Manager Paul Lambert

[Mantis]

Ah, stats are now being described as 'biased.' 

 

I see our current placement isn't. 

 

Only posting negative "stats" under Lambert but omitting things like us scoring more goals, finishing with more points and playing objectively better football last season is biased.

 

What, 11th place? Woe is us. We're surely the worst team in the world with the worst manager in the world.

 

[markavfc40]

This is a tough one for me as I am someone that actually rates Lambert but I am also someone who refuses to be blinded by that and have to be honest. With that in mind I can't say anything other than that what I have seen us serve up over the last 3 months or so has in the main been dire.

 

I also have to say that beyond our first 11, which is good enough to finish around mid-table, then the squad as a whole is arguably one of the worst I have seen in my 30 odd years following this great club.

 

The blame for both the standard of our performances and quality of our squad though for me doesn't rest solely with Lambert. The majority of the blame rests with Lerner. You pretty much in football reap what you sow. In the main the more you are willing to pay players in wages the better standard of player you will attract. There will of course always be exceptions to this but those clubs with the biggest wage bills, providing they have a good manager, will be the clubs that are the most successful.

 

With the above in mind then for me Lambert hasn't been given a chance to build a squad capable of consistently playing good football and achieving decent results. The quality of the players he has been able to bring in simply aren't of a high enough standard. The reason for this is that we seem no longer willing to pay the level of wages that quality players will want.

 

I am really frustrated by what we are serving up currently and do believe that our points total isn't a reflection of our performances and that we have more points than we deserve. With that in mind I do genuinely fear that if performances don't improve dramatically then we will find ourselves in the mire again this season.

 

Lambert needs some major backing from Lerner. The squad needs rebuilding for me as despite the players never giving less than 100%  the quality isn't good enough. You could have Lambert or Mourinho with Guardiola as his assistant in charge but without backing then the squad will never improve from where it is now and the performances will continue to reflect the overall quality of that squad.

Edited December 16, 2013 by markavfc40

[samjp26]

Are we overachieving or underachieving?

 

Neither, I think we're doing well but I wouldn't call it overachieving. All I want to see, in my opinion, is progress over last season and continual progress as the seasons go on. Last year was a relegation scrap, this year I just want us to be well away from such a scrap, I don't want us to be involved with it at all. If we can stay mid-table and finish 10th/11th I'd take that as a good season and a definite improvement on last season.

 

If we were 6th, I'd say we were overachieving right now, if we were 16th, 17th or 18th I'd say we were underachieving. There are only 6 points between us and 8th as well as us and 18th, so I believe the next 4 games taking us into the new year will give us a rough idea of how we are performing.

[villa_shere]

Seeing Clark and AVB getting the sack makes me want to keep PL even more. Sick of these manager merry-go-rounds.

 

PL is bringing stabiliy. It my be dull and boring but its arguably progression. Prolem is we dont know PL or Randys long term goal.

 

PL has shown his adaption to management, he is willing to drop players, but also give them the chance to play again. He's may be slow be he has mixed up the formations when it doesnt work too.

 

where he's struggling is getting the best out of the players consistently. westwood, KeA, sylla, gabby, weinmann, benteke have all had several good games but they are sometimes too far apart. We need more players performing at the same time.

 

he also needs to get us playing from kick off. too many times we are slow to start, great example is our home form where we havnt scored a goal in the first half all season or our last to games where we were down and out in the first half.

[dakid007]

Would u say our home form is down to the tactics or quality of players?

[Morpheus]

 

 

'The real world' as you put it is one relegation battle with all the wrong records broken and a second season with a miserable home record with the lowest tally of goals scored in all four divisions and totally inept tactics and performances. And we're still 1 point off being in the top half! Mentalllllllllll

 

There has been nothing stated to say he couldn't have kept several of those players while committing the club to gradual change. It was his choice to bring in those 16 players you keep banging on about while the Chief Executive has already stated it was up to Lambert how he spent his budget. Yes I'm sure Lambert getting rid of players was out of his love for the club and Randy, he was sick of Randy having to pay all of the ridiculous wages and took it into his own hands.

