Paul Lambert

[Richard]

Cissokho a bad signing?

 

Eh?

not just him. Sylla was one of the reasons we stayed in the division the season he joined us IMO and although form since has been questionable his contribution then was worthy. Richardson has been a decent squad player for free. Cole , well was never going to be a regular but free again. Bacuna many are calling for him to be a regular starter and is possibly the best free kick taker we have at the club and in an attacking sense is much better than nzogbia for example for less than a fifth the cost. Could go on and make a case for more of the players listed but pretty pointless as it is opinions and the one held is unlikely to change

[bobzy]

 

 

Chief scout? Wtf?

Are people still convinced that he's signed a load of good players?

His signings are a huge part of the problem.

He has signed good players.

A load? Maybe not. but he's more hit than miss.

 

 

 

Far more miss than hit in my book.

 

Bennett, Lowton, Luna, KEA, Sylla, Bowery, Tonev, Helenius, Bacuna, Joe Cole, Richardson, Cleverley, Cissokho.

 

None of them good enough in my opinion, for a variety of reasons.

 

 

I agree - but that is literally always going to be the case when you're trying to find a Premier League quality player that can settle into the side immediately for between £1-3m.  Lord knows why you've got Cissokho listed there by the way - he's a decent left back.  In the cases of Bacuna and Richardson (Lowton too, possibly) they're decent enough squad players given that we needed to establish an entire squad.  Even outside of this, we sold Bowery, we sold KEA, we've loaned out Sylla/Luna/Bennett/Helenius (I'd hope to recoup some dolla here) and Cleverley is only on loan (for the time being).  Compare this to spunking £18-24m on Darren Bent alongside his ridiculous wages.  The only person who may not work out is Joe Cole - yet in his case, for what it's worth, I think he'll add something on the training ground at least.

 

Of the players Lambert has had slightly more to spend on, none of them have made your list.  This is pretty much the exact point r.e: his transfers being relatively successful and, also, him having a lack of proper funding.  Some people post about "net spend" over Lambert's reign - it's completely irrelevant; not least a] because we had to start from scratch in terms of building a new squad (high wages, badly run club; other clubs haven't needed to do this) b] we had no desirable assets to sell on (high wages, happy to collect a nice, phat pay cheque) and c] because we haven't received, say, £30m in a window to spend on talent - we've had money dribbled out over 3 seasons.  Alongside this, we can't even offer competitive wages!  I like to think this whole cutback stuff is coming to an end, but then...

 

...most people (I think?) would say we have a "decent enough" squad but are still short in terms of quality.  So whilst Leicester are spending £9m on a player who Chelsea went in for (much like Okore, I suppose), we're spending £3.2m on an up and coming midfielder.  He might work out brilliantly, he might not.  If you're going to invest that little in improving a team then, really, you can't expect much more than hit or miss players.

 

Lambert has a lot to answer for in terms of changing up the team/tactics, finding a way to break down opponents and maybe even motivating the players (who knows) but, in terms of transfers, I don't think there's another manager in the league who has been as hampered financially as he has been but has also coped well enough to keep a struggling team up.  If he's going to continue to be given £1-3m on players, we're going to continue unearthing some Tonev's.

 

 

 

(Edit:  It's all been said before, so a lot of repetition there, but I genuinely don't know why people complain about Lambert in the transfer market.)

Edited January 14, 2015 by bobzy

[CrackpotForeigner]

 

not just him. Sylla was one of the reasons we stayed in the division the season he joined us IMO and although form since has been questionable his contribution then was worthy. Richardson has been a decent squad player for free. Cole , well was never going to be a regular but free again. Bacuna many are calling for him to be a regular starter and is possibly the best free kick taker we have at the club and in an attacking sense is much better than nzogbia for example for less than a fifth the cost. Could go on and make a case for more of the players listed but pretty pointless as it is opinions and the one held is unlikely to change

 

 

Exactly this on every point. You're right about the opinion changing, but sometimes it's hard to summon the will to resist replying anyway.

[sexbelowsound]

I actually think Lambert doesn't get enough credit for the players he signs. If you look at his transfers in isolation and take into account the level of restrictions he is under in terms of both fees and wages that he can offer he has on the face of it signed very well.

 

The first batch of signings for me were heavily inspired by the way Feyenoord had played that previous season. He obviously scouted the Eredivisie extensively and probably saw some similarities between us and them. They have been for a long while a team that promotes their youth and interspersed them with a few experienced players. I think Lambert saw what was available there and took the shortcut by just taking their experienced players. The issue we had then was that our highly rated youngsters weren't quite as good as theirs. In that season we also signed Westwood who is an important player for us. Lowton who, in-spite of his poor defensive skills has a degree of technical ability and of course Benteke, our first, potentially world class striker in years. Sylla also had his part to play in the back end of that first season and played a key role in the squad.

 

Obvious failures during that season: Bennett and Bowery who took up £3 million of the £24 million spent.

 

He then tried to supplement this in the second season by going for young, highly touted players from across Europe within our budget. Okore, Helenius and Bacuna were all highly thought of and Luna and Kozak had relatively decent experience in top leagues already for their age. Tonev? Well, the less said the better. The issue here was that these players needed to be playing regularly to progress and the Premier League doesn't allow that.

 

Obvious failures during that season: Tonev, Luna and possibly Helenius who took up around £5 million of the £17 million spent.

 

Its the third batch that is slightly confusing in terms of our approach but again the players signed have added depth to the squad. He has upgraded the left back and holding midfield positions, added depth to our defensive ranks and now with the addition of Gil has finally added that creative spark. Sanchez has been a revelation whilst Cissokho and Senderos have been solid. 

 

Again, the obvious failures are Richardson and Cleverley who have taken up £0 of the £11 million spent.

 

What i'm hoping for, if Lambert is still here, is that he can now start spending whatever budget we have on quality rather than quantity because he has shown that when he does he tends to get them right.

[DCJonah]

Lambert obviously has no issues with the funding he's been given or the conditions he works under.

Its part of the problem, the manager and owner are both perfectly happy to just survive. So no wonder that's what we get.

Haha spare me lad. You think Lambert would of liked to of had the funds to overhaul our squad in a couple of transfer windows rather than 6 windows and counting?

This thread reminds me of when I search #avfc on twitter. 99% dribble

Of course he'd want more. What manager wouldn't. He's here and signed a new deal and consistently praises the owner. What evidence do you have to suggest he's not happy with the conditions he works under?

[DCJonah]

Lambert obviously has no issues with the funding he's been given or the conditions he works under.

Its part of the problem, the manager and owner are both perfectly happy to just survive. So no wonder that's what we get.

Haha spare me lad. You think Lambert would of liked to of had the funds to overhaul our squad in a couple of transfer windows rather than 6 windows and counting?

This thread reminds me of when I search #avfc on twitter. 99% dribble

Exactly!! How many players has he tried to sign but couldn't due to money.

DC proper rubbish that is mate.

And yet he's still here and signed a new deal so he's obviously not unhappy with it. He's clearly happy to work under these conditions and restrictions.

[DCJonah]

Lambert has many, many negatives.

Apart from being the opposite of flambuoyant, I can't think of a single negative thing said about him that is anything but an opinion based on poor performances by his budget football team.

We don't know what he says to the players, or what he does in training, we just ASSUME he's saying the wrong things because of what we see on the pitch, but it's complete guesswork because we haven't seen the same set of players play the same game under a different manager.

If our scoring and our results improve it may be because Lambert has hit some magic formula, but more likely he's just got the right players in and their confidence as a team has improved. People carry on as though a manager has the XBox controller in his hands during the game, but his influence is way, way more subtle than that imo.

Another defence of the manager that trys to make out managers don't do much.

[sexbelowsound]

 

 

 

Lambert obviously has no issues with the funding he's been given or the conditions he works under.

Its part of the problem, the manager and owner are both perfectly happy to just survive. So no wonder that's what we get.

