villa4europe Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 We are shit, we play horrific football, create few chances, score very few goals, look nervous at the back, make mistakes, ride our luck And yet come Sunday night there's every danger we'll be above Everton in mid table, and I don't see anyone suggesting they are in crisis We have our star player back and we've played the top 6 from last year and now have 2 winnable games hopefully followed by the utd win we all crave and then a decent Christmas line up too Funny game football, crazy what a win does to your perspective on things, lose to Leicester and baggies and it'll all change again 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heid3ster Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 And yet come Sunday night there's every danger we'll be above Everton in mid table, and I don't see anyone suggesting they are in crisis Ha. Check the Everton forums. You're right, though. We started the season with an unexpectedly good run and everything looked rosy. Then we had a horrendous run and everything looked bleak. If we push on now and go on another good run -- yeah, everything will look rosy again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Spoony Posted December 4, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted December 4, 2014 You look at how we play and our results and think "god, we're awful" but then you look at the other teams directly around us and consider how much they've spent and start to think "maybe Lambert is actually doing a great job". It's a tough one. I am changing my opinion all the time. Either everyone around us is equally terrible or Lambert has somehow made us competent for peanuts where other managers have made their team competent having spent millions. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 (edited) I don't think any right minded football fan could say we've been anything other than awful for most of the season performance wise, but breaking the season into 3 game chunks makes interesting reading... Stoke (A) Win Newcastle (H) Draw Hull (H) Win Return: 7/9 Liverpool (A) Win Arsenal (H) Loss Chelsea (A) Loss Return: 3/9 City (H) Loss Everton (A) Loss QPR (A) Loss Return: 0/9 Spurs (H) Loss West Ham (A) Draw Southampton (H) Draw Return: 2/9 Burnley (A) Draw Palace (A) Win Leicester (H) TBC Return: 4/6 with 3 to play for Aside from one chunk where we took 3 more than we would've expected and one where we took 3 less, we're pretty much par for the season Edited December 4, 2014 by P3te 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Curtis Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I wasn't directly quoting you, I mean it is often implied that anti-Lambert posters inheritly possess that trait (not solely from you). In my opinion, any Newcastle fans that have changed their opinion of Pardew in recent weeks deserve no respect whatsoever. He had done more than enough to warrant being sacked and (as said above) you shouldn't change your opinion of a manager based on a few results. Of course it isn't the views of people sitting at keyboards that matter. It is the numbers going through the turnstiles that are a true barometer of satisfaction. Those overseas or otherwise unable to attend must be frustrated at this. In the meantime, we need more in the ground on Sunday to roar us to victory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 If we finish 12th I'll get Lambert tattooed on my arse and never say a bad word about the man again! I'll just quote this for safekeeping... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted December 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted December 4, 2014 If we finish 12th I'll get Lambert tattooed on my arse and never say a bad word about the man again! I'll just quote this for safekeeping... 9th - 12th was my prediction, if we get on a good run now 12th is very doable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 (edited) If we hover between 15th and 9th in the table and end up finishing 12th that is what I predicted and what I think we'll achieve. For progress I want defensive solidity to continue. I want us a hard team to beat. Excluding last seasons top 6 we've only conceded 5 goals in our 8 games against opposition around our level. With 4 of those 8 games being shut outs, 1 was a consolation goal by Hull and one a late penalty. Then when we've become an efficient unit at getting results and points on a consistent basis we can then develop a more passing style of play. Because unlike some, the style of our play ranks low on my list of importance. What is important is if we can get the club into the top half and attendances up at the tail end of the season. This is important because it will make the club more attractive to buyers. Edited December 4, 2014 by CVByrne 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 a point above Stoke who were tipped as a top 8 contender, we arent doing as bad as some people would like you to believe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 By my calculation our only horrific league result this season was against QPR. There have been some other horrific performances as well thrown in, mind you, but most of the other 13 games I'd say have gone almost as much as you'd expect. If we get a good run of games from Benteke now then hopefully our confidence in attacking football will grow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieVillan Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Thing is though people mistake a clean sheet for a solid defence There were two specific occasions I can recall last night where they had 3/4 attackers bearing down on 1/2 defenders, we were just lucky that they had frazier Campbell on the pitch with his heavy touches otherwise we'd have conceded at least one This is not the basis of a solid defence, not imo Disagree with this. Our defence is solid - the statistics show that. The best defences often rely on last ditch tackles and top class goalkeeping saves. Unfortunately, the price of our defence being solid is that we score very few goals. Lambert has set us up so our midfield gives excellent cover to our defence. Unfortunately this means our midfielders rarely get beyond our strikers or into the opposition box, which probably also explains why we are so bad at retaining possession when attacking. But I think this is conscious decision which Lambert has made, rightly or wrongly. No sorry, it's not solid. Solid is the last term I'd use for our defence. One ball bypasses our midfield easily and regularly and wide players have the freedom of the touch line throughout the game We must be watching different matches Ha, maybe! I think the issue is that we don't have the ability to retain possession at all. Its therefore inevitable that we will come under pressure for large periods of the game (as we did against Palace), and the fact we still don't concede many goals, just shows how solid we are. Opposition wide players often seem to have space as our fullback defend quite tight across the back four, which leaves space in wide areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 a point above Stoke who were tipped as a top 8 contender, we arent doing as bad as some people would like you to believe Point against spurs and held on against Burnley and we would be above multi million spending Tottenham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvillafan Posted December 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted December 4, 2014 a point above Stoke who were tipped as a top 8 contender, we arent doing as bad as some people would like you to believe Point against spurs and held on against Burnley and we would be above multi million spending Tottenham This is fun. Can I play? Win against Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Southampton, Newcastle, QPR, Everton, Tottenham and West Ham and we'd be top! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 You can play but at least my supposition had the benefit of being realistic and something that was within our grasp of achieving. And basically just to show how tight it is and perhaps our season is not as bad as some people like to make out it is. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Statistical corner: The word "IF" appears once every 7 words in the Lambert thread. If things had been different, he'd be a great manager. Shame they weren't. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Richard Posted December 4, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted December 4, 2014 I see what you mean Briny. Like If people had been more realistic they would be a lot more understanding. Shame they aren't 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 You look at how we play and our results and think "god, we're awful" but then you look at the other teams directly around us and consider how much they've spent and start to think "maybe Lambert is actually doing a great job". It's a tough one. I am changing my opinion all the time. Either everyone around us is equally terrible or Lambert has somehow made us competent for peanuts where other managers have made their team competent having spent millions. top post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexbelowsound Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 The mood has changed considerably on here. Its amazing what one win can do. Maybe if we put in a performance and get all 3 points this weekend we can all have a Merry Christmas full of joy and wonderment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 The mood has changed considerably on here. Its amazing what one win can do. Maybe if we put in a performance and get all 3 points this weekend we can all have a Merry Christmas full of joy and wonderment. Its vital we take 3 points against Leicester, they are bloody awful. We should be expecting 3 points and nothing less on Sunday 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Play like we did against palace and benteke didn't produce his magic and that would be 10 games without a win and I imagine only a few still defend him. But that one moment of magic and things do look better, league position especially. This isn't to have a go at anyone or mock a point of view. It just shows the fine margins managers work under. One moment in a 90 minute game can change everything. I guess both sides can do with a reminder about that once in a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts