Manager Paul Lambert

[StanBalaban]

How can he be right to freeze them out? They could have played now when our defence is a mess! Also don't think Lowton is better than Hutton. He has potential but he is too lightweight for me. The tackle he tried against Kone was embarrassing. I do think he is one for the future thought.

I guess it's a matter of opinion but we can't escape the facts.

I'm guessing it's as much to do with their attitude as it is their playing ability.

[LondonLax]

Lambert can't win

Sign 8 players, he is criticised for not signing 3 more expereinced ones - Sign 3 experienced ones and he would be criticised for not having enough players when injuries hit

No he is being criticized for spending £18m and doing worse than McLeish.

He can win. If he had done as well as McLeish did with this squad he would be afforded time and slack but he has done much worse than our worst manager of the modern era.

For this he is rightly being criticized.

[Harry]

If Mcleish had Lambert's record this season, not one person on here would defend him and you'd all be going mad wanting him sacked.

Let's look at what Mcleish had to work with. Yes, he had a 'few' more experienced players but he still had to rely heavily on the same bunch of youth graduates we have now. Mcleish also had to deal with the fact he got personally insulted and chanted against nearly every game, nobody wanted him to begin with and he had the whole Collins/Dunne/Herd hitting the booze saga. He had less money to spend, which he had to try and buy replacements for Young & Downing with. He made signings which, in hindsight, on paper should have done well but unfortunately they didn't. On the field, he was negative, he was defensive but it was a style of Football and even though we were poor, he done just enough to scrape us through.

Compare that to Lambert. From the off, he's been backed by the fans. He spent over £20 million in the summer - he signed Vlaar, Lowton, Bennett, El Ahmadi, Bowery, Westwood & Benteke. 6 of them to be put straight into the starting 11, so it's more or less 'his team'. He froze out certain players from the start, granted they were poor last year, but you can't judge experienced players who have suffered a loss of form by giving them 45 minutes in a meaningless friendly. He didn't have to deal with the loss of any major players as AM did and had time to access what the club needed. In the summer there were hundreds of quality players on free transfers, yet he chose to spend over £20 million buying 'young, hungry' kids. Yes, injuries play a part but they do in any team's season, something he should have legislated for. He then creates issues with Darren Bent, alienates Stephen Ireland and goes into the season with a very in-experienced back 4. The players from Villa's youth team - Bannan, Clark, Lichaj, Herd, Baker, have had 2-3 seasons now of playing Premiership football but they look worse now than at any time under Houllier or Mcleish. On the pitch, we have no style of play. We don't score, we concede every match (usually 2 or 3) and he has no ability to change things. He then uses the excuse that the side is young, which yes, it is, but he added to that with his signings which have turned out to be awful. He had (has) Guzan, Dunne, Vlaar, Warnock, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Holman, Agbonlahor & Bent. If he had none of these I could see his point but it's HIM and only HIM who chooses the team and decides to leave these lot out.

I have no sympathy for him, he's a poor manager who has grasped at his 'big chance' and failed hands down. As said, if this was Mcleish in the same scenario not one person would back him. He's was in a better position than AM was at the start of last season but has contrived to mess it up.

We don't have time to see how the next 2 games go because by then the damage will be beyond repair.

Good post, its hard to argue with much of what you are saying. I have lost a lot of confidence in Lambert in the last few weeks but I don't see an obvious replacement who would take the job particularly if there is no money and given how poor our squad really is. Perhaps a new manager would get more out of the players and inject a little more steel but thats a big gamble.

The other less obvious point is when we go down and I believe that is pretty much a certainty Lambert is probably the manager we want to have in the Championship

[Jarpie]

Agreed, but that could be down to a number of factors. Naivety, inability to land his targets, misplaced faith in the existing players after pre season, or an unwillingness to spend his budget on someone deemed not to be the right player. Whatever the reason, he needs to be able to put that right in this window.

Maybe, but he had two months for that. He must deal with it now or we're down without any chance of survival.

[StanBalaban]

Spot on VillaCas. We needed quality AND quantity and unfortunately, as much as it sounds £20 million doesn't buy both without a huge swelling of an over already over inflated wage bill.

As I said before, had he bought 3 quality players and we suffered from injuries, or bought another CNZ (that most on here including myself were happy with at the time), PL would be getting slated as another club had picked up the likes of Lowton and Westwood.

**** either way, without more money to spend.

[Amo69]

If Mcleish had Lambert's record this season, not one person on here would defend him and you'd all be going mad wanting him sacked.

Let's look at what Mcleish had to work with. Yes, he had a 'few' more experienced players but he still had to rely heavily on the same bunch of youth graduates we have now. Mcleish also had to deal with the fact he got personally insulted and chanted against nearly every game, nobody wanted him to begin with and he had the whole Collins/Dunne/Herd hitting the booze saga. He had less money to spend, which he had to try and buy replacements for Young & Downing with. He made signings which, in hindsight, on paper should have done well but unfortunately they didn't. On the field, he was negative, he was defensive but it was a style of Football and even though we were poor, he done just enough to scrape us through.

