Manager Paul Lambert

[Zatman]

but Im sure I read 103% of our revenue was spent on wages that season which is shocking

[markavfc40]

but Im sure I read 103% of our revenue was spent on wages that season which is shocking

Wages as proportion of turnover was 90% in 2010/11. I'd imagine it is down to around 60% now.

[HolteExile]

no we dont. we make less than most of the other clubs in the league in terms of revenue. If we go down I would actually fear going the way of sha

Weren't we in the Deloitte top 20 of European clubs as recently as 2011?

Edit: We were:

Visit the Deloitte website for a profile of Aston Villa, one of the world's highest earning football clubs in Deloitte's 2011 Football Money League.

http://www.deloitte....c56f00aRCRD.htm

[VillaGoMarching]

This thread is getting tedious now, people need to realise Lerner gave Mcleish a whole season on charge, so why would he listen to a smattering of panic stricken fans and sack Lambert in January.

Please when will people wake up to the fact that no manager could improve us, tactically/motivationally we are not lacking, what we do lack is players who have played games, and have nouse and know how to win games.

This will come with time, or signing players in January. Until then you better sit tight and back the team because we all need to stick together.

[PB]

I think there is just an expectation issue and people didnt appreciate how bad we were under Mcleish. People blamed McLeish, he was an easy target, but actually the problems at the club ran much deeper than that which is what we are seeing. The problems were that we had too many players on fat long term contracts that they didnt deserve, given to them by previous managers. That wage bill had to be slashed or the clubs future was at risk. We were running off a Champions League sized wages and transfer fee budget without the revenue to back that up

Where are we at now? We are improving, very slightly, but improving. While our record is almost identical from the last 12 games of last season this is mitigated (slightly) by us having only played 5 home games this season and by us generally playing slightly better. So thats OK, the rot has been stopped, the decline halted. We now need to improve further and faster over the coming 12 games. Personally I'd be looking for us to get 13-15 points from those games, and then build again in the final third of the season. I think there are enough sings to show that we can do it, but its likely tlo be a bit if a tight squeeze. The team will need the fans behind them

[VillakevBromsgrove]

I can not believe the talk about sacking PL. It is pretty obvious to anybody with a football brain that we were in the mire, Having a go at a chairman who has seen his errors and has started to address them does not help anybody, Yes we sold our best players but havent we always done that, the problem is we have not replaced them, look around the league and tell me how many ready replacements there are and you will find there are not that many, Other teams you see as our equals have an advantage where their teams have been together a while and have jelled, We could go the route of buying top players again for big money but as QPR show it isn't always the answer, even MC were average for the first season with their spending,

A team takes over a year to start to perform together with friendships, patterns of play and performances, look at the teams who have started to show promise, WBA, Swansea Everton etc, these teams built slowly and are now reaping the rewards, Liverpool spend loads on players and wages but are they setting the world on fire?

While we do not want to be relegated and can see the team struggling is it all really doom and gloom?

PL said he was here for a long term project, most can see what he is trying to do, most football people said he had a hell of a job to turn it round and if we are honest most of us can see this, buying young lower league players is the strategy we are using and we better get used to it, it can work and I hope and pray it does, I also have been one to panic and moan about our position but on reflection I see it is way too early to pass judgement, I will just support the team as usual and pray PL starts to get the rewards for his efforts, It was obvious that we were not going to get points from MU, MC and even Arsenal and most knew this, why then are we now panicking, lets see where we are at the end of January before shouting to remove the manager, this swapping and changing will only harm us, ask any football person and they will say PL is the right man, maybe we should also show support for him and actually help him and the team instead of putting extra pressure on them.As for Harry Rednap, could he really make us improve instantly which is what we need, i do not think so,

[PieFacE]

I can not believe the talk about sacking PL. It is pretty obvious to anybody with a football brain that we were in the mire, Having a go at a chairman who has seen his errors and has started to address them does not help anybody, Yes we sold our best players but havent we always done that, the problem is we have not replaced them, look around the league and tell me how many ready replacements there are and you will find there are not that many, Other teams you see as our equals have an advantage where their teams have been together a while and have jelled, We could go the route of buying top players again for big money but as QPR show it isn't always the answer, even MC were average for the first season with their spending,

A team takes over a year to start to perform together with friendships, patterns of play and performances, look at the teams who have started to show promise, WBA, Swansea Everton etc, these teams built slowly and are now reaping the rewards, Liverpool spend loads on players and wages but are they setting the world on fire?

While we do not want to be relegated and can see the team struggling is it all really doom and gloom?

PL said he was here for a long term project, most can see what he is trying to do, most football people said he had a hell of a job to turn it round and if we are honest most of us can see this, buying young lower league players is the strategy we are using and we better get used to it, it can work and I hope and pray it does, I also have been one to panic and moan about our position but on reflection I see it is way too early to pass judgement, I will just support the team as usual and pray PL starts to get the rewards for his efforts, It was obvious that we were not going to get points from MU, MC and even Arsenal and most knew this, why then are we now panicking, lets see where we are at the end of January before shouting to remove the manager, this swapping and changing will only harm us, ask any football person and they will say PL is the right man, maybe we should also show support for him and actually help him and the team instead of putting extra pressure on them.As for Harry Rednap, could he really make us improve instantly which is what we need, i do not think so,

Top post.

[smetrov]

I can not believe the talk about sacking PL. It is pretty obvious to anybody with a football brain that we were in the mire, Having a go at a chairman who has seen his errors and has started to address them does not help anybody, Yes we sold our best players but havent we always done that, the problem is we have not replaced them, look around the league and tell me how many ready replacements there are and you will find there are not that many, Other teams you see as our equals have an advantage where their teams have been together a while and have jelled, We could go the route of buying top players again for big money but as QPR show it isn't always the answer, even MC were average for the first season with their spending,

A team takes over a year to start to perform together with friendships, patterns of play and performances, look at the teams who have started to show promise, WBA, Swansea Everton etc, these teams built slowly and are now reaping the rewards, Liverpool spend loads on players and wages but are they setting the world on fire?

While we do not want to be relegated and can see the team struggling is it all really doom and gloom?

PL said he was here for a long term project, most can see what he is trying to do, most football people said he had a hell of a job to turn it round and if we are honest most of us can see this, buying young lower league players is the strategy we are using and we better get used to it, it can work and I hope and pray it does, I also have been one to panic and moan about our position but on reflection I see it is way too early to pass judgement, I will just support the team as usual and pray PL starts to get the rewards for his efforts, It was obvious that we were not going to get points from MU, MC and even Arsenal and most knew this, why then are we now panicking, lets see where we are at the end of January before shouting to remove the manager, this swapping and changing will only harm us, ask any football person and they will say PL is the right man, maybe we should also show support for him and actually help him and the team instead of putting extra pressure on them.As for Harry Rednap, could he really make us improve instantly which is what we need, i do not think so,

I agree - I think if Lambert can get past the current run of form we will be fine.

However - the defence seriously worries me - I don't rate any of the options at left back, and don't think Clark is yet ready for regular prem football.

With this poor defence - what would your views on Lambert be if we lost the next 4 ? .....and keep loosing ?

[VillakevBromsgrove]

I agree - I think if Lambert can get past the current run of form we will be fine.

However - the defence seriously worries me - I don't rate any of the options at left back, and don't think Clark is yet ready for regular prem football.

With this poor defence - what would your views on Lambert be if we lost the next 4 ? .....and keep loosing ?

I do not believe the defence are that bad but Naive, this will improve with time and experience, you have to look at the teams we have faced and the players they have been up against, on their day these players will kill most defences, hell if you ask MU they will tell you our defence is not that much worse than theirs (even we ripped them apart), the difference with the top teams is if you score 1 they score 3, against the similar teams our defence has just made the odd mistake, the problem is we dont score enough. this puts added pressure on the defence to keep a clean sheet, it will come right of this i am sure,

As for Clark he is similar to another defender we sold now playing for Chelsea, I remember seeing people say Cahill would not make it either, our players need time and encouragement.

As for my views on losing the next 4, I dont want to think of that thanks, to be honest i dont think it will happen, I think we will win 1 and draw 1 at the least,

[VillakevBromsgrove]

Whilst i think about it i have to say the reason I believe we will improve will be down to the confidence of the players and the manager, to explain this look at the Baggies, they have been getting better every season, they dont buy superstars but make the players they have believe in themselves, with confidence anything is possible, tricks come off, an average player becomes a top player, do you think the baggies have improved their players that much or that they have come together as a unit and have grown in confidence and stature? hell they are in the top 6 and looking good, it was only last year we were pretty equal with them, what they have different is supportive fans and a great management team. we have a great management team but are we that supportive? give it time and we too will get better of this i am sure.

[Rob182]

Good posts VillakevBromsgrove! ...despite using as few full-stops as possible

I have faith that Lambert will get us out of the drop-zone, and I think we'll finish between 13th-16th. Not as comfortable as we'd like, but a building block for next year.

Regarding our shaky defence, I've always had faith in Clark, and I think that he could be a good player in the future. But I'm wondering whether Lambert's way of setting up a team (attack! attack! attack!) would suit having two experienced centrebacks? Maybe we should buy someone experienced in January to partner Vlaar? I don't know, I'm just thinking aloud.

[smetrov]

WBA were in freefall - until Hodgson came in and sorted the defence. If Lambert can sort out the defence I am sure we will be fine. If he doesn't we won't be.

[AvfcRigo82]

I think there is just an expectation issue and people didnt appreciate how bad we were under Mcleish. People blamed McLeish, he was an easy target, but actually the problems at the club ran much deeper than that which is what we are seeing. The problems were that we had too many players on fat long term contracts that they didnt deserve, given to them by previous managers. That wage bill had to be slashed or the clubs future was at risk. We were running off a Champions League sized wages and transfer fee budget without the revenue to back that up

Where are we at now? We are improving, very slightly, but improving. While our record is almost identical from the last 12 games of last season this is mitigated (slightly) by us having only played 5 home games this season and by us generally playing slightly better. So thats OK, the rot has been stopped, the decline halted. We now need to improve further and faster over the coming 12 games. Personally I'd be looking for us to get 13-15 points from those games, and then build again in the final third of the season. I think there are enough sings to show that we can do it, but its likely tlo be a bit if a tight squeeze. The team will need the fans behind them

Post of the month!

.

[AvfcRigo82]

I can not believe the talk about sacking PL. It is pretty obvious to anybody with a football brain that we were in the mire, Having a go at a chairman who has seen his errors and has started to address them does not help anybody, Yes we sold our best players but havent we always done that, the problem is we have not replaced them, look around the league and tell me how many ready replacements there are and you will find there are not that many, Other teams you see as our equals have an advantage where their teams have been together a while and have jelled, We could go the route of buying top players again for big money but as QPR show it isn't always the answer, even MC were average for the first season with their spending,

A team takes over a year to start to perform together with friendships, patterns of play and performances, look at the teams who have started to show promise, WBA, Swansea Everton etc, these teams built slowly and are now reaping the rewards, Liverpool spend loads on players and wages but are they setting the world on fire?

While we do not want to be relegated and can see the team struggling is it all really doom and gloom?

PL said he was here for a long term project, most can see what he is trying to do, most football people said he had a hell of a job to turn it round and if we are honest most of us can see this, buying young lower league players is the strategy we are using and we better get used to it, it can work and I hope and pray it does, I also have been one to panic and moan about our position but on reflection I see it is way too early to pass judgement, I will just support the team as usual and pray PL starts to get the rewards for his efforts, It was obvious that we were not going to get points from MU, MC and even Arsenal and most knew this, why then are we now panicking, lets see where we are at the end of January before shouting to remove the manager, this swapping and changing will only harm us, ask any football person and they will say PL is the right man, maybe we should also show support for him and actually help him and the team instead of putting extra pressure on them.As for Harry Rednap, could he really make us improve instantly which is what we need, i do not think so,

I do not believe the defence are that bad but Naive, this will improve with time and experience, you have to look at the teams we have faced and the players they have been up against, on their day these players will kill most defences, hell if you ask MU they will tell you our defence is not that much worse than theirs (even we ripped them apart), the difference with the top teams is if you score 1 they score 3, against the similar teams our defence has just made the odd mistake, the problem is we dont score enough. this puts added pressure on the defence to keep a clean sheet, it will come right of this i am sure,

As for Clark he is similar to another defender we sold now playing for Chelsea, I remember seeing people say Cahill would not make it either, our players need time and encouragement.

As for my views on losing the next 4, I dont want to think of that thanks, to be honest i dont think it will happen, I think we will win 1 and draw 1 at the least,

Whilst i think about it i have to say the reason I believe we will improve will be down to the confidence of the players and the manager, to explain this look at the Baggies, they have been getting better every season, they dont buy superstars but make the players they have believe in themselves, with confidence anything is possible, tricks come off, an average player becomes a top player, do you think the baggies have improved their players that much or that they have come together as a unit and have grown in confidence and stature? hell they are in the top 6 and looking good, it was only last year we were pretty equal with them, what they have different is supportive fans and a great management team. we have a great management team but are we that supportive? give it time and we too will get better of this i am sure.

A dead heat with PB's post. Bravo Figaro.

.

[Morpheus]

So Morph what do you think your hero could offer this club that would benefit in the long term?

.

.

Thanks for asking 'AvfcRigo82.'

I actually see Redknapp as the modern day version of 'Big Ron' in the footballing sense. 'Big Ron' liked his teams to play good football and to do that you needed to purchase the right players. Players who can do just that little bit more on the ball. Entertainers if you like. We haven't had a Villa side anywhere near the quality of 'Big Ron's' team for, well, since 'Big Ron' was manager here. Yes Gregory did ok but was his team as good, in my opinion no. We had Merson and thats about it.

I feel Redknapp would produce a team at Villa Park very much in the mould of Ron Atkinson's team, with flare and the ability to actually put teams to the sword on our best days yet also make the top four very wary of playing us. Actually having to pinpoint several of our players as a danger to them and changing their systems to accommodate us for a change.

That in turn would have the ripple effect. Entertaining football puts more bums on seats, promotes better merchandising and therefore would increase revenue. It would bring the disillusioned back to VP again and i believe he would bring european football back to VP. Not Champions League within 2-3 seasons, but certainly Europa League given the investment this season to save us from the drop and next season with the increase in revenue from TV. I believe we would be back competing for top 6-8 next season, but i stress, given the correct investment. He wouldn't come otherwise.

There is of course a misconception that Redknapp needs to spend big money on players for his success but if you take a look at some of his buys in the transfer market that is certainly not always the case. More recently, Freidal on a free, Van Der Vaart, and Parker. Not big money at all.

There are those posters on here who have continually stated that he would be a poor long term option in defence of Lambert. Well define long term for me? Has Lambert stayed anywhere long term and unless you are Alex Ferguson or David Moyes, long term doesn't really exist anymore in the Premiership. As it is, i could see Redknapp having enough success here to stay in and around the same amount of time as O'Neill did and in our present predicament, i think Redknapp would be the perfect fit.

[Risso]

Simply not true. In 2010/11 we had a turnover of 92 million the 7th highest in the Premier League behind Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Man City but ahead of similar sized clubs in Everton , Newcastle, Sunderland and way ahead of the likes of Stoke, Wigan, West Brom etc.

Spot on. Why people make up such rubbish is beyond me.

[lexicon]

Wow.

Morpheus - just when I thought I couldn't disagree with you more, you keep setting the bar higher.

[Keyblade]

There is of course a misconception that Redknapp needs to spend big money on players for his success but if you take a look at some of his buys in the transfer market that is certainly not always the case. More recently, Freidal on a free, Van Der Vaart, and Parker. Not big money at all.

This is more as a result of Daniel Levy's superb negotiating skills than anything Redknapp has done.

[Pelle]

Thanks for asking 'AvfcRigo82.'

I actually see Redknapp as the modern day version of 'Big Ron' in the footballing sense. 'Big Ron' liked his teams to play good football and to do that you needed to purchase the right players. Players who can do just that little bit more on the ball. Entertainers if you like. We haven't had a Villa side anywhere near the quality of 'Big Ron's' team for, well, since 'Big Ron' was manager here. Yes Gregory did ok but was his team as good, in my opinion no. We had Merson and thats about it.

I feel Redknapp would produce a team at Villa Park very much in the mould of Ron Atkinson's team, with flare and the ability to actually put teams to the sword on our best days yet also make the top four very wary of playing us. Actually having to pinpoint several of our players as a danger to them and changing their systems to accommodate us for a change.

That in turn would have the ripple effect. Entertaining football puts more bums on seats, promotes better merchandising and therefore would increase revenue. It would bring the disillusioned back to VP again and i believe he would bring european football back to VP. Not Champions League within 2-3 seasons, but certainly Europa League given the investment this season to save us from the drop and next season with the increase in revenue from TV. I believe we would be back competing for top 6-8 next season, but i stress, given the correct investment. He wouldn't come otherwise.

There is of course a misconception that Redknapp needs to spend big money on players for his success but if you take a look at some of his buys in the transfer market that is certainly not always the case. More recently, Freidal on a free, Van Der Vaart, and Parker. Not big money at all.

There are those posters on here who have continually stated that he would be a poor long term option in defence of Lambert. Well define long term for me? Has Lambert stayed anywhere long term and unless you are Alex Ferguson or David Moyes, long term doesn't really exist anymore in the Premiership. As it is, i could see Redknapp having enough success here to stay in and around the same amount of time as O'Neill did and in our present predicament, i think Redknapp would be the perfect fit.

I can agree with much of what you say here, except that Redknapp would hardly be the right man for it. And as it is, I think Lambert might be the right man IF he can keep us up this season. I think the style of play has already improved and I think the players he signs are most of them the kind of players that are good on the ball. If they're good enough remains to be seen, and the results atm doesn't really speak for it. But some games we've played but not won shows at least to me that that's where Lambert wanna go.

But there are some concerns, no doubt. Like the lack of defence in some games. But I don't think it's been that bad. But 22 goals against in 12 games ain't really backing my opinion up. But I still think I can see some improvements there too, compared to last season.

And I doubt wheeler dealer Redknapp would take the job under the same conditions that Lambert did. Thank God for that.

[Morpheus]

This is more as a result of Daniel Levy's superb negotiating skills than anything Redknapp has done.

Van Der Vaart maybe but Redknapp could just have said no. Freidal however was on a free and Redknappp had been chasing Parker for some considerable time FFS!