avfc1982 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I thought it was ok. Could've been a lot better but could've also been worse. So you think the financial constraints are OK but use them to defend the manager performing poorly Our January window was "okay"? Good god! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) Its getting tougher to defend Lambert. I have preached on here for ages that I think given the financial situation at the club that regardless of who the manager is we will be a lower half of the table team. The thing I can't defend though is the dire football we more often than not serve up and our terrible home form. Since Lambert arrived the home form has never been good. If as many of us believed he is a good manager I have to question why he hasn't been able to come up with a formation and style of play that works at home for us. He hasn't even come close to finding one. He has bought in plenty of players, he works with them everyday on the training ground yet he can't come close to coming up with a system that works for us even against poor Prem, and worse still, lower league opposition. No one expects us to consistently give the top clubs a game at home but it is not too much to expect us to go toe to toe with the poor sides and more often than not come out on top. Another big issue for me is the over reliance on Vlaar. The guy is a decent top flight centre back. Not a world beater. He is though a leader and an organizer. His absence though shouldn't be used as a means to defend Lambert. He has assembled this squad, all be it on a tight budget, but failed to bring in another couple of players who had experience, a little bit of nous at this level and leadership qualities. For a long time the manager has known that Ron was becoming prone to picking up the odd strain and being out for a number of weeks, known like the rest of us that Baker was not an adequate replacement, known that Clark looks half the player when asked to be the senior centre back. The fact he failed to identify a player that could be bought in January who was better than Baker and could organize a defense even if it was a short term solution was a major error. When Vlaar is out and we crumble it isn't bad luck. It is incompetence on the managers part that he has assembled a defense so reliant on one player. Lambert hasn't been helped by a lack of finances but that doesn't come close to excusing some of our failings under him and I have to question whether he is the manager I thought we were getting back in 2012. Edited February 9, 2014 by markavfc40 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic_bouma Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Its getting tougher to defend Lambert. I have preached on here for ages that I think given the financial situation at the club that regardless of who the manager is we will be a lower half of the table team. The thing I can't defend though is the dire football we more often than not serve up and our terrible home form. Since Lambert arrived the home form has never been good. If as many of us believed he is a good manager I have to question why he hasn't been able to come up with a formation and style of play that works at home for us. He hasn't even come close to finding one. He has bought in plenty of players, he works with them everyday on the training ground yet he can't come close to coming up with a system that works for us even against poor Prem, and worse still, lower league opposition. No one expects us to consistently give the top clubs a game at home but it is not too much to expect us to go toe to toe with the poor sides and more often than not come out on top. Another big issue for me is the over reliance on Vlaar. The guy is a decent top flight centre back. Not a world beater. He is though a leader and an organizer. His absence though shouldn't be used as a means to defend Lambert. He has assembled this squad, all be it on a tight budget, but failed to bring in another couple of players who had experience, a little bit of nous at this level and leadership qualities. For a long time the manager has known that Ron was becoming prone to picking up the odd strain and being out for a number of weeks, known like the rest of us that Baker was not an adequate replacement, known that Clark looks half the player when asked to be the senior centre back. The fact he failed to identify a player that could be brought in January who was better than Baker and could organize a defense even if it was a short term solution was a major error. When Vlaar is out and we crumble it isn't bad luck. It is incompetence on the managers part that he has assembled a defense so reliant on one player. Lambert hasn't been helped by a lack of finances but that doesn't come close to excusing some of our failings under him and I have to question whether he is the manager I thought we were getting back in 2012. Can't argue with any of that. Finances have limited him but he really doesn't seem to have a clue tactically sometimes. To get turned over by a Big Sam team at home is very poor. As a one off maybe but it's happening almost every home game. Looked up a stat this morning. It's 3 months since we won on a Saturday. Wonder how long we will keep that going for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Biro Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Did Dortmund sell all their best players then have a recruitment drive from the German lower leagues snapping up no marks on cheap wages? What a load of rubbish. They didn't sell their best players but they did pick up tonnes of players from lower leagues around the world. I suggest you read this, educate yourself a bit before making ridiculous, condescending comments that you can't back up. Do you reckon they're all on YTS wages like our hopeless mob at the Villa? The majority of them would have been on very similar wages yes, obviously once they got to great players im sure a lot of them got bumped up. The only difference is most of the obscure players they got have turned out to be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Did Dortmund sell all their best players then have a recruitment drive from the German lower leagues snapping up no marks on cheap wages? What a load of rubbish. They didn't sell their best players but they did pick up tonnes of players from lower leagues around the world. I suggest you read this, educate yourself a bit before making ridiculous, condescending comments that you can't back up. Do you reckon they're all on YTS wages like our hopeless mob at the Villa? The majority of them would have been on very similar wages yes, obviously once they got to great players im sure a lot of them got bumped up. The only difference is most of the obscure players they got have turned out to be great. This then comes back to Lambert and the scouting team in place at VP. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Biro Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Yes but that wasn't the debate, the debate was someone suggesting dortmund haven't bought from lower leagues which stefan proved was absolute rubbish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) No the suggestion was snapping up no marks on cheap wages. I have no idea about the history of Dortmund but I'd be surprised if they got success signing the likes of sylla and tonev etc.. Edited February 9, 2014 by Big_John_10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) Its funny. People say our midfielders can't do the most basic thing in football, to pass the ball. Which possibly is true, but tbh. Our frontmen doesn't exactly make the life easy for them either. Take yesterdays game, this is how it looked for good parts of the game: RB--------------CB--------------CB---------------LB -----------------CM-------CM----CM----------------- -----------------West Ham Midfield--------------- ----------------SS------CF--------SS-------------------- ------------------West Ham Defence--------------- WHAT ARE OUR MIDFIELD SUPPOSED TO DO? They got 4 opportunities. 1. Try to dribble their way through 2. Hoof it 3. Pass it back to the defence 4. Pass it to eachother, then back to the defence who will likely hoof it up again Edited February 9, 2014 by villalad21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) I thought it was ok. Could've been a lot better but could've also been worse. So you think the financial constraints are OK but use them to defend the manager performing poorly You're putting words into my mouth again. It really is getting incredibly tedious. Edited February 9, 2014 by Mantis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM3000 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) So yesterday we only had Bacuna on that he signed in the summer. Apart from Benteke who has been any good that he signed? Sylla - Hardly used, very average and would do well to become a championship players Benteke - Very good despite his off form this season, needs better players and tactics around him Westwood - Average so far Bowery - Not involved, youth players should have been given his spot Bennett - Been largely poor his entire time here due to not being able to defend, championship is his level Vlaar - Overall been good in what has been a poor defence but too injury prone Lowton - Solid first season but now gone completely to pot, strange one KEA - Okay but offers little quality, runs around a lot Kozak - Not what we needed to spend 7m on, waste of funds that were needed to be spent elsewhere and despite his goals his overall play is poor Okore - Injured so cant comment Tonev - A youth player should take his spot Luna - Average is being kind, another defender signed who cant defend Helenius - Not used at all yet makes the bench every week, could be good later on but funds could have been used elsewhere and a youth player done the exact same job so far Bacuna - Could be good, inconsistent and hasn't played in his proper position much another one average at best though Steer - Youth backup keeper, future. 24.5m first season & 17.5m this season for 42m spend on transfer fees alone. So he is trying to build something here, well what? Because Luna, Tonev, Kozak, KEA, Bennett, Bowery, Sylla aren't the future. He could have spent 30m of this in buying some much more solid 6-8m players plus extra with whatever wages could have been saved and promoted players like Grealish, Gardner, Curruthers, throwing loads of youth players in isn't the answer but one or two of them can play if they have good players around them. My ratings on Lambert overall from the 2 seasons he has been here Transfer dealings 4/10 (without Benteke this would be close to 1) Performances 2/10 Style of play/Tactics 1/10 Results 3/10 (Relegation battle last season and 4 points off the drop now despite there being some real poor teams like Fulham & Cardiff.) If this was McLeish he would be out the door and the fans would be booing every week. Performances have been the worst I have ever seen at Villa Park and that is a lot down to tactics and the way we try to play. Over the last couple of season who have been our most important players? Benteke, Guzan, Delph, Gabby, Weimann & Vlaar. Fair enough he resigned Guzan but to be honest 4 of them were already here when he arrived. I cant see anything he is doing right and using this budget as an excuse is poor, there are tons of teams who have spent similar to us. Id put up with good results for bad football, or bad results for good promising performances that might get us somewhere long term but hes doing neither. How he is still in a job baffles me. Edited February 9, 2014 by AndyM3000 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Let's not forget though that Okore and Kozak are both out with long-term injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Never mind folks, we are still 10th 12th and a massive 4 points clear of the relegation zone. Our progress has been phenomenal this season under Lambert and he is clearly doing a wonderful job. We were so unlucky to lose to West Ham but they are a fantastic team with one of the most tactically aware managers in the game. I can't understand why Lambert hasn't already been offered a 3 year extension to his contract as surely this would guarantee top quality players and performances at VP for years to come. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Its getting tougher to defend Lambert. I have preached on here for ages that I think given the financial situation at the club that regardless of who the manager is we will be a lower half of the table team. The thing I can't defend though is the dire football we more often than not serve up and our terrible home form. Since Lambert arrived the home form has never been good. If as many of us believed he is a good manager I have to question why he hasn't been able to come up with a formation and style of play that works at home for us. He hasn't even come close to finding one. He has bought in plenty of players, he works with them everyday on the training ground yet he can't come close to coming up with a system that works for us even against poor Prem, and worse still, lower league opposition. No one expects us to consistently give the top clubs a game at home but it is not too much to expect us to go toe to toe with the poor sides and more often than not come out on top. Another big issue for me is the over reliance on Vlaar. The guy is a decent top flight centre back. Not a world beater. He is though a leader and an organizer. His absence though shouldn't be used as a means to defend Lambert. He has assembled this squad, all be it on a tight budget, but failed to bring in another couple of players who had experience, a little bit of nous at this level and leadership qualities. For a long time the manager has