Paul Lambert

[sexbelowsound]

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from injuries which all teams get all the others above situations in bold have either been caused directly by Lambert or handled in a totally unprofessional manner by him!

 

Were we declining before Lambert, yes, has he dragged us down further, yes, should he have handled the job better 100% yes.

 

Should he be sacked. Yes.

 

Lerner been an idiot owner and made things more difficult than needs be but in keeping Lambert 2 wrongs definately don't make a right!

 

And let's forget the other Scotish manager he's gone, let's sack his successor (funny word to be relevant) and find someone to take us forward!

 

 

He hasn't dragged us further down, though.  We're pretty stagnant and not spending money... so we're going to remain pretty stagnant.

 

 

The whole point was for him to stops us being stagnant, ergo he's a failure!

 

He has a net spending way in excess of McLeish but can only struggle to match his results? That's how rubbish Lambert is!

 

He told Lerner he could do this that and the other and he can't do any of it!! He needs to look at himself in the mirror and see if he has any self respect left or is he just like the rest and a money grabbing sponger!

 

 

Are you really comparing one season to 2 and a half in terms of "net spend"?

 

I don't think he's a money grabbing sponger at all.  He came to the club in challenging circumstances (circumstances that Martinez turned down, by the way) and has stuck with us, despite never having a real amount to spend on players.  To transform the team that much under those restrictions must be incredibly tough.

 

Could he do better?  Yes.  Is he doing terribly?  No.

 

 

 

I disagree, could do better? No, he is just not capable of doing any better. He is that poor!

 

[DCJonah]

Doesn't that back up what he said?

[foreveryoung]

 

To simply boil it down.

I hate the style of football he has us playing, it's as bad as I've ever seen us play in my lifetime. If the results were satisfactory then I could live with it, but on the whole they haven't been. Looking through the squad individually it isn't too bad at all and I feel has the ability to be competing higher than scraping survival each year and surely that has to go down to the manager, even with migrating circumstances considered.

 

It's the worst squad I have ever seen in my lifetime, and by some distance.

Nobody could get these clowns to hold onto a ball for 5 passes.

 

A Squad that has beat Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and drawn against apparently, an on form Southampton side last night.  

This is not a poor side, its just run by a poor manager who continues to coach the team into a defensive unit, which is why there is no confindence to go out and win a game. He blatently has no faith in the team to go out and attack for a win, he is in self presevation mode, scared of that 5+ loss that will see him sacked. You can tell he is a man under intense pressure, although as he proved last night will never admit it, something I respected Roger's admitting yesterday. Unfortunately for him his dour interviews are becoming like the denial we saw from McLeish.

[sexbelowsound]

Doesn't that back up what he said?

 

Look again.

[DCJonah]

Doesn't that back up what he said?

Look again.

Maybe I'm missing it.

We're matching McLeish and we're struggling to do it.

[rodders0223]

 

 

To simply boil it down.

I hate the style of football he has us playing, it's as bad as I've ever seen us play in my lifetime. If the results were satisfactory then I could live with it, but on the whole they haven't been. Looking through the squad individually it isn't too bad at all and I feel has the ability to be competing higher than scraping survival each year and surely that has to go down to the manager, even with migrating circumstances considered.

 

It's the worst squad I have ever seen in my lifetime, and by some distance.

Nobody could get these clowns to hold onto a ball for 5 passes.

 

A Squad that has beat Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and drawn against apparently, an on form Southampton side last night.  

This is not a poor side, its just run by a poor manager who continues to coach the team into a defensive unit, which is why there is no confindence to go out and win a game. He blatently has no faith in the team to go out and attack for a win, he is in self presevation mode, scared of that 5+ loss that will see him sacked. You can tell he is a man under intense pressure, although as he proved last night will never admit it, something I respected Roger's admitting yesterday. Unfortunately for him his dour interviews are becoming like the denial we saw from McLeish.

 

 

Yes, it is a squad that beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City.

I give full credit to Lambert for that.

[Shaw_nuff]

Even by Lambert's own admission he's failing. The end of last season he said 'it wasn't good enough for this club'. Well, it's looking like the same old crap this season too Paul.

[CVByrne]

 

I really don't understand some criticism.

Spurs performance was brilliant, we should have won that game by 2 or more goals and we would have won but for Bentekes sending off.

