Manager Paul Lambert

[KennyPowers]

I pretty much agree with the last two comments. A major problem is Benteke and Gabby both keep wanting the ball to feet. Weimann is prepared to make runs off the ball but I don't see it enough from the other two. I don't think you can blame the midfield for 'tippy-tappy' football, where are they meant to pass the ball? We couldn't even hit Benteke's head today because he was dominated by Samba. The full-backs don't want to (or are told not to) get caught too far forward. The midfield ends up passing the ball between themselves because of the lack of options. 

 

We looked very good in the second half especially when the game got stretched but Lambert really needs to try and learn lessons from the first half. Listen to his interview though and he says "I thought we started the game really well, the first twenty minutes". It really doesn't fill me with confidence when Lambert doesn't seem to recognise what has gone on during the game. 

Apparently you, me and the other two comments are on another planet with views like this

 

Lambert's tactics in the first half served up some of the most ineffective football we have seen. As many people have said from Ian Taylor to Lineker, to the commentators on Sky just basically we offered nothing whatsoever in terms of attacks and if not for Guzan could have and probably should have been losing by a margin bigger than we could have recovered from

 

It seems still though that any questioning of Lambert is met by abuse from his "supporters"

 

We have mixed ourselves up here. I was criticising the first half performance and I was referring to previous comments when I started typing my post but extra comments were there when I finished. 

 

First half they were much the better side. The biggest change from first half to second half was Zamora going off which meant they couldn't hold the ball up anymore and we could have wave after wave of attack. I didn't see Lambert make any changes at half-time which he should get credit for in terms of turning the game around. 

 

The only thing I slightly defended was the midfielders because they have so little movement infront of them they can't make incisive passes. They can't create runs, they can only pick them out. 

[markavfc40]

1st half performance showed exactly the sort of shite that Lambert has been dishing up all year. Interesting that Gabby and Andi both were shouting at the midfield and defence to play the ball in behind the defence rather than that shit tippy tappy sideways crap that Lambert had them playing. The fact that until Gabby scored we had not even worked their GK showed how the tactics were all wrong (again). Lambert should insist that Guzan is paid his weight in gold after his performance in keeping us in the game.

 

I just wonder how much the players influenced the second half tactics because they were nothing like the first half stuff that Lambert dished up.

 

 

Ian you are basically saying that poor first half performance = down to Lambert, very good second half = down to the players. Well at the very least given that Lambert signed 7 of those players that started the second half he deserves praise on that basis alone.

 

I personally like what he is trying to do. He has tried to get us to control possession more and be more selective in when to try to play the killer forward pass. Last week against Reading it resulted in us keeping the ball for what must have been 30 passes before we scored our second goal.

 

Second half today we certainly played at a higher tempo than the first and played the ball around and into the forwards much quicker. However that in part was due to the game becoming far more stretched as it went on.

 

You clearly don't rate him and that is fine. I have a strong feeling he will prove you very much wrong though especially if he is given some decent financial backing as he has already shown he has an eye for a player.

[OutByEaster?]

I think in the first half we started really well, we were zipping the ball around very well and QPR couldn't get near it - we weren't creating chances, but I think it set a good tone and it took some of the early spirit out of them - I think we became a little impatient with not creating chances, tried to much and gave them back the momentum - from there it was all down to Big Brad.

[drat01]

1st half performance showed exactly the sort of shite that Lambert has been dishing up all year. Interesting that Gabby and Andi both were shouting at the midfield and defence to play the ball in behind the defence rather than that shit tippy tappy sideways crap that Lambert had them playing. The fact that until Gabby scored we had not even worked their GK showed how the tactics were all wrong (again). Lambert should insist that Guzan is paid his weight in gold after his performance in keeping us in the game.

 

I just wonder how much the players influenced the second half tactics because they were nothing like the first half stuff that Lambert dished up.

 

 

Ian you are basically saying that poor first half performance = down to Lambert, very good second half = down to the players. Well at the very least given that Lambert signed 7 of those players that started the second half he deserves praise on that basis alone.

 

I personally like what he is trying to do. He has tried to get us to control possession more and be more selective in when to try to play the killer forward pass. Last week against Reading it resulted in us keeping the ball for what must have been 30 passes before we scored our second goal.

 

Second half today we certainly played at a higher tempo than the first and played the ball around and into the forwards much quicker. However that in part was due to the game becoming far more stretched as it went on.

 

You clearly don't rate him and that is fine. I have a strong feeling he will prove you very much wrong though especially if he is given some decent financial backing as he has already shown he has an eye for a player.

Thing is Mark we saw again a performance in that first half that mirrored so much of what has gone before this season in a lack of any cutting edge (no shots at all up until the goal in the very last minute), constant threat from the opposition and a reliance on a GK who is proving to be one of the best in the Premiership based on current form. You could see the frustration of Gabby and Andi at the game and I have just seen the same on Sky where the midfield and defence refused to play the type of ball that ultimately delivered results.