 

I don't know how many low cost footballers there are out there as i don't have a scouting network to refer to but i'm sure there are enough who can at the very least have the attribute of being able to pass a ball to a team mate. So with an average of £2.5m per player, probably with many players initially on between £10k-£15k a week if not less, we could have gotten better players who would have us higher than 11th place this season?

 

So what you're saying is that Lambert didn't have the option of keeping Albrighton and not signing Tonev? Is that what you are actually suggesting? No it's not - again with your straw man arguments Albrighton was sent out on loan this season to Wigan, that loan has clearly rejuvenated him and I hope it is permanently. Maybe he realised he didn't want to play in the Championship, Lambert has now given him a chance, what more is he to do?

 

You say Fonz isn't going to cut it yet you think that Bowery will? Bowery is a squad filler that cost about £500,000 and I'd imagine is on less than £10k a week, he is there as a back-up to do a job when needed and also to develop. Fonz is widely known to be on £25k+ a week.

 

Ireland wasn't given a fair chance by Lambert certainly not in the same way that he is getting with Hughes and Stoke are benefitting from that. Ireland was given a chance at the start of last season, in a quality to wages ratio, Ireland is completely pants. What is the point continuing to play somebody that you do not want in the squad if they aren't performing? 

 

So in your opinion Kozak is not in any shape or form the same type of player as Bent and is a like for like replacement for Benteke to fit our system? He is an alternative to Benteke, Lambert likes to play with a strong/tall/big however you want to put it, target man. Benteke (or at least the Benteke from last season) is a different breed, he is a rarity, he is a target man who is just as good on the floor with his feet. 

 

Concerning Sylla you think him to be limited in ability yet still think he is value for money. So it's ok to purchase poor players just as long as they don't cost too much. The £1m or so we spent on Sylla in January gave balance to our midfield and arguably helped to keep us up so yes I think that was value for money myself.

 

And again no-one is demanding superstars on our budget. That is a ridiculous suggestion to make. This is yet another desperate excuse used by you to explain last season and our performances this season. You can get better players on a budget as it has already been pointed out to you on site time and time again and indeed Lambert has actually proven that with Benteke and Vlaar. However, thats just two players out of 16 and thats why currently we are so poor. We can't expect to get a squad full of Benteke's and we can't expect to pick up international defenders for the same price as Vlaar. I would also imagine Vlaar is on significantly more a week than many of Lambert's other signings, he is the leader, that is the job Lambert clearly brought him in to do. 

 

Our team last season was not a step up from the Mcleish era as both teams only secured their Premiership safety with one game to go and that stat can't be argued with. Do you want McLeish back over Lambert?

 

 

One point off being top half. My goodness what an achievement and i didn't know the season ended yesterday.

 

I'm also sure that Randy was overjoyed that after alienating those players and not then being able to sell many of them Lambert then purchased 16 players which have got us one relegation dog fight and the lowest rate of goals scored at home in the four divisions.

 

My response concerning Albrighton was in relation to why buy Tonev when we had Albrighton which is a more than valid response.

 

Yet Fonz cost us how much in transfer fees and has scored at Premiership level with known ability yet Bowery has, em, well what has he done? Yep he's a squad filler.

 

Ireland is performing at Stoke is he not and scoring goals yet Lambert did what with him?

 

Yet the consensus on here was that Bent didn't fit our system and we would get someone in who would. Kozak is an old fashioned target man very much in the style of Bent.

 

Yet Sylla has been absolute pants this season along with the rest of our midfield with the exception of Delph who wasn't a Lambert signing and our best players this season have actually been those that Lambert hasn't signed.

 

No-one has said we expect to sign 16 superstars on a budget but what we do expect is that they are able to either keep possession or pass to a team mate on a regular basis and you can be a leader on the pitch while not costing much (Roy Keane) just one example.

 

No I want a manager who can keep us away from relegation battles and actually buy players who can pass the ball to a team mate.

 

To date neither of those managers you mention have managed this and actually one has emulated the other in performances. 

[Mantis]

Would u say our home form is down to the tactics or quality of players?

Bit of both but I think some of it could be psychological. We've been poor at home for ages.

[samjp26]

Morpheus, if the season doesn't end tomorrow then why don't you stop banging on until the season ends? Or do you want Lambert sacked based on last season? No? So you're talking about right now, the present? Then the fact is we're 1 point away from the top half at this current point in time. That means that right now we are away from the relegation zone, the relegation battle.