Then at West Ham it was stop the rot at all costs. We simply had to get a point from that game.

Then we have Southampton, who have won 9 or their past 10 games. We are missing loads of players and not a man on this site would not have taken a 1-1 before the match.

Yet, the moaning goes on and on...

If you can explain to me how 3 years on , the last 2 performances were better than what we saw under McLeish, then I might change my critisicm.

 

 

This summer was his only real chance to bring in the level of player he wanted. But unfortunately Lambert hasn't had the chance to get his team on the pitch. I think our best 11 are a top 10 side. Period. 

 

What I want from Villa fans (which I know is impossible) is to accept that

 

A. We will not be relegated this season and

B. Judge Lambert on the whole season

 

When we've Benteke, Delph, Vlaar, Senderos playing week in week out with the rest of the team. With hopefully Kozak as an option on the bench. Then we judge his team and their performances. 

 

Weekly moaning is to the detriment of this club, not to its benefit. Our record against teams around our level has been very good this season, our next 10 games are made up of those teams. 

Edited November 25, 2014 by CVByrne

[TrentVilla]

Even by Lambert's own admission he's failing. The end of last season he said 'it wasn't good enough for this club'. Well, it's looking like the same old crap this season too Paul.

 

Which is what is largely to be expected when you go and spend £10m in a summer when most clubs are far in excess of that.

 

I really don't think that a lack of progress is evidence that Lambert is failing by his own admission.

 

I know for certain that if he were asked today he would still say that the level we are at isn't good enough.

[bobzy]

 

 

To simply boil it down.

I hate the style of football he has us playing, it's as bad as I've ever seen us play in my lifetime. If the results were satisfactory then I could live with it, but on the whole they haven't been. Looking through the squad individually it isn't too bad at all and I feel has the ability to be competing higher than scraping survival each year and surely that has to go down to the manager, even with migrating circumstances considered.

 

It's the worst squad I have ever seen in my lifetime, and by some distance.

Nobody could get these clowns to hold onto a ball for 5 passes.

 

A Squad that has beat Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and drawn against apparently, an on form Southampton side last night.  

This is not a poor side, its just run by a poor manager who continues to coach the team into a defensive unit, which is why there is no confindence to go out and win a game. He blatently has no faith in the team to go out and attack for a win, he is in self presevation mode, scared of that 5+ loss that will see him sacked. You can tell he is a man under intense pressure, although as he proved last night will never admit it, something I respected Roger's admitting yesterday. Unfortunately for him his dour interviews are becoming like the denial we saw from McLeish.

 

 

 

 

To simply boil it down.

I hate the style of football he has us playing, it's as bad as I've ever seen us play in my lifetime. If the results were satisfactory then I could live with it, but on the whole they haven't been. Looking through the squad individually it isn't too bad at all and I feel has the ability to be competing higher than scraping survival each year and surely that has to go down to the manager, even with migrating circumstances considered.

 

It's the worst squad I have ever seen in my lifetime, and by some distance.

Nobody could get these clowns to hold onto a ball for 5 passes.

 

A Squad that has beat Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and drawn against apparently, an on form Southampton side last night.  

This is not a poor side, its just run by a poor manager who continues to coach the team into a defensive unit, which is why there is no confindence to go out and win a game. He blatently has no faith in the team to go out and attack for a win, he is in self presevation mode, scared of that 5+ loss that will see him sacked. You can tell he is a man under intense pressure, although as he proved last night will never admit it, something I respected Roger's admitting yesterday. Unfortunately for him his dour interviews are becoming like the denial we saw from McLeish.

 

 

Y'know, a good comparison is Wigan Athletic.

 

They came up the divisions with a young, dynamic manager (Martinez) eventually being in charge.  They got to the Premier League and played generally eye-catching football.  However, they failed to match the spending of all the other clubs.  They kept playing attractive football and even drew some eye-catching results in a run that saw them beat Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal to list but 3 and also saw them beat Man City in a cup final.  Ultimately, though, they didn't spend enough and got relegated - despite playing plenty of attacking football.

 

People may well get frustrated with how defensive we are (I certainly am - although it's nice to see us being more defensively solid than in previous seasons), and that's fair enough.  Lambert is keeping us in the league, though - which is better for our future whether it involves him and Lerner, one of them or both of them having gone.

[DelboyVilla]

 

Even by Lambert's own admission he's failing. The end of last season he said 'it wasn't good enough for this club'. Well, it's looking like the same old crap this season too Paul.

 

Which is what is largely to be expected when you go and spend £10m in a summer when most clubs are far in excess of that.

 

I really don't think that a lack of progress is evidence that Lambert is failing by his own admission.

 

I know for certain that if he were asked today he would still say that the level we are at isn't good enough.

 

 

So why doesn't he take responsibility for once and admit he can't improve us and let someone better qualified try?

[ozvillafan]

Here's a challenge:

Take Lambert's total spend. Subtract the cost of the players who've picked up long term injuries. Divide by the number of seasons he's been here. Then tell me how Lambert is supposed to perform better than his predecessor.

You're allowed to ignore the fact that the wage bill is now one of the lowest in the league (even though that's nearly always the best statistical indicator of how a team will perform).

That's a prime example.

 

 

I've used Wikipedia for a reference:

 

Transfers:

 

- Given, N'Zogbia and Hutton in: Combined £16m

- Ashley Young, Downing, NRC, Carew, Luke Young, Friedel out (amongst others): Combined £37m+

 

So that's £21m down on McLeish's predecessor having bought players that were less talented than those that left (possible exception on Hutton).

 

Injuries:

 

- Bent (leading scorer) out for the last 3 months (with other injuries during the season). There doesn't seem to be many other injuries

 

 

So with many players leaving and needing to be replaced, the manager has comparatively little to spend to provide cover. His best player was injured long term at a time when we really needed to pick up points. Unsurprisingly, McLeish had to face the same sort of stuff Lambert has faced.

 

 

By way of comparison:

 

Stats for McLeish:  

 

7 wins, 14 losses, averaging a point a game with -16 GD.

 

 

Stats for Lambert:

 

10 wins, 17 losses, averaging just over a point a game with -22 GD (2013)

10 wins, 20 losses, averaging a point a game with -22 GD (2014)

3 wins, 6 losses, averaging a point a game with -11 GD (2015 with 10 games played)

 

 

 

I'm not sure I get your original point. What I see is a poor manager in difficult circumstances.....

 

... replaced by a poor manager in difficult circumstances.

 

 

Edit: Whoops. It wasn't DCJonah with the original post... and I forget who it was now. Apologies.

Edited November 25, 2014 by ozvillafan

[VillanousOne]

 

 

I really don't understand some criticism.

Spurs performance was brilliant, we should have won that game by 2 or more goals and we would have won but for Bentekes sending off.

Then at West Ham it was stop the rot at all costs. We simply had to get a point from that game.

Then we have Southampton, who have won 9 or their past 10 games. We are missing loads of players and not a man on this site would not have taken a 1-1 before the match.

Yet, the moaning goes on and on...

If you can explain to me how 3 years on , the last 2 performances were better than what we saw under McLeish, then I might change my critisicm.

 

 

This summer was his only real chance to bring in the level of player he wanted. But unfortunately Lambert hasn't had the chance to get his team on the pitch. I think our best 11 are a top 10 side. Period. 

 

What I want from Villa fans (which I know is impossible) is to accept that

 

A. We will not be relegated this season and

B. Judge Lambert on the whole season

 

When we've Benteke, Delph, Vlaar, Senderos playing week in week out with the rest of the team. With hopefully Kozak as an option on the bench. Then we judge his team and their performances. 

 

Weekly moaning is to the detriment of this club, not to its benefit. Our record against teams around our level has been very good this season, our next 10 games are made up of those teams. 

 

How many games have we actually won with Benteke, Delph and Vlaar playing?

[Denis_B]

 

 

I really don't understand some criticism.

Spurs performance was brilliant, we should have won that game by 2 or more goals and we would have won but for Bentekes sending off.

Then at West Ham it was stop the rot at all costs. We simply had to get a point from that game.

Then we have Southampton, who have won 9 or their past 10 games. We are missing loads of players and not a man on this site would not have taken a 1-1 before the match.

Yet, the moaning goes on and on...

If you can explain to me how 3 years on , the last 2 performances were better than what we saw under McLeish, then I might change my critisicm.