Haha spare me lad. You think Lambert would of liked to of had the funds to overhaul our squad in a couple of transfer windows rather than 6 windows and counting?

This thread reminds me of when I search #avfc on twitter. 99% dribble

Exactly!! How many players has he tried to sign but couldn't due to money.

DC proper rubbish that is mate.

And yet he's still here and signed a new deal so he's obviously not unhappy with it. He's clearly happy to work under these conditions and restrictions.

 

 

Or is he content at the moment?

[bobzy]

 

 

 

Lambert obviously has no issues with the funding he's been given or the conditions he works under.

Its part of the problem, the manager and owner are both perfectly happy to just survive. So no wonder that's what we get.

Haha spare me lad. You think Lambert would of liked to of had the funds to overhaul our squad in a couple of transfer windows rather than 6 windows and counting?

This thread reminds me of when I search #avfc on twitter. 99% dribble

Exactly!! How many players has he tried to sign but couldn't due to money.

DC proper rubbish that is mate.

And yet he's still here and signed a new deal so he's obviously not unhappy with it. He's clearly happy to work under these conditions and restrictions.

 

 

Lambert in "wanting to remain employed" shocker.  Jesus Christ, man.

[sexbelowsound]

Another defence of the manager that trys to make out managers don't do much.

 

 

Care to elaborate? 

[piav_k4]

Why does Lambert hate wingers? And why can't Lambert see that Hutton and Cissokho, as competent as they are, aren't providing the attacking quality, namely neither of them provide decent enough crosses or get close enough to the byline?

 

On the other hand the few times Grealish has put some suberb balls into the box, no one has gambled and Benteke has pulled to the edge of the box.

 

He definitely hates wing play. 

[DCJonah]

Lambert obviously has no issues with the funding he's been given or the conditions he works under.

Its part of the problem, the manager and owner are both perfectly happy to just survive. So no wonder that's what we get.

Haha spare me lad. You think Lambert would of liked to of had the funds to overhaul our squad in a couple of transfer windows rather than 6 windows and counting?

This thread reminds me of when I search #avfc on twitter. 99% dribble

Exactly!! How many players has he tried to sign but couldn't due to money.

DC proper rubbish that is mate.

And yet he's still here and signed a new deal so he's obviously not unhappy with it. He's clearly happy to work under these conditions and restrictions.

Lambert in "wanting to remain employed" shocker. Jesus Christ, man.

Who said it was a shock? You really do love to try and start arguments over nothing.

Another defence of the manager that trys to make out managers don't do much.

Care to elaborate?

Its pretty clear in his post.

[bobzy]

 

 

 

And yet he's still here and signed a new deal so he's obviously not unhappy with it. He's clearly happy to work under these conditions and restrictions.

Lambert in "wanting to remain employed" shocker. Jesus Christ, man.

Who said it was a shock? You really do love to try and start arguments over nothing.

 

 

What makes you think he's happy working under these conditions and restrictions, then?  What do you base that on?

 

I know people who don't enjoy work, moan about their boss, moan about their hours or workload etc. etc. but still do it because, you know, it's a job...

[sexbelowsound]

 

 

Another defence of the manager that trys to make out managers don't do much.

Care to elaborate?

Its pretty clear in his post.

 

 

Well it isn't otherwise I wouldn't have asked. How is he saying the manager doesn't have to do much?

[DCJonah]

And yet he's still here and signed a new deal so he's obviously not unhappy with it. He's clearly happy to work under these conditions and restrictions.

Lambert in "wanting to remain employed" shocker. Jesus Christ, man.

Who said it was a shock? You really do love to try and start arguments over nothing.

What makes you think he's happy working under these conditions and restrictions, then? What do you base that on?

I know people who don't enjoy work, moan about their boss, moan about their hours or workload etc. etc. but still do it because, you know, it's a job...

Well comparing it to a normal job is pointless. People have to do jobs to survive. Paul Lambert does not have to be Aston Villa manager to pay his rent and get by. So rubbish comparison.

