BOF Posted November 4, 2013 Moderator Share Posted November 4, 2013 5 points up on like for like fixtures - not 7Just to clarify. We're kind of both. If you take it against exact opposition it's 7pts. If you factor in the promoted sides replacing the sides that went down, it becomes +5. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oaks Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 5 points up on like for like fixtures - not 7Just to clarify. We're kind of both. If you take it against exact opposition it's 7pts. If you factor in the promoted sides replacing the sides that went down, it becomes +5. Yeah and Hull are better than Reading IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 I dont think Lambert will sign a new contract, I think he may even go after this season He'll be flooded with offers just as he was when we hired him no doubt... Yeah 'cause he was out of work when we hired him right? I just don't get comments like the original one that he would just walk out like he will get a better job. There seems to be a mentality amongst some that he is too good for us and we should be grateful he took the job in the first place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJVillan Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 It's worth remembering that it isn't easy to fix all the team's problems at once. Last season we struggled immensely with defending. We were just horrible at the back, but we were excellent up front and created plenty of chances. This season we are struggling up front, but we are more difficult to break down and score goals against. I would bet my house that Lambert and the coaching staff have been focussing primarily on teaching the team how to defend over the last few months. The young players are learning bit by bit how to be successful in the premier league. Sometimes our attack will be lacking, sometimes our defence will be lacking. Sometimes it will look like we don't even have a midfield (see West Ham game!). But eventually we will get there. Those that question the current "project" Lambert and the club have going - how would you do it? How would you look to build long term success in the midst of a financial crisis, and bearing in mind without a change of owner we will never have the same cash backing that the top teams do? I don't agree entirely with everything Lambert has done, but the fundamental principles behind it are spot on for me. I don't see any other way we can build long term success without a owner that will spend massive amounts of money. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Looking at last seasons fixtures were 7 points up this season in like to like games. We wasn't outplayed against Everton or Spurs, we was last season. On the downside we do have a habit of panicking on the ball when we are in possession, players need to help each other by giving the player in possession decent options to pass, we are far to static and this allows opposing teams to easily close us down and it makes us play rash balls and lose possession far to easily. Its very frustrating, its the same game after game. I suspect its the players confidence. Its isn't all roses but I do think most fans realize that Villa need the stability of a manager staying for a few years. We need to try and build something that's going to last longer than the owners money. If you can't gain confidence after beating arsenal or man city I'm not sure when you gain it...I suspect the quality in their play is just not consistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 I dont think Lambert will sign a new contract, I think he may even go after this season He'll be flooded with offers just as he was when we hired him no doubt... Yeah 'cause he was out of work when we hired him right? I just don't get comments like the original one that he would just walk out like he will get a better job. There seems to be a mentality amongst some that he is too good for us and we should be grateful he took the job in the first place. Well that's a bit OTT yes, but his stock was pretty high before we hired him and I'm sure had he been out of work, many clubs similar in stature to us would have taken a punt on him as we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villianusa Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 I would disagree Everton had a better squad but a better manager who can get something from his players. Hahahahahaha Glad you found it amusing. We had players who could perform but sadly this manager (and previous) were not able to get anything out of them or played a formation that didn't suit them. Instead of trying to be a coach he "bombed" them out and started the youth philosophy. Sadly this could very well see us end in the Championship if he does teach the players to do more than give 100% (and he doesn't seem to be doing very well at that). Everton have a much better squad As above, Everton do now have a better squad at the time Lambert took over I think it was very close. We are now much further apart and they have a manager who seems to know what he is doing on the field. We can wait four of five years for him to get it right but right now I'm just looking for team that know what they are doing and look like they turn up to win a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 (edited) Most of the players "bombed out" were poor and on wages they didn't come close to deserving. The only genuinely quality player that's been "forced out" is Bent, and even then he's been replaced by somebody far better. Our squad is better now than it was when Lambert first joined. Edited November 4, 2013 by Mantis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villianusa Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Most of the players "bombed out" were poor and on wages they didn't come close to deserving. The only genuinely quality player that's been "forced out" is Bent, and even then he's been replaced by somebody far better. Our squad is better now than it was when Lambert first joined. I won't disagree on them not deserving the money they were given but not all of them were poor skill just poor attitude. Sadly Villa seem to have good managers of players but poor coaches. They can lift to players to good performances, but when they meet teams with similar charged players they don't have the tactical knowledge to beat other