 

 

This summer was his only real chance to bring in the level of player he wanted. But unfortunately Lambert hasn't had the chance to get his team on the pitch. I think our best 11 are a top 10 side. Period. 

 

What I want from Villa fans (which I know is impossible) is to accept that

 

A. We will not be relegated this season and

B. Judge Lambert on the whole season

 

When we've Benteke, Delph, Vlaar, Senderos playing week in week out with the rest of the team. With hopefully Kozak as an option on the bench. Then we judge his team and their performances. 

 

Weekly moaning is to the detriment of this club, not to its benefit. Our record against teams around our level has been very good this season, our next 10 games are made up of those teams. 

 

Nice in theory BUT - Vlaar is almost permanently injured, Delph is injured and will be gone soon, Senderros eeems also a little injury prone. Kozak 'an option' with a manager like Lambert he will use him t oreplace a full back in the 89th minute!

 

My concerns are not necessarily about the indiviual players it is the managers total ineptitude in the manner he uses those players. Why did he buy Cole, why his reluctance until his hand was forced to play Okore? A half decent manager should and would get more of a performance out of our lot.

[pacbuddies]

 

Here's a challenge:

Take Lambert's total spend. Subtract the cost of the players who've picked up long term injuries. Divide by the number of seasons he's been here. Then tell me how Lambert is supposed to perform better than his predecessor.

You're allowed to ignore the fact that the wage bill is now one of the lowest in the league (even though that's nearly always the best statistical indicator of how a team will perform).

That's a prime example.

 

 

I've used Wikipedia for a reference:

 

Transfers:

 

- Given, N'Zogbia and Hutton in: Combined £16m

- Ashley Young, Downing, NRC, Carew, Luke Young, Friedel out (amongst others): Combined £37m+

 

So that's £21m down on McLeish's predecessor having bought players that were less talented than those that left (possible exception on Hutton).

 

Injuries:

 

- Bent (leading scorer) out for the last 3 months (with other injuries during the season). There doesn't seem to be many other injuries

 

 

So with many players leaving and needing to be replaced, the manager has comparatively little to spend to provide cover. His best player was injured long term at a time when we really needed to pick up points. Unsurprisingly, McLeish had to face the same sort of stuff Lambert has faced.

 

 

By way of comparison:

 

Stats for McLeish:  

 

7 wins, 14 losses, averaging a point a game with -16 GD.

 

 

Stats for Lambert:

 

10 wins, 17 losses, averaging just over a point a game with -22 GD (2013)

10 wins, 20 losses, averaging a point a game with -22 GD (2014)

3 wins, 6 losses, averaging a point a game with -11 GD (2015 with 10 games played)

 

 

 

I'm not sure I get your original point. What I see is a poor manager in difficult circumstances.....

 

... replaced by a poor manager in difficult circumstances.

 

 

Edit: Whoops. It wasn't DCJonah with the original post... and I forget who it was now. Apologies.

 

That is what is hurting us!

[CrackpotForeigner]

If he does blame him for things he does a good job at hiding it.

 

 

Fwiw:

Things I don't blame Lambert for:

 

- Injuries

- Karsagate

- Squad strength

 

Things I'm not sure whether to blame on Lambert or the above:

 

- Win record

- "Style of play"

 

What drives me crazy, though, is people looking at the bottom two and immediately point the blame at the manager without any kind of basis. Maybe managers CAN polish turds, but there's little doubt that the club in its present state under Lerner IS a turd. Firing Lambert might work, but it might also go spectacularly wrong. Considering what Lambert has had to deal with, I think he deserves better than to be fired. It would take a genius to get the squad minus Benteke and Delph playing winning, attacking football, and geniuses aren't queuing at the door. Why would they?

[Richard]

Last night Southampton took a player off they bought in the summer who cost double our entire summer spend

 

Last night they were able to play an inform first team made up of the current England flavour of the month, a top Italian striker who has scored goals for fun, an attacking midfielder who was cherished by a few clubs in the summer at upwards of 25M and a left back bought for around 8M who we all jizzed over last season,  and many more first team regulars 7 of whom are ever presents and a back four untouched in  god knows how many games

 

They are second in the league on merit

 They have "their best premier league record against Villa " and I hate that as every team we play seems to have a best record against us for one thing or another

 

We had a largely experimental back four with a player retuening after being out of first team action for 15 months and his partner who,  frankly,  have the fans would rather not play for us again

 

A defensive midfielder who is getting used to this league and another who is struggling to adapt to life at a new club

 

A forward line without ouir best player and one who is showing evidence of retiring from first team football and Nzogbia who to be honest has never played for us,  not once.