Compare that to Lambert. From the off, he's been backed by the fans. He spent over £20 million in the summer - he signed Vlaar, Lowton, Bennett, El Ahmadi, Bowery, Westwood & Benteke. 6 of them to be put straight into the starting 11, so it's more or less 'his team'. He froze out certain players from the start, granted they were poor last year, but you can't judge experienced players who have suffered a loss of form by giving them 45 minutes in a meaningless friendly. He didn't have to deal with the loss of any major players as AM did and had time to access what the club needed. In the summer there were hundreds of quality players on free transfers, yet he chose to spend over £20 million buying 'young, hungry' kids. Yes, injuries play a part but they do in any team's season, something he should have legislated for. He then creates issues with Darren Bent, alienates Stephen Ireland and goes into the season with a very in-experienced back 4. The players from Villa's youth team - Bannan, Clark, Lichaj, Herd, Baker, have had 2-3 seasons now of playing Premiership football but they look worse now than at any time under Houllier or Mcleish. On the pitch, we have no style of play. We don't score, we concede every match (usually 2 or 3) and he has no ability to change things. He then uses the excuse that the side is young, which yes, it is, but he added to that with his signings which have turned out to be awful. He had (has) Guzan, Dunne, Vlaar, Warnock, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Holman, Agbonlahor & Bent. If he had none of these I could see his point but it's HIM and only HIM who chooses the team and decides to leave these lot out.

I have no sympathy for him, he's a poor manager who has grasped at his 'big chance' and failed hands down. As said, if this was Mcleish in the same scenario not one person would back him. He's was in a better position than AM was at the start of last season but has contrived to mess it up.

We don't have time to see how the next 2 games go because by then the damage will be beyond repair.

Great post.

Wish we went for Laudrup. I wonder how we would be doing with Michu, Hernandez, and that big Spamish defender in our team.

[StanBalaban]

No he is being criticized for spending £18m and doing worse than McLeish.

He can win. If he had done as well as McLeish did with this squad he would be afforded time and slack but he has done much worse than our worst manager of the modern era.

For this he is rightly being criticized.

I said in an earlier post that the teams that have come up have more money and quality than the teams that went down. Plus teams like Fulham, Sunderland and Norwich have built to squads already better than ours. If AM was here this year we'd have even less points - in my opion of course.

[Amo69]

Spot on VillaCas. We needed quality AND quantity and unfortunately, as much as it sounds £20 million doesn't buy both without a huge swelling of an over already over inflated wage bill.

As I said before, had he bought 3 quality players and we suffered from injuries, or bought another CNZ (that most on here including myself were happy with at the time), PL would be getting slated as another club had picked up the likes of Lowton and Westwood.

**** either way, without more money to spend.

So wouldn't it make sense to keep players that can't be sold available for selection?

[Keyblade]

How can he be right to freeze them out? They could have played now when our defence is a mess! Also don't think Lowton is better than Hutton. He has potential but he is too lightweight for me. The tackle he tried against Kone was embarrassing. I do think he is one for the future thought.

I guess it's a matter of opinion but we can't escape the facts.

Lowton is an improvement on Hutton in every conceivable way. I'm sorry, but look for another stick to beat Lambert with.

[foreveryoung]

We have fielded the youngest ever PL starting XI ever so, whilst they're not '17, 18, 19', there is blatantly no real leadership in the team.

Unfortunately, the team is shite so Lambert not knowing how to get the best out of them is akin to him not knowing how to polish a turd.

Well more fool an experienced manager like Lambert to think he could make us a winning side with this team he assembled! How fans can still defend him is beyond me! We brought him in thinking he was the man to do a job with the limited funds available. If we had 50 million to spend we would have had Benitez or AVB.

Remember we have quality in Ireland, Nzog and Bent, Why he cannot motivate these players is beyond me. I dont think he really knows how to play them, You cant keep saying the players are shit. Your telling me Fergie, venger, even Rednapp could not get these guys playing and motivated.

Edited January 13, 2013 by foreveryoung

[Amo69]

I said in an earlier post that the teams that have come up have more money and quality than the teams that went down. Plus teams like Fulham, Sunderland and Norwich have built to squads already better than ours. If AM was here this year we'd have even less points - in my opion of course.

I bet our goal difference would be better

[StanBalaban]

Great post.

Wish we went for Laudrup. I wonder how we would be doing with Michu, Hernandez, and that big Spamish defender in our team.

All well and good having Michu, but who in our team would get the ball to him? ;-)

[Amo69]

All well and good having Michu, but who in our team would get the ball to him? ;-)

Ummm Hernandez.

[foreveryoung]

Well more fool an experienced manager like Lambert to think he could make us a winning side with this team he assembled! How fans can still defend him is beyond me! We brought him in thinking he was the man to do a job with the limited funds available. If we had 50 million to spend we would have had Benitez or AVB.

Remember we have quality in Ireland, Nzog and Bent, Why he cannot motivate these players is beyond me. I dont think he really knows how to play them, You cant keep saying the players are shit. Your telling me Fergie, venger, even Rednapp could not get these guys playing and motivated.

[VillaCas]

How can he be right to freeze them out? They could have played now when our defence is a mess! Also don't think Lowton is better than Hutton. He has potential but he is too lightweight for me. The tackle he tried against Kone was embarrassing. I do think he is one for the future thought.

I guess it's a matter of opinion but we can't escape the facts.

We would still be in this position and probably worse

We would be no closer to getting rid of Warnock and Hutton

You would be posting on here " Why hasn't he got rid of Warnock when it's obvious that he's crap, he should have signed that Lowton guy from Sheffield who looks a much better prospect....how are we going to get better if he sticks with these crap old pro's"

See how it works!! Lambert can't win

Perhaps it would all be better if he wore a suit (unless he actually wears a suit and then he "wouldn't be showing enough passion / not close enough to the players / who does he think he is, Fergie etc etc)

Lambert is our best chance - get behind him

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

Heskey £3.5, Collins £5.0, Cuellar £7.8, Makoun £6.0, Petrov £6.5, Warnock £6, Hutton £4

Don't say it was his choice to lose Warnock and Hutton - it was part of RL/PF plan that PL signed up to

Talk about Delfounesco v Bowery is just nonsense - they are both worth about £500k FFS

Heskey, Collins, Cuellar, Makoun, Hutton and Warnock aren't worth the values stated; they were signed for that much, but that's because we over-paid for them.

I'd say that shower of shite, at current value, is worth £10M (at a very conservative estimation).

[foreveryoung]

Heskey, Collins, Cuellar, Makoun, Hutton and Warnock aren't worth the values stated; they were signed for that much, but that's because we over-paid for them.

I'd say that shower of shite, at current value, is worth £10M (at a very conservative estimation).

Your forgetting the quality that was Beye too, what a buy he was. Cost 7 mill im not to sure????

[StanBalaban]

I don't know the answer to that as I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but I'd also ask in the case of CNZ and Ireland particular, why it s that they can't motivate themselves in any way shape or form. They're grown men FFS, and their level of inconsistency suggests more than just Lambert's inability in this matter.

If PL found something to make his job easier then he's not going to ignore it, surely?

[Amo69]

We would still be in this position and probably worse

We would be no closer to getting rid of Warnock and Hutton

You would be posting on here " Why hasn't he got rid of Warnock when it's obvious that he's crap, he should have signed that Lowton guy from Sheffield who looks a much better prospect....how are we going to get better if he sticks with these crap old pro's"

See how it works!! Lambert can't win

Perhaps it would all be better if he wore a suit (unless he actually wears a suit and then he "wouldn't be showing enough passion / not close enough to the players / who does he think he is, Fergie etc etc)

Lambert is our best chance - get behind him

I see your point but the fact is we had those defenders last season and we were in a better position in the league. So yes we would all be moaning but as fans we are always going to moan if in a relegation battle. In fact we will moan no matter what!

Whats important at this moment in time is premier league survival, not pleasing fans.

I agree we need to get behind Lambert but that doesn't mean we can't criticise him on a chat forum!

[dukes]

Heskey £3.5, Collins £5.0, Cuellar £7.8, Makoun £6.0, Petrov £6.5, Warnock £6, Hutton £4

Don't say it was his choice to lose Warnock and Hutton - it was part of RL/PF plan that PL signed up to

Talk about Delfounesco v Bowery is just nonsense - they are both worth about £500k FFS

With all due respect, the problem is not what we received for the players you mention, the problem is that what we paid for them (with the exception of Petrov), did not reflect their real world value, and you certainly can't count the value of payers out of contract such as Heskey and Cuellar, as they have zero value. Collins value was the £2M we received, not the £5M we paid, but I suspect it was Lambert who ultimately decided to sell.

Some. Of the players were still available, such as Hutton and Warnock, and if PL only decided they were surplus to requirements because Lerner or Faulkner told him so, then I would have to question his suitability for the managers job, a strong manger does not allow the board to pick his team. That said, if PL signed p to this plan of RL/PF then he is responsible for the result.

You keep saying you know for sure that PL didn't want the payers he signed,or wanted Sissoko,well he strikes me as the kind if person who would not accept such constraints, why is he not coo uncaring his better ? Why has he it resigned due to the lack of support from the board ?

PL is as much to lame as anyone or the mess we are in,yes he inherited problems, but he unnecessarily changed too much too soon, and seems totally inept tactically.

Lerner and Faulkner are also to blame, but neither of them is gong anywhere, the quickest fix here s for Lambert to o and someone to or in who can motivate to payers we have.