known that Ron was becoming prone to picking up the odd strain and being out for a number of weeks, known like the rest of us that Baker was not an adequate replacement, known that Clark looks half the player when asked to be the senior centre back. The fact he failed to identify a player that could be bought in January who was better than Baker and could organize a defense even if it was a short term solution was a major error. When Vlaar is out and we crumble it isn't bad luck. It is incompetence on the managers part that he has assembled a defense so reliant on one player. Lambert hasn't been helped by a lack of finances but that doesn't come close to excusing some of our failings under him and I have to question whether he is the manager I thought we were getting back in 2012. Spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Biro Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Says a lot when you sign 7 or 8 players and you only have confidence in one to do a job in the team. Okay 2 are injured and one is a goalkeeper but that still leaves 4 players who should add something to the squad but dont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rob182 Posted February 9, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted February 9, 2014 Lambert has lost respect for me What did you do? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) We had two insanely lucky wins against Man City and Saints, without them we would be in the bottom 3 and to be honest based on our performances if we were there Id say we could have no complaints. We are lucky we aren't there now but it looks like its only a matter of time. Without them wins would Lambert be sacked? You would hope so. Wins are wins. Wish people would stop trying to take those away from us just to fit an agenda. No ones taking them away but I and others at the time said that playing that way and relying on moments of individual brilliance was not something we could continue to do. And it hasn't been. It works both ways, which often seems to be forgotten when people go on about those "lucky" wins against Southampton and Man City. Funnily enough there is a general correlation between possession and our success this season - generally the more we have of it the worse we do. I don't think those wins were as "lucky" as some make out - those are just the sort of games that play to our strengths. well its about time we changed our so called strengths then.....because the majority of other teams that have any notion of pursuing progression, will adopt possession as a crucial ingredient. The fact that we can't seem to do anything with it is neither here or there...... we are the problem....not possession. we never seem to recruit player that are comfortable on the ball and we rarely recruit players that have any physical presence....in the main. we will NEVER move this club forward until we improve the quality of new recruits....This myopic approach will be our undoing. Edited February 9, 2014 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I agree that we should be changing our strengths, I was just pointing out that the Man City and Southampton wins weren't as lucky as many make out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) Its getting tougher to defend Lambert. I have preached on here for ages that I think given the financial situation at the club that regardless of who the manager is we will be a lower half of the table team. The thing I can't defend though is the dire football we more often than not serve up and our terrible home form. Since Lambert arrived the home form has never been good. If as many of us believed he is a good manager I have to question why he hasn't been able to come up with a formation and style of play that works at home for us. He hasn't even come close to finding one. He has bought in plenty of players, he works with them everyday on the training ground yet he can't come close to coming up with a system that works for us even against poor Prem, and worse still, lower league opposition. No one expects us to consistently give the top clubs a game at home but it is not too much to expect us to go toe to toe with the poor sides and more often than not come out on top. Another big issue for me is the over reliance on Vlaar. The guy is a decent top flight centre back. Not a world beater. He is though a leader and an organizer. His absence though shouldn't be used as a means to defend Lambert. He has assembled this squad, all be it on a tight budget, but failed to bring in another couple of players who had experience, a little bit of nous at this level and leadership qualities. For a long time the manager has known that Ron was becoming prone to picking up the odd strain and being out for a number of weeks, known like the rest of us that Baker was not an adequate replacement, known that Clark looks half the player when asked to be the senior centre back. The fact he failed to identify a player that could be bought in January who was better than Baker and could organize a defense even if it was a short term solution was a major error. When Vlaar is out and we crumble it isn't bad luck. It is incompetence on the managers part that he has assembled a defense so reliant on one player. Lambert hasn't been helped by a lack of finances but that doesn't come close to excusing some of our failings under him and I have to question whether he is the manager I thought we were getting back in 2012. He does seemingly create a more questions than answers scenario. I think the club, the fans, the tea lady and the programmes sellers are weary with sacking Managers. That said Paul Lambert has arrived at a very fortunate time ( for him) under HDE he would be history by now....The home form alone HDE/Steve Stride would have had him gone despite the mitigating circumstances. The big worry is some of the same old,same old,same old....nothing changes, despite the changes....scenario continues. I feel the whole club lacks conviction, and that we wallow in mitigation and excuse, I'm sorry if that seems harsh, but I believe that to be the truth. our players, do come back at times, but generally that that cheek, devilment, that breeds winners....when do we throw bodies on the line and out muscle teams. We are a bunch of tentative, indecisive choir boys. We need a radical rethink. Edited February 9, 2014 by TRO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrees Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I think that Lambert is the most well liked, crap manager since O'Neill. Once he is gone, if we have another manager with Glasgow connections in the next 100 years, it will be way too soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I think sacking Lambert would be a huge mistake and will come back to haunt us (Joe Mercer). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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