 

Unfortunately you are right, the season hasn't ended yet, so why not just wait until it does end before slating Lambert about a final position that doesn't exist yet?

Edited December 16, 2013 by samjp26

[Morpheus]

 

Ah, stats are now being described as 'biased.' 

 

I see our current placement isn't. 

 

Only posting negative "stats" under Lambert but omitting things like us scoring more goals, finishing with more points and playing objectively better football last season is biased.

 

What, 11th place? Woe is us. We're surely the worst team in the world with the worst manager in the world.

 

 

And yet those stats were more prevalent due to last season's performances or are you conveniently forgetting that we only secured our Premiership status with one game to go which emulated the performance of the great Mcleish.

 

And this is the type of ridiculous statement (bolded) that I would expect from another poster on site. It seems desperation is spreading.

[dakid007]

Would u say our home form is down to the tactics or quality of players?

Bit of both but I think some of it could be psychological. We've been poor at home for ages.

Has anyone noticed a change in our approach to home games in the last year when we can see it's not working?

[Mantis]

 

Only posting negative "stats" under Lambert but omitting things like us scoring more goals, finishing with more points and playing objectively better football last season is biased.

 

What, 11th place? Woe is us. We're surely the worst team in the world with the worst manager in the world.

 

And yet those stats were more prevalent due to last season's performances or are you conveniently forgetting that we only secured our Premiership status with one game to go which emulated the performance of the great Mcleish.

 

And this is the type of ridiculous statement (bolded) that I would expect from another poster on site. It seems desperation is spreading.

 

 

I could ask you if you're "conventionally forgetting" that in spite of losing to Bradford and getting thumped badly by several teams we still got more points, scored more goals and looked good for more periods of last season.

 

Yes, I agree that desperation is spreading. Some seem desperate to see Lambert fail and now that we haven't been in a relegation battle this season they're clutching at things like playing style.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Mantis

[Morpheus]

 

Would u say our home form is down to the tactics or quality of players?

Bit of both but I think some of it could be psychological. We've been poor at home for ages.

 

 Some fantastic excuses on here this morning.

 

Someone blamed the fans and now this morning we're crap at home because it's psychological.

 

Maybe, just maybe, we're crap because our manager purchased poor players and doesn't have the nous to get the best out of them.

 

Just an idea?

[dakid007]

Would u say our home form is down to the tactics or quality of players?

Bit of both but I think some of it could be psychological. We've been poor at home for ages.

 Some fantastic excuses on here this morning.

 

Someone blamed the fans and now this morning we're crap at home because it's psychological.

 

Maybe, just maybe, we're crap because our manager purchased poor players and doesn't have the nous to get the best out of them.

 

Just an idea?

We keep coming up with shit performances at home with different formations, teams against varied levels of opposition, who should get the blame?

[samjp26]

 

 

Would u say our home form is down to the tactics or quality of players?

Bit of both but I think some of it could be psychological. We've been poor at home for ages.

 

 Some fantastic excuses on here this morning.

 

Someone blamed the fans and now this morning we're crap at home because it's psychological.

 

Maybe, just maybe, we're crap because our manager purchased poor players and doesn't have the nous to get the best out of them.

 

Just an idea?

 

 

My final attempt to understand your logic, I'll make it multiple choice for you:

 

A: You believe Lambert is crap, our team is crap, because of last season?

B: You believe Lambert is crap, our team is crap, because of our current position and results this season?

C: You believe Lambert is crap, our team is crap, because of the position and results you believe the team may achieve by the end of this season?

[Mantis]

 

 

Would u say our home form is down to the tactics or quality of players?

Bit of both but I think some of it could be psychological. We've been poor at home for ages.

 

 Some fantastic excuses on here this morning.

 

Someone blamed the fans and now this morning we're crap at home because it's psychological.

 

Maybe, just maybe, we're crap because our manager purchased poor players and doesn't have the nous to get the best out of them.

 

Just an idea?

 

Perhaps you should read my posts before trotting out the tired old "excuses" line. I even said "bit of both". Fact is though we were poor at home under a completely different set of players and we haven't been a strong team at home for as long as I can remember.

 

If it really was because these players are supposedly crap and he can't get the best out of them then why is our away record so good?

[Morpheus]

 

 

Only posting negative "stats" under Lambert but omitting things like us scoring more goals, finishing with more points and playing objectively better football last season is biased.

 

What, 11th place? Woe is us. We're surely the worst team in the world with the worst manager in the world.

 

And yet those stats were more prevalent due to last season's performances or are you conveniently forgetting that we only secured our Premiership status with one game to go which emulated the performance of the great Mcleish.

 

And this is the type of ridiculous statement (bolded) that I would expect from another poster on site. It seems desperation is spreading.

 

 

I could ask you if you're "conventionally forgetting" that in spite of losing to Bradford and getting thumped badly by several teams we still got more points, scored more goals and looked good for more periods of last season.

 

Yes, I agree that desperation is spreading. Some seem desperate to see Lambert fail and now that we haven't been in a relegation battle this season they're clutching at things like playing style.

 

Or could some be conveniently forgetting that mentioning goals scored they've ignored that we've the lowest tally of goals scored at home in all four divisions but then that would be biased wouldn't it.

 

Not desperation to see Lambert fail at all as he has already failed last season and some think that the season has already finished.

[Villastine]

 

 

Would u say our home form is down to the tactics or quality of players?

Bit of both but I think some of it could be psychological. We've been poor at home for ages.

 

 Some fantastic excuses on here this morning.

 

Someone blamed the fans and now this morning we're crap at home because it's psychological.

 

Maybe, just maybe, we're crap because our manager purchased poor players and doesn't have the nous to get the best out of them.

 

Just an idea?

 

 

Hold on, if you think the players he signed are poor then surely you must think he is getting the best out of these poor players. How else are we 11th?

[Mantis]

Or could some be conveniently forgetting that mentioning goals scored they've ignored that we've the lowest tally of goals scored at home in all four divisions but then that would be biased wouldn't it.

 

Not desperation to see Lambert fail at all as he has already failed last season and some think that the season has already finished.

 

Don't think anyone has been trying to argue that we've been prolific in front of goal this season.

 

Depends how you define failure. I get the impression that some will deem him as a failure regardless of what happens.

 

Who thinks the season has ended already? Find me one person that's said that.

 

Hold on, if you think the players he signed are poor then surely you must think he is getting the best out of these poor players. How else are we 11th?

 

"Luck".

Edited December 16, 2013 by Mantis

[VillaCas]

 

No-one has said we expect to sign 16 superstars on a budget but what we do expect is that they are able to either keep possession or pass to a team mate on a regular basis and you can be a leader on the pitch while not costing much (Roy Keane) just one example.

 

 

hahahaha...hilarious....Lambert should have scouted 16 Roy Keane's ...........they're out there you know!!  

 

...."just one example".........hahahaha

Edited December 16, 2013 by VillaCas

[samjp26]

 

 

 

Only posting negative "stats" under Lambert but omitting things like us scoring more goals, finishing with more points and playing objectively better football last season is biased.

 

What, 11th place? Woe is us. We're surely the worst team in the world with the worst manager in the world.

 

And yet those stats were more prevalent due to last season's performances or are you conveniently forgetting that we only secured our Premiership status with one game to go which emulated the performance of the great Mcleish.

 

And this is the type of ridiculous statement (bolded) that I would expect from another poster on site. It seems desperation is spreading.

 

 

I could ask you if you're "conventionally forgetting" that in spite of losing to Bradford and getting thumped badly by several teams we still got more points, scored more goals and looked good for more periods of last season.

 

Yes, I agree that desperation is spreading. Some seem desperate to see Lambert fail and now that we haven't been in a relegation battle this season they're clutching at things like playing style.

 

Or could some be conveniently forgetting that mentioning goals scored they've ignored that we've the lowest tally of goals scored at home in all four divisions but then that would be biased wouldn't it.

 

Not desperation to see Lambert fail at all as he has already failed last season and some think that the season has already finished.

 

 

Okay, I'm done now and I hope anybody else trying to understand you is done also. Lambert failed last season? He was given the task overhauling the squad, he HAD to do this, it was not a choice. He completed this task and kept us in the Premier League, I do not know what you expected personally but if he had failed he wouldn't of been our manager at the start of the season as we'd have been in the Championship.

 

Have a good day mate.