Manager Paul Lambert

[avfc1982]

If it is true with regards to the Barry saga it's a massive mistake, Barry to me is one of Villa's best recent player and to me at least a bit of a legend. He'd probably have had a big impact on our team, not only because he's a great midfielder, but because he would undoubtedly have the club close to his heart. He would therefore be fantastic to have in the dressing room. Big mistake by Lambert if that is true. Anyway there's mixed reaction to the game we had today, a game which I didn't see so I'm still in support that Lambert is a good man for the job

I would bet my last penny that Lambert would want a player as good as Barry in the team but was put off by his wage demands. You can blame Lerner for that.

Bargain basement - that's where Villa shop these days.

It's hard to say want Lambert wants. If we already have good players at the club on high wages he just lets them rot in the reserves until they're worthless. Nzogbia will be next. And Barry's age is way above what Lambert would contemplate.

Na, we've slowly got rid of all the high earners at the club and replaced them with cheap bargain basement stuff. N'zogbia would have been sold if not injured, and as soon as he's fit he'll be off. I don't believe for one minute Lambert's policy is to sign young players in some kind of genius plan that will one day see us shoot up the table. It's because Lerner has lost all interest in the club and want to run it on a shoestring. Time to get real. The club is in trouble.

Lerner out!

[Matt1874]

To be fair to Lambert, on the flipside, the players he's brought in (and let's not forget Guzan in that list) are worth far more overall now than what we paid for them.

It's just making a team out of them that he struggles with.

[BG_Villa_Fan]

To be fair to Lambert, on the flipside, the players he's brought in (and let's not forget Guzan in that list) are worth far more overall now than what we paid for them.

It's just making a team out of them that he struggles with.

 

Probably true, but who cares if a player bought for a million costs 2 now when the opposition have players worth 10+ mil that they have to compete against.

[LondonLax]

To be fair to Lambert, on the flipside, the players he's brought in (and let's not forget Guzan in that list) are worth far more overall now than what we paid for them.

It's just making a team out of them that he struggles with.

 

Well quite a lot of times that increase is purely because we bought them, not because they are actually better. 

 

If you take any cheap lower league/small foreign league player and put them in a premier league team their value is boosted a bit just because they are now a 'Premier League player'.

 

They are still the same mediocre cheap player you bought though.

[villan_007]

I'm still happy with him. We created enough against spurs and Everton to be in or win the games and the players aren't taking them, he cannot be blamed for that. It's not like we are getting turned over easily. The task he has here with the support he has had from the board IMO is next to impossible, but he has immersed himself into the club and is here for the long term, we should be happy about that. He will get it right, and to an extent we're are getting it right just lacking the maturity to kill game's when we have the chance. I still think we'll be fine this season but must be prepared to take the rough with the smooth. You don't change the complete philosophy of a club in a season and a handful of games. We've been both brilliant and woeful in patches in his time here, stability is key, and it's something we haven't had for far too many years.

[AVFCforever1991]

Only a matter of time before that gif reappeared..

Edited October 27, 2013 by AVFCforever1991

[Matt1874]

To be fair to Lambert, on the flipside, the players he's brought in (and let's not forget Guzan in that list) are worth far more overall now than what we paid for them.

It's just making a team out of them that he struggles with.

Well quite a lot of times that increase is purely because we bought them, not because they are actually better.

If you take any cheap lower league/small foreign league player and put them in a premier league team their value is boosted a bit just because they are now a 'Premier League player'.

They are still the same mediocre cheap player you bought though.

Some are mediocre but IMO likes of Guzan, Benteke, Lowton, Okore, Vlaar have been excellent signings which outweigh the bad (likes of Bowery). Jury's still out on likes of Kozak (doesn't look good so far), Helenius, Tonev

I'm not defending Lambert as i'm far from his biggest fan but with the budget he's had I think he's done pretty well and I don't think we're far off from having a decent line up. E.g. Lowton, Okore and Nzogbia (not that I think that'll happen) in for Baker, Weimann and Tonev is a good team.

[BG_Villa_Fan]

 

Some are mediocre but IMO likes of Guzan, Benteke, Lowton, Okore, Vlaar have been excellent signings which outweigh the bad (likes of Bowery). Jury's still out on likes of Kozak (doesn't look good so far), Helenius, Tonev

I'm not defending Lambert as i'm far from his biggest fan but with the budget he's had I think he's done pretty well and I don't think we're far off from having a decent line up. E.g. Lowton, Okore and Nzogbia (not that I think that'll happen) in for Baker, Weimann and Tonev is a good team.

 

How can you possibly call Okore an excellent signing and in the same time claim jury's still out on Kozak, surely jury's still out on both of them. 

Also, Lowton and Vlaar have been major parts of the worst Villa premier league defence ever assembled. They can be classified as OK signings at best IMO.

Edited October 27, 2013 by BG_Villa_Fan

[Risso]

Look at Southampton.  Their manager has gone down the time honoured route of getting the defence right, as a basis for an all round successful team.  Our past managers in recentish history who have done well like Atkinson and Little have done the same.  Lambert just hasn't even come close to getting this right.  The midfield balance is all wrong as well.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Risso

[Demitri_C]

southampton have had more to spend on us though and dont forget okore is injury so we dont know how defence would have done if he did not pick up such a injury

[BG_Villa_Fan]

Look at Southampton.  Their manager has gone down the time honoured route of getting the defence right, as a basis for an all round successful team.  Our past managers in recentish history who have done well like Atkinson and Little have done the same.  Lambert just hasn't even come close to getting this right.  The midfield balance is all wrong as well.