teams. High energy and commitment will get you to a certain point but in the end the players need ability and a tactical sense of the game. We haven't got a team of 11 who have that let alone a squad that can see out a season and that falls on Lambert and his coaching team who he hired. The only players who other teams would look at in our squad are Guzan, Gabby, Delph and Benteke. The rest would really struggle to get in sides like Hull and Sunderland which is very disappointing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biskitt Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 I would disagree Everton had a better squad but a better manager who can get something from his players. Hahahahahaha Glad you found it amusing. We had players who could perform but sadly this manager (and previous) were not able to get anything out of them or played a formation that didn't suit them. Instead of trying to be a coach he "bombed" them out and started the youth philosophy. Sadly this could very well see us end in the Championship if he does teach the players to do more than give 100% (and he doesn't seem to be doing very well at that). Everton have a much better squad As above, Everton do now have a better squad at the time Lambert took over I think it was very close. We are now much further apart and they have a manager who seems to know what he is doing on the field. We can wait four of five years for him to get it right but right now I'm just looking for team that know what they are doing and look like they turn up to win a game. You really can't know much about football if you think that ours and Evertons squads were close at the start of last season. They had Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Coleman, Mirallas, Feliani, Pienaar and Osman that would all have got in Villa's 1st team, how many of our players would have got in their first 11 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Most of the players "bombed out" were poor and on wages they didn't come close to deserving. The only genuinely quality player that's been "forced out" is Bent, and even then he's been replaced by somebody far better. Our squad is better now than it was when Lambert first joined. I won't disagree on them not deserving the money they were given but not all of them were poor skill just poor attitude. Sadly Villa seem to have good managers of players but poor coaches. They can lift to players to good performances, but when they meet teams with similar charged players they don't have the tactical knowledge to beat other teams. High energy and commitment will get you to a certain point but in the end the players need ability and a tactical sense of the game. We haven't got a team of 11 who have that let alone a squad that can see out a season and that falls on Lambert and his coaching team who he hired. The only players who other teams would look at in our squad are Guzan, Gabby, Delph and Benteke. The rest would really struggle to get in sides like Hull and Sunderland which is very disappointing. Fair enough if you think our squad is poor but most of the players Lambert got rid of weren't good players either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted November 4, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2013 Expecting that the moon will turn into a teapot will ultimately end in tears. And whatever happened to the 'bright future?' I guess there are 50 shades of 'bright' huh? One man's 'bright' is finishing without relegation and making up the numbers. Another man's 'bright' is a tilt at qualifying for Europe... I'd actually like to have a go at winning the FA Cup in the colour/high def era. 'Bright' for me, is feeling secure in the future of my club, and feeling as though we can compete - and that includes competing for silverware of any flavour. 'We've done it before, and we'll do it again.' It's just when. If my club can't ever compete, and we are just making up the numbers, what is the point of us being there? We might as well just re-live the glory days on DVD or in our books. Save ourselves a few bob in the process. Look, I have no issue at all with people who demand/expect more than what we've got right now. I am one of them... and I am prepared to be miserable for a long time if I have to. Even die I guess and come back to haunt the Holte. But by Christ, I would expect and hope that both Lerner and Lambert want us to be in a place much better off than we are now. So figure that into the equation please folks. We all seem to agree at least that nobody likes where we are now. That is progress. Accepting our lot now will ultimately end in a Charlton, a Coventry, a Leicester, a Forest, a Derby, a Blues etc. Certainly no spoiled child am I, and I am not in tears either because the moon is still the moon. I just want better for my club... What we need is to give somebody a good 'dicking' over the next few fixtures. Are we playing Sunderland soon? we definitely need to give someone a rooting to get the confidence up, well, even scroing and winning would start the ball rolling, especially at home. the bright future thing, yeah, that is what Lerner came in and tried to sell. It seems a lot of people really heavily bought into it to the extent that after the overstretching of the purse strings they can't accept that we didn't just chuck more money at it in order to not go through this painfull process of the last couple of years. So much so that Lambert seems to be getting some stick for our current plight. For me the rot stopped when he managed to turn it around after christmas last year, and that was a direct result of his work for months before that. why can't we have a bright future under Lambert? he says himself that he is building a team to stick together for a few years to compete for the top 6. he talks about the long view too. why not think that he could be on to something? it's obvious that right now, even if Lerner is feeling generous in jan we aren't going to be competing at the top end of the table. next year we should start seeing some more progress in that direction. And yeah 480 quid a year is a lot of money in order to know full well you are going to suffer a lot, there'll be ups too but you know that's what being a proper fan is all about for me. I left brum when I was 18 and now live in italy so your streets ahead of me in that regard, i just swear at streams these days and spend some money on merchandise and a trip or 2 to VP if I'm lucky in a year. Still though in the where were you when we were shit stakes I did go down and watch us a bit when we were in the second division. we all want better, just that some of us aren't demanding it now at all costs and are prepared to give Lambert the time to see his project thorugh. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avflife Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 (edited) Stil backing Lambert, but after Saturday's negativity against West Spam, I would expect most fans will be circling like vultures especially on here Playing 3-5-2 against a side who didn't even play a striker until the 65th minute reminded me of the dark days of the McLeish reign. Should of been 4-3-3, the formation that had gotten us 7 points out of a possible 12; should of obviously been more if it weren't for a certain Friend. Edited November 4, 2013 by Avflife Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 (edited) It seems a lot of people really heavily bought into it to the extent that after the overstretching of the purse strings they can't accept that we didn't just chuck more money at it in order to not go through this painfull process of the last couple of years. Nothing to do with buying into Lerner's bullshit. We were a regular top 8 team before him, the fact we expect to be now is to do with that not some shit that Lerner and the General spouted. And who's asked to just chuck money at it? You make it sound like people just want money spent with no thought or plan. We actually want lambert backed fully and not restricted with having to keep the wage bill low. we all want better, just that some of us aren't demanding it now at all costs and are prepared to give Lambert the time to see his project thorugh. I think the vast majority are willing to give lambert time. But there's no point giving him time with no backing, that won't achieve anything. And in terms of backing I think we have every right to demand it now. 3 consecutive relegation battles all while our owner sold the browns for $1 billion and television money increased. I'm not happy that a billionaire is running the team on the cheap to ensure he doesn't lose money due to his mistakes. It seems some though are happy for Lerner to do what ever he wants with the club they support. Edited November 4, 2013 by Big_John_10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 It is unfair to compare our squad to Everton's, they have built their squad/team over a number of years. They have also used a similar approach to the one we have adopted currently; Baines and Jagielka (unproven talent), for example, are players that have worked their way up to the Premiership and have established themselves as top players; Everton have also been shrewd in the foreign transfer market in the past; they have reinvested money wisely from player sales; and obviously time and stability has been very important to their high consistency and quality. Everton can be considered as an endorsement to the long term plan we have implemented under Lambert. We are still at the embryonic stage of this project, we need to be reasonable and patient in the coming months and years. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted November 4, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted November 4, 2013 Looking at last seasons fixtures were 7 points up this season in like to like games. We wasn't outplayed against Everton or Spurs, we was last season. On the downside we do have a habit of panicking on the ball when we are in possession, players need to help each other by giving the player in possession decent options to pass, we are far to static and this allows opposing teams to easily close us down and it makes us play rash balls and lose possession far to easily. Its very frustrating, its the same game after game. I suspect its the players confidence. Its isn't all roses but I do think most fans realize that Villa need the stability of a manager staying for a few years. We need to try and build something that's going to last longer than the owners money. If you can't gain confidence after beating arsenal or man city I'm not sure when you gain it...I suspect the quality in their play is just not consistent. You maybe right, Lambert should know why it's happening and try and change it when he can. Either way new players are not an option now so his only option is to improve what we already have. He's shown he will drop players who don't perform when given a good chance to shine, Bennet and even Lowton have both been dropped, both his signings. Bacuna was brought in and used. Given the facts we have I don't see how Lambert can be blamed atm, if he had Messi sitting on the bench or 20m in the bank then perhaps he could take some flack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAnty Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Right lets not get carried away. We kept clean sheets against 3 teams who dont have a striker among them and we only scored 1 goal. Yes a big improvement on last year but still not much to be proud of,1 goal, is it? I could manage a team not to conceed against that 3 at the expense of not score ourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdulaziz1 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Haha BJ youre one of the most Lerner haters .. Tbh I think that the club knew their mistskes and are trying to deal with it slowly .. I want to ask you a question .. After last season .. How much would you liked Lerner to pay in the window to make you put trust in him ? And what would your aim be ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Haha BJ youre one of the most Lerner haters .. Tbh I think that the club knew their mistskes and are trying to deal with it slowly .. I want to ask you a question .. After last season .. How much would you liked Lerner to pay in the window to make you put trust in him ? And what would your aim be ? Why wouldn't I hate him? He's delivered the worst period I've known as a villa fan. I don't think there's an exact amount that would make me thing I was wrong. Do you mean for next season or what I expected this season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Hate is an incredibly strong word for something as trivial as football. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts