Paul Lambert

[DiegoD]

He's got to go. Someone desperately needs to change or we are taking the most boring route to relegation.

[smetrov]

Are we really that tough a sell ..WBA and Palace got manager's ..do they have significant transfer funds ..no ..they are also prone to sacking managers if things don't go well very quickly.

 

I think the tough sell comes down to a uk based bloke with his finger on the pulse. The clubs you mention have that...........we don't. We missed a trick not getting pullis in.....that may haunt us for years to come IMO

[Villanun]

I think we're going to struggle to bring in a quality replacement - we can't promise a new man a job beyond the next few months, if Lerner sells, the new owner will want his own manager and whoever we were to appoint would most likely be gone. That will leave us with an extremely limited list of candidates.

Thing is, the dire football can't exactly be making us an attractive prospect for potential buyers. Unless we can start showing some potential for improvement I can't anyone wanting to blow one hundred million on us.

I think the opposite to be honest. We are comparatively cheap to other clubs and a slight change or improvement and us Villa fans will worship the new owners.....win,win.

A club that was doing ok and mid range spending would need more for owners to feel appreciated. Us fans are at our lowest and will cling on to any good news or improvement.

I hope you're right. I fear we'll be stuck with Lerner - and therefore Lambert - for a while yet.

[BigCarew]

Normally its a cliche that managers look out of their depth, and its a common term thrown about with no rationale.... but this is the definition of Paul Lambert. He's tried changing the style and system of our play and it hasn't worked. He literally has no idea what to do next. I am pretty certain he's lost the dressing room, he's definitely lost 95% of the fans. Time to go, I really hope he is gone by Monday!

[romavillan]

 

Today was a hard watch. Very hard.

 

I do like Lambert, I don't like all the abuse he gets in what must be acknowledged with the off field mess at the club is a very hard job. It's all gone a bit sour though, today wasn't a must win but it was a mustn't lose. We're now well adrift from the middle teams in the table and firmly in a group of 7 fighting the drop. there was fighting in the away end too apparently and the whole Clark and James thing was ugly. Lambert's substitutions didn't change us or make us more of a threat and you coudl see players being frustrated with each other even before they scored.

The question is what to do about it? There are more than enough reasons to sack him, and I have to say that now I'm not entirely in disagreement. The mitigating factors are well documented on here too. They all stem from one man though as I see it now, and that isn't Lambert it's Lerner. Lerner needs to grow a pair of bollocks though either way.

He needs to either be couragious and sack his manager, followed by getting a new man in very very quickly and putting £20m in his hand to go out and get 3 players so we can turn this around and get out of the mire. Or he needs to back Lambert with the same amount of cash to get the creativity in which he admitted he needs in the post match interview.

 

If the players still believe in what Lambert is trying to do then maybe option 2 is the safest way of avoiding disaster. I'm having a hard time convincing myself the same though at the moment, mainly because we saw the same front 3 that finished the game today look so dangerous at the end of Lambert's first season in charge. If he can't ge that level out of those three again, then maybe someone else can. Maybe we do need a change.

 

If so though he needs to be gone in the morning and the new man needs to be in sharpish. Otherwise things will go from bad to worse. Even then it's a hell of a gamble, especially as I'm not sure a decent manager will want to work under Lambert's remit. So change will have to come from Lerner in order to tempt someone decent in.

Very crap situation all round, we should be at least 7 points further up the table than we are with the games we have had. Today we were just awful.

Something interesting about what you said about those front three who did so well at the end of Lambert's first season - they've all received new contracts since then! Makes you wonder if any of them really do give a toss about the club.

 

 

Ha! that would be a very sad thing to think about Gabby and Weimann, seeing as they've come through the ranks and not really played for any other club. Bentekeis good enough to be mercenary I suppose, but if he continues to misfire then his big money move isn't happening soon. You might be right though I suspect the problem is a big mix of things, from those three themselves to the manager and the training, even to off the field issues having an effect maybe. It seems very odd that not that long ago they looked so dangerous, full of running and movement then last season happened and they've not looked the same since.

Is that Lambert? Would he really be saying "stop all that good movement lark, what we need is you to go too early and get caught offside or even better just stand with one of their players between you and the ball at all times"

If it's them, then why isn't Lambert doing somethign to make the conditions and tactics the same as when they flourished?

Beats the fudge out of me if I'm honest and that's only one of our problems. The bigger one's aren't even on the pitch or to do with playing staff and they coudl have much more horrible repercussions.

If we had an owner who would back a new man, or give some sort of long term stability, then 100% Lambert should go. Thing is we don't. We need someone to be here and do a good job for at least 4 or 5 years on teh bounce to get us where we all want to be again. We are not in a postion to make that appointment. Wat happens if we sack Lambert, then get a caretaker in and go down? We become a harder sell, at least at the price Lerner woudl ask. With Lerner at the helm we still can't appoint the type of man we need and we are in the Championship which is a word removed of a league to get out of.

[R.Bear]

We'll get some results, stagger and just about limp clear of relegation, just like the last 4 seasons.

 

Wake me up when something new happens.

[BigCarew]

It's just so predictable. Same 11 players pretty much, told to do the same thing as the previous week. Rubbish!!

[markavfc40]

To those that say they worry that getting rid of Lambert could result in someone worse I'd say this. We have scored 11 goals in 21 league games, 12 goals in 23 games overall including two cup games against lower league opposition, we have taken 12 points from the last 51 on offer which has included a run of 6 defeats on the spin and our current win less streak of six games. In our last 4 games we have played the team bottom of the Prem, the team bottom of the championship and two dire sides in Palace and Sunderland and scored one goal. We have gone out of one cup at home against a league one side and struggled to get through in another cup to the worst team in the championship. Quite frankly in terms of getting the best out of this current squad, a decent squad in my opinion, then the only way it could be worse than what it is under Lambert is to employ someone that knows absolutely f all about football. Even then I wouldn't bet against them doing better.

I have deliberately above not mentioned Lamberts dire record over the previous two seasons. I can appreciate that due to the players at that time that he had to choose from then some could come up with an argument as to why we were so poor. No excuses though can be made this season for the dire, negative absolutely clueless tripe that we are serving up. This squad is capable of way better than what it is producing. For assembling the squad he has then I thank Lambert.  Clearly though if we are to get them playing anything even approaching half decent football it is going to take someone else as Lambert has continually shown he can't.

Edited January 11, 2015 by markavfc40

[romavillan]

To those that say they worry that getting rid of Lambert could result in someone worse I'd say this. We have scored 11 goals in 21 league games, 12 goals in 23 games overall including two cup games against lower league opposition, we have taken 12 points from the last 51 on offer which has included a run of 6 defeats on the spin and our current win less streak of six games. In our last 4 games we have played the team bottom of the Prem, the team bottom of the championship and two dire sides in Palace and Sunderland and scored one goal. We have gone out of one cup at home against a league one side and struggled to get through in another cup to the worst team in the championship. Quite frankly in terms of getting the best out of this current squad, a decent squad in my opinion, then the only way it could be worse than what it is under Lambert is to employ someone that knows absolutely f all about football. Even then I wouldn't bet against them doing any worse.

I have deliberately above not mentioned Lamberts dire record over the previous two seasons. I am of the opinion that perhaps due to the nature of the players at that time he had to choose from then some excuses can perhaps be made. No excuses though can be made this season for the dire, negative absolutely clueless tripe that we are serving up. This squad is capable of way better than what it is producing. For assembling the squad he has then I thank Lambert.  Clearly though if we are to get them playing anything even approaching half decent football it is going to take someone else as Lambert has continually shown he can't.

 

Fair enough, if Lerner was going to...

 

1. Sack him in the morning

2. Quickly find a new manager

3. Back him before the end of Jan enough to get 3 or 4 good players in.

...then surely he wouldn't have forced Lambert to work in the conditions he has been?

Also, in what way do you think we coudl attract someone better in our current off field situation? We're looking for someone better than Lambert to come in, well, in the next week ideally, who is prepared to take us on knowing there is zero job security as we might be sold in the summer and if we aren't be prepared to operate in the richest league in the world with very little in the way of money to invest in players.

I'm not incredibly confident that the man who hired McLeish is going to pull a pretty fuggen magic rabbit out of the hat under those conditions.

[Mantis]

To those that say they worry that getting rid of Lambert could result in someone worse I'd say this. We have scored 11 goals in 21 league games, 12 goals in 23 games overall including two cup games against lower league opposition, we have taken 12 points from the last 51 on offer which has included a run of 6 defeats on the spin and our current win less streak of six games. In our last 4 games we have played the team bottom of the Prem, the team bottom of the championship and two dire sides in Palace and Sunderland and scored one goal. We have gone out of one cup at home against a league one side and struggled to get through in another cup to the worst team in the championship. Quite frankly in terms of getting the best out of this current squad, a decent squad in my opinion, then the only way it could be worse than what it is under Lambert is to employ someone that knows absolutely f all about football. Even then I wouldn't bet against them doing better.

I have deliberately above not mentioned Lamberts dire record over the previous two seasons. I am of the opinion that perhaps due to the nature of the players at that time he had to choose from then some excuses can perhaps be made. No excuses though can be made this season for the dire, negative absolutely clueless tripe that we are serving up. This squad is capable of way better than what it is producing. For assembling the squad he has then I thank Lambert.  Clearly though if we are to get them playing anything even approaching half decent football it is going to take someone else as Lambert has continually shown he can't.

You don't need to reel off the awful stats - we're all aware of them. It's not so much that people think someone else would do worse, I think it's that some people fear that we'd get someone else in but that we wouldn't really improve much and still go down/stagger over the line to safety. I'd count myself as one of those people - I just can't see this shit situation changing in the long run until Lerner either starts spending the same as most other clubs or until he leaves.

 

We really missed a trick not getting Pullis in. There's not a doubt in my mind that the Baggies will finish well above us now. Whilst his football might be poor, it's organised and players know what's expected of them, and what their roles are. Watching this Villa team, it seems like players are unsure on how they're meant to attack. It's such a shame that it's not working for Lambert but it's time for change. 

 

Lerner won't sack him though, and he wont spend either. 

 

We shouldn't take our frustrations out on Lambert, he's a professional trying to do the best job he can. We should take our frustrations out on Lerner for not backing him, not sacking him, and for giving him a 4 year 'kin contract. 

I think Pulis could do a better job than Lambert but is it weird that I still didn't want him even though I acknowledge that he'd do better? It would just be such a short term appointment.

[DCJonah]

Who cares if its short term? That's all we need. Lambert's hardly building long term success is he?

I'm still surprised there are a few who are cautious. It can't get worse. It really can't. It would take an absolute **** up to make it worse than it currently is.

Edited January 11, 2015 by DCJonah

[Isa]

I think Pulis could do a better job than Lambert but is it weird that I still didn't want him even though I acknowledge that he'd do better? It would just be such a short term appointment.

Absolutely agree. I still do not fear for our survival really, Lambert seems to have the habit of picking up the odd result when it is desperately needed which keeps our head above water (and him in a job) - basically why we are 13th now and not in the bottom three. Pulis at best would be a slightly more effective Lambert in that he would likely ensure safety more comfortably. Ultimately though, he isn't a significant enough upgrade to justify going through the hassle and cost of replacing the incumbent with him.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Isa

[GeordieVillan]

We really missed a trick not getting Pullis in. There's not a doubt in my mind that the Baggies will finish well above us now. Whilst his football might be poor, it's organised and players know what's expected of them, and what their roles are. Watching this Villa team, it seems like players are unsure on how they're meant to attack. It's such a shame that it's not working for Lambert but it's time for change. 

 

Lerner won't sack him though, and he wont spend either. 

 

We shouldn't take our frustrations out on Lambert, he's a professional trying to do the best job he can. We should take our frustrations out on Lerner for not backing him, not sacking him, and for giving him a 4 year 'kin contract. 

Pulis football isn't "poor". He is like Sam Allardyce. He uses the tools at his disposal to put together an effective team. And his teams score goals and play with passion!

[Swerbs]

Yeah not worried about being relegated with Paul Lambert, he's just made supporting Villa mind numbingly boring for me.

[AshVilla]

Can any manager do worse than Lambert?

 

I think not

[DCJonah]

I wish i was as confident as some of you. We have 11 goals. 12 points from the last 17. Who do you see scoring goals to get us these points? Where I we getting these points from?

[Mantis]

Who cares if its short term? That's all we need. Lambert's hardly building long term success is he?

I'm still surprised there are a few who are cautious. It can't get worse. It really can't. It would take an absolute **** up to make it worse than it currently is.

 

Who said Lambert's building long term success? I just fear that not much would even change.

 

Why are you surprised that some people are cautious? I think it's just a case of some people having a more pessimistic view of our overall situation.

[markavfc40]

If some say due to Lerner wanting to sell then any new manger will only be a short term appointment then how is that different to what we have now? the first thing any new owner will do is be handing Lambert his P45.

 

There will be managers out there, in and out of work, that will see the Aston Villa job as a challenge but one where there is an opportunity to make a quick impact and perhaps enough of an impact that will mean what may initially be seen as something short to medium term can become much more. Any manager with confidence in his own ability will believe they can get way more out of our current squad than Lambert is and due to that will see the Aston Villa job as a decent opportunity.

Edited January 11, 2015 by markavfc40

[DCJonah]

Why do people think not much would change? Do you honestly believe our squad is performing anywhere near the level they are capable of? I think a lot could and would change.

If some say due to Lerner wanting to sell then any new manger will only be a short term appointment then how is that different to what we have now? the first thing any new owner will do is be handing Lambert his P45.

There will be managers out there, in and out of work, that will see the Aston Villa job as a challenge but one where there is an opportunity to make a quick impact and perhaps enough of an impact that will mean what may initially be seen as something short to medium term can become much more. Any manager with confidence in his own ability will believe they can get way more out of our current squad than Lambert is and due to that will see the Aston Villa job as a decent opportunity.

Exactly this.

[Mantis]

If some say due to Lerner wanting to sell then any new manger will only be a short term appointment then how is that different to what we have now? the first thing any new owner will do is be handing Lambert his P45.

 

There will be manager out there, in or out of work, that will see the Aston Villa job as a challenge but one where there is an opportunity to make a quick impact and perhaps enough of an impact that will mean what may initially be seen as something short to medium can become much more. Any manager with confidence in his own ability will believe they can get way more out of our current squad than Lambert is and due to that will see the Aston Villa job as a decent opportunity.

Because that would be a big deterrent to any potential manager looking to get the job. If the ownership situation wasn't in limbo our chances would be better.