He's clearly happy to work because he's here, he's signed a new deal and consistently praises the owner. Like MON a few years back or Pullis in the summer he could have left if he was genuinely unhappy with the working conditions.

[Condimentalist]

I think he enjoys being the manager of Aston Villa, in spite of the circumstances. Are we going to chastise him for that as well now? 

[Stevo985]

 

 

Lambert obviously has no issues with the funding he's been given or the conditions he works under.

Its part of the problem, the manager and owner are both perfectly happy to just survive. So no wonder that's what we get.

Haha spare me lad. You think Lambert would of liked to of had the funds to overhaul our squad in a couple of transfer windows rather than 6 windows and counting?

This thread reminds me of when I search #avfc on twitter. 99% dribble

Of course he'd want more. What manager wouldn't. He's here and signed a new deal and consistently praises the owner. What evidence do you have to suggest he's not happy with the conditions he works under?

 

There's a lot more to it than that, and I'm pretty sure you know it.

[DCJonah]

I think he enjoys being the manager of Aston Villa, in spite of the circumstances. Are we going to chastise him for that as well now?

I didn't really. I said a big part of our problem is that we have a manager and owner happy to just survive. I'm not saying he shouldn't be happy and I'm not insulting him for it.

But its no surprise that all we do is survive when, like I say, that seems to be the ultimate goal for the manager/owner combo.

Lambert obviously has no issues with the funding he's been given or the conditions he works under.

Its part of the problem, the manager and owner are both perfectly happy to just survive. So no wonder that's what we get.

Haha spare me lad. You think Lambert would of liked to of had the funds to overhaul our squad in a couple of transfer windows rather than 6 windows and counting?

This thread reminds me of when I search #avfc on twitter. 99% dribble

Of course he'd want more. What manager wouldn't. He's here and signed a new deal and consistently praises the owner. What evidence do you have to suggest he's not happy with the conditions he works under?

There's a lot more to it than that, and I'm pretty sure you know it.

If he was unhappy with his working conditions would he still be here? Would he be signing a 4 year deal?

[KHV]

Lambert probably enjoys being a premier league manager, and lets face it nobdy else in the premeier league would touch him with a barge pole. He is probably aware he very lucky indeed to be in charge of a big club given how poor he is at managing one.

[bobzy]

 

 

 

 

And yet he's still here and signed a new deal so he's obviously not unhappy with it. He's clearly happy to work under these conditions and restrictions.

Lambert in "wanting to remain employed" shocker. Jesus Christ, man.

Who said it was a shock? You really do love to try and start arguments over nothing.

 

What makes you think he's happy working under these conditions and restrictions, then? What do you base that on?

I know people who don't enjoy work, moan about their boss, moan about their hours or workload etc. etc. but still do it because, you know, it's a job...

Well comparing it to a normal job is pointless. People have to do jobs to survive. Paul Lambert does not have to be Aston Villa manager to pay his rent and get by. So rubbish comparison.

He's clearly happy to work because he's here, he's signed a new deal and consistently praises the owner. Like MON a few years back or Pullis in the summer he could have left if he was genuinely unhappy with the working conditions.

 

 

Oh really?  Paul Lambert doesn't need a job to get by?  And he's also happy working under these conditions too - you seem to know him incredibly closely...

 

In terms of happiness, I reckon he is happy to work here.  I think he's probably proud to be manager of Aston Villa (irrespective of current position) and would like to take us up the league.  He may be ambitious and feels we can match those ambitions once everything is in place - who knows.  He's not going to, therefore, continually bad mouth the owner if they haven't had a falling out.  The same way that Brad Guzan isn't going to bad mouth the manager (despite your thoughts in that particular thread).  I'd have thought that's fairly obvious.

 

It doesn't mean that he's happy working under these conditions, though.  Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.  I can't imagine any manager would be excited at the thought of spending **** all whilst trying to appease fans who feel the club should be much higher.  Maybe he does, maybe he sees it as a challenge.  Either way, certainly can't be stated as fact and certainly isn't something to be held against him.

Edited January 14, 2015 by bobzy