 

True, Risso. Also note that the Pochetino dude hasn't kicked out all of their defenders and replaced them with his own - he just made them work and bought one excellent defender to finish off the job for only a million or so more than what we've paid for our reserve forward who doesn't see the pitch even when Benteke is obviously not fully fit.

[Matt1874]

Some are mediocre but IMO likes of Guzan, Benteke, Lowton, Okore, Vlaar have been excellent signings which outweigh the bad (likes of Bowery). Jury's still out on likes of Kozak (doesn't look good so far), Helenius, Tonev

I'm not defending Lambert as i'm far from his biggest fan but with the budget he's had I think he's done pretty well and I don't think we're far off from having a decent line up. E.g. Lowton, Okore and Nzogbia (not that I think that'll happen) in for Baker, Weimann and Tonev is a good team.

How can you possibly call Okore an excellent signing and in the same time claim jury's still out on Kozak, surely jury's still out on both of them.

Also, Lowton and Vlaar have been major parts of the worst Villa premier league defence ever assembled. They can be classified as OK signings at best IMO.

I think it's clear to see that Okore will be a great player and is already an improvement on Clark and Baker.

Vlaar is a good player who's under rated on here. Just as Weimann is incredibly over rated.

Lowton for me is already an excellent player who we miss. So much of our best play went through him last season. I'd have him instead of Weimann.

I say jury's out on Kozak more out of hope than expectation as he looks useless. But Benteke looked like the new Heskey when we bought him.

[pacbuddies]

May have been said already but I can't be bothered to trawl through pages and pages on this site but with 4 defeats out of our last 5 home games, only 4 goals scored in our last 7 league games (3 of those in the same game against Man City) and only 10 home league victories out of our last 43 home league games it is plainly obvious that the succession of half arsed managers employed by Lerner and Faulkner are clearly not up to the job and this season is panning out as dull and pathetic as the previous 3 seasons.

 

Glad I gave up my season ticket after 7 years because another season of watching us struggle against relegation whilst the likes of Southampton (who were in League 1 a few seasons ago) stride past us and would consider it a 'points in the bag' game when they face us is just too much to take.

[Butterfingers]

What (in your opinion) is a traditional number 9?

 

Because for me, Helenius isn't one.

Can Lambert play no other way then without a traditional No. 9 though? The Kozak signing would suggest so.

Anybody can field a side on paper without a traditional No 9 my friend-Even you.

We could even play a 6 man midfield like Barcelona but I doubt we'll win many games.

Please try to understand this: We have no money, we are shopping in bargain basement. At the start of last season we had players like Bannan, Herd, Holman, Lijha & even Delfounseo starting games. You cannot change an entire team overnight. If you look at the signings made from last year, only Benteke & Vlaar started yesterday & only Bacuna, Tonev & Luna from this year. In two summer windows, we've changed around half of the side. With the budget we have, this rebuild is going to take time & I'm not sure how far people expect us to progress with the money available?

We have to compete at this level. Looking at Norwich with Holt, I'd say that Lambert prefers this traditional method (as do most managers in the middle to bottom half of the table) Perhaps they are all wrong & you are right?

[Mantis]

May have been said already but I can't be bothered to trawl through pages and pages on this site but with 4 defeats out of our last 5 home games, only 4 goals scored in our last 7 league games (3 of those in the same game against Man City) and only 10 home league victories out of our last 43 home league games it is plainly obvious that the succession of half arsed managers employed by Lerner and Faulkner are clearly not up to the job and this season is panning out as dull and pathetic as the previous 3 seasons.

 

Glad I gave up my season ticket after 7 years because another season of watching us struggle against relegation whilst the likes of Southampton (who were in League 1 a few seasons ago) stride past us and would consider it a 'points in the bag' game when they face us is just too much to take.

 

Out of curiosity who would you like to see replace Lambert?

[Mart-L7]

Some of Lamberts tactics and ways are weird however who is going to do a better job? more to the point no would want to even try.

You've got Lerner willing to give you peanuts to spend and continue to cut wages, then you've got us lot on your case hahaha.

[Big_John_10]

There's no point turning on lambert. He showed at the end of last year that he can get us playing.

Does anyone really think that while Lerner is in charge that things will be much different if we replaced lambert?

[Electric Avenue]

We have to stand by lambert for now. If he goes I'd worry about the clubs stability.

[The Fun Factory]

A few home wins and all this worry will be forgotten. We have had a b*stard of a  list of opening fixtures and although it has been disappointing I feel there is enough in the squad to expect a solid mid table spot this year. If that is not enough for some people then that is fair enough, but I would take it. On Lambert side we do lack width as a option and our set pieces have been useless since Young left. I know it is not his style but  a good set piece can almost be a free  goal sometimes. It is still a great job for Lambert. He has a patient owner and patient fans. As long as Lambert  has accepted the low wage challenge it is a great club to run and build something. He is obviously a football romantic or he would have played it safe and stayed at Norwich.

Edited October 27, 2013 by The Fun Factory

[Mantis]

Honestly, with the opening 9 fixtures we had I think 10 points and -3 goal difference is not that bad really. I can't think of a harder set of opening fixtures in the history of the PL.