 

You know what,  the team we picked is probably about the best we could have picked currently given our injury status.  The one they picked is better than ours and it pains me to say a team like Southampton who were two divisions below us when Lerner arrived I think,  are better than us

 

We were on the back of some awful form admittedly some of that against top teams,  and they are on the back of champions league form

 

many predicted a defeat,  some including myself by huge margins

 

We didnt lose,  we competed,  it wasnt pretty and at times it was a bit lucky, but we've had bad luck too so its about time we had some good.  

 

Fair play to lambert for that not sure what else we could have done last night in the circumstances.  We did not have the personnel to play attacking flowing football without getting hammered

[KHV]

 

 

I really don't understand some criticism.

Spurs performance was brilliant, we should have won that game by 2 or more goals and we would have won but for Bentekes sending off.

Then at West Ham it was stop the rot at all costs. We simply had to get a point from that game.

Then we have Southampton, who have won 9 or their past 10 games. We are missing loads of players and not a man on this site would not have taken a 1-1 before the match.

Yet, the moaning goes on and on...

If you can explain to me how 3 years on , the last 2 performances were better than what we saw under McLeish, then I might change my critisicm.

 

 

This summer was his only real chance to bring in the level of player he wanted. But unfortunately Lambert hasn't had the chance to get his team on the pitch. I think our best 11 are a top 10 side. Period. 

 

What I want from Villa fans (which I know is impossible) is to accept that

 

A. We will not be relegated this season and

B. Judge Lambert on the whole season

 

When we've Benteke, Delph, Vlaar, Senderos playing week in week out with the rest of the team. With hopefully Kozak as an option on the bench. Then we judge his team and their performances. 

 

Weekly moaning is to the detriment of this club, not to its benefit. Our record against teams around our level has been very good this season, our next 10 games are made up of those teams. 

 

 

I think Lambert has been given enough time in the job now, Im sorry but I feel enough is enough. I think another manager should be able to get a better level of performance from the players available. He just isnt capable of being in charge, performances are woeful, our attacking threat is minimal, the football is boring, his tactics are predictable and simplistic and he just does not provide any inspiration to the team at all. Villa will go down at some point if he continues in the role for much longer. He is inept in a number of ways and the sooner he goes the better. This team is without any confidence, leadership or direction and Lambert cannot provide any of these things IMO

[Richard]

 

If he does blame him for things he does a good job at hiding it.

 

 

Fwiw:

Things I don't blame Lambert for:

 

- Injuries

- Karsagate

- Squad strength

 

Things I'm not sure whether to blame on Lambert or the above:

 

- Win record

- "Style of play"

 

What drives me crazy, though, is people looking at the bottom two and immediately point the blame at the manager without any kind of basis. Maybe managers CAN polish turds, but there's little doubt that the club in its present state under Lerner IS a turd. Firing Lambert might work, but it might also go spectacularly wrong. Considering what Lambert has had to deal with, I think he deserves better than to be fired. It would take a genius to get the squad minus Benteke and Delph playing winning, attacking football, and geniuses aren't queuing at the door. Why would they?

 

ten more gold stars

[Shaw_nuff]

 

Even by Lambert's own admission he's failing. The end of last season he said 'it wasn't good enough for this club'. Well, it's looking like the same old crap this season too Paul.

 

Which is what is largely to be expected when you go and spend £10m in a summer when most clubs are far in excess of that.

 

I really don't think that a lack of progress is evidence that Lambert is failing by his own admission.

 

I know for certain that if he were asked today he would still say that the level we are at isn't good enough.

 

No, Lambert failing by his own admission is failing by his own admission.

 

I'm really worried that come the end of the season we'll be in real trouble, because those teams that can pass it around a bit tend to start pulling a few 'freak' results out of the bag. We, on the other hand, will be knackered chasing the ball for most of the game, every game.

 

Let's not sugar coat this, our football is prehistoric. It's easilly the most one-dimensional in the the league.