 

No it doesn't but you are saying over two seasons not me.

 

I can understand that saying £40m over two seasons works better for your stance in being critical of Lambert but as you now admit, the fact is that its £43m over 4 windows.

 

And that to me is important, not only because its accurate but because there is absolutely nothing to suggest that all the money spent in either season was available to Lambert all in one go in the summer window. Now it might have been, and he might have held some back for the January windows.

 

But the impression I've got is that he has spent what was available to him in the two summer windows and then had to try and prize more out of Lerner in the two January windows.

 

That is to me at least a factor or possible factor that should be considered because it reduces the amount available to him in the summer windows from the £20m you are suggesting that he had.

 

So, £43m in 4 windows is the accurate picture for discussing his spending.

 

 

Considering Houllier spent 30Million in one window on two players, that sort of puts into perspective Lamberts spending.

Edited July 18, 2014 by SikhInTrinity

[Derryvillan]

 

 

 

No it isn't it's simply a matter of fact.

Indeed but saying £40m over two seasons doesn't quite give the same impression.

 

No it doesn't but you are saying over two seasons not me.

 

I can understand that saying £40m over two seasons works better for your stance in being critical of Lambert but as you now admit, the fact is that its £43m over 4 windows.

 

And that to me is important, not only because its accurate but because there is absolutely nothing to suggest that all the money spent in either season was available to Lambert all in one go in the summer window. Now it might have been, and he might have held some back for the January windows.

 

But the impression I've got is that he has spent what was available to him in the two summer windows and then had to try and prize more out of Lerner in the two January windows.

 

That is to me at least a factor or possible factor that should be considered because it reduces the amount available to him in the summer windows from the £20m you are suggesting that he had.

 

So, £43m in 4 windows is the accurate picture for discussing his spending.

 

 

Considering Houllier spent 30Million in one window on two players, that sort of puts into perspective Lamberts spending.

 

I'd like to 'like' this multiple times.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Derryvillan

[Isa]

No it doesn't but you are saying over two seasons not me.

 

I can understand that saying £40m over two seasons works better for your stance in being critical of Lambert but as you now admit, the fact is that its £43m over 4 windows.

Well I can see you are playing the semantics card to suit your narrative. Two seasons equals four windows in the same way that one week equals seven days.

 

But the impression I've got is that he has spent what was available to him in the two summer windows and then had to try and prize more out of Lerner in the two January windows.

Yes, that's how most clubs operate. If you spend the majority of your funds in the summer, then little is left for the winter. Though going into hypothetical situations about just how much Lerner afforded him in each window is completely irrelevent anyway. What we know for sure is that he spent just over £40m in his first two seasons. The breakdown of how much of it was spent in what window doesn't change this though as mentioned, he does the bulk of his business in the summer as is the norm.

[Risso]

 

 

No it isn't it's simply a matter of fact.

Indeed but saying £40m over two seasons doesn't quite give the same impression.

 

No it doesn't but you are saying over two seasons not me.

 

I can understand that saying £40m over two seasons works better for your stance in being critical of Lambert but as you now admit, the fact is that its £43m over 4 windows.

 

And that to me is important, not only because its accurate but because there is absolutely nothing to suggest that all the money spent in either season was available to Lambert all in one go in the summer window. Now it might have been, and he might have held some back for the January windows.

 

But the impression I've got is that he has spent what was available to him in the two summer windows and then had to try and prize more out of Lerner in the two January windows.

 

That is to me at least a factor or possible factor that should be considered because it reduces the amount available to him in the summer windows from the £20m you are suggesting that he had.

 

So, £43m in 4 windows is the accurate picture for discussing his spending.

 

 

He's bought one player, Sylla, in the January window.  When he'd spent his £20m in his first summer season, he was quoted as saying he was very happy with his business.

[TrentVilla]

And?

[rodders0223]

 

 

 

No it isn't it's simply a matter of fact.

Indeed but saying £40m over two seasons doesn't quite give the same impression.

 

No it doesn't but you are saying over two seasons not me.

 

I can understand that saying £40m over two seasons works better for your stance in being critical of Lambert but as you now admit, the fact is that its £43m over 4 windows.

 

And that to me is important, not only because its accurate but because there is absolutely nothing to suggest that all the money spent in either season was available to Lambert all in one go in the summer window. Now it might have been, and he might have held some back for the January windows.

 

But the impression I've got is that he has spent what was available to him in the two summer windows and then had to try and prize more out of Lerner in the two January windows.

 

That is to me at least a factor or possible factor that should be considered because it reduces the amount available to him in the summer windows from the £20m you are suggesting that he had.

 

So, £43m in 4 windows is the accurate picture for discussing his spending.

 

 

He's bought one player, Sylla, in the January window.  When he'd spent his £20m in his first summer season, he was quoted as saying he was very happy with his business.

 

 

What was he gonna say?

"I couldn't get the players I wanted, so we have signed some guy from the French division 2, I am not happy with our business, we are ****."

[samjp26]

I think what is more important than the entire budget he has had since being here, is the average spend per player.

Anybody who expected him to rebuild the squad with £40m, whilst playing attractive football and earning a position much higher up the table, has very high expectations IMO (bordering being delusional).

Edited July 19, 2014 by samjp26