 

Do I like Lambert? Not at all, and one second half performance and a win does not change that. The painful memories and realization that we are in the position we are because of Lambert and his mistakes up until there make me feel that he is out of his depth and lacks what is needed at AVFC. I appreciate that some are keen on him, some are besotted by him, but I just don't buy into that adulation based on the season as a whole rather than 45 minutes.

 

It's all good and well playing controlled and passing football but there has to be a utilisation of our key scoring assets that are Gabby, Andi and Benteke and Ray Wilkins type tactics are not the answer IMO. All I said re the players was that I wondered how much was said by them at half time, based on what we saw re their frustrations and the difference in the second half where we were a lot more direct and played to those strengths of the attackers. None of us on here know, because despite what some may have you think they do not have a hot line to Lambert nor do they know what is being said in the dressing room

 

I am over the moon we won, and I was equally pleased (albeit more subdued as I was in with the Reading fans) last week. I want AVFC to do well, I would even accept it if Lambert changed things sufficiently to get that massive improvement, because despite what was a great pair of wins, we are still near the bottom, we have still had a season where we have conceded far too many goals from silly mistakes (and again today), we have still been knocked out by lower league clubs and suffered record defeats and we have still got a very poor GD tally. That for me still makes Lambert a poor manager. Let's hope he can change things

[HeyAnty]

Im a Lambert fan and always with back him.  The team has been totally rebuilt in 6 months with allot of inexperienced unproven players and the quality and entertainment of football we have played has been the best iv seen at villa for a good few years. Obs that is my own opinion.  As i said before if he keeps Villa up this season he should be paraded in an open top bus around Birmingham.  Judge him on what he does next season when he has a good bit more time to stamp his mark. 

[KennyPowers]

Drat and mark I agree it's incredibly hard to figure out how much to credit Lambert for the win today. Like I said the most obvious thing that changed the game today was them taking Zamora off. Personally I'm not convinced by Lambert's analysis in post-match interviews at all. I'd be more inclined to give Lambert the benefit of the doubt if what he said tallied with what I had seen but it hardly ever does.

 

Lambert (according to his interview) seems to think we started well today and their goal was against the run of play when actually we were completely ineffective in the first half and Guzan kept us in the game. 

[snowychap]

Glad that Paul is beginning to prove how sensible it is to keep the faith and not the knee jerk response screamed for by a section of the fanbase!

 

That'll be 'a section' that you have a personal problem with?

[snowychap]

I think in the first half we started really well, we were zipping the ball around very well and QPR couldn't get near it - we weren't creating chances, but I think it set a good tone and it took some of the early spirit out of them - I think we became a little impatient with not creating chances, tried to much and gave them back the momentum - from there it was all down to Big Brad.

 

Those two Brad saves happened towards the end of the first ten minutes, didn't they?

[Big_John_10]

and be more selective in when to try to play the killer forward pass

I think thats a pretty optimistic view.

We looked like we have done all season, which is pretty clueless when trying to create chances. I don't think it was down to lambert trying a new approach at all.

[Zatman]

One thing Lambert needs to be praised for is installing serious character into this team. last 2 games we have came back from a a goal down and credit has to be given for this also many other teams would have just crashed completely after the dismal christmas

[Big_John_10]

Im a Lambert fan and always with back him.  The team has been totally rebuilt in 6 months with allot of inexperienced unproven players and the quality and entertainment of football we have played has been the best iv seen at villa for a good few years. Obs that is my own opinion.  As i said before if he keeps Villa up this season he should be paraded in an open top bus around Birmingham.  Judge him on what he does next season when he has a good bit more time to stamp his mark. 

If he keeps us up he has done the minimum expected of him.

His tactics and signings should be questioned as to why we've found ourselves in such a dire situation.

His supporters have constantly told us just how shit the squad are. Funny how this shit squad have started picking up points ever since Lambert changed the formation to one that suits us. Maybe if he'd done this earlier we wouldn't have gone into games like today needing a win to try and survive.

Having said that, if he continues to improve us and cut out those mistakes then hopefully he can start to become the manager many of us thought we were getting.

I don't for one second believe he deserves any praise if we stay up this season. It's down to him why we find ourselves in this state.

One thing Lambert needs to be praised for is installing serious character into this team. last 2 games we have came back from a a goal down and credit has to be given for this also many other teams would have just crashed completely after the dismal christmas

Yeah can't argue with that.

Nice to see after the last two shit managers.

[lexicon]

Drat - you used to be quite a reasonable, balanced poster. What happened? 

[ciggiesnbeer]

I like the tippy tappy stuff. Because it is possession and when you have possession you are not defending and lets face it defending is still a massive problem for us. The past two games we have played the possession style we did at the start of the season, we are a much better team when we do it. Also because of our forwards mix (Gab=pacey+ strong, Tekkers=big + accurate, Weimann=workrate+vision) we can always throw in a direct ball or ball into space when we like. It is a great mix to put in front of a team playing possession football.

 

More please Lambert, more please.

[drat01]

Drat - you used to be quite a reasonable, balanced poster. What happened? 

:-) i still am. The realisation of what lambert has put us through this year means that from a position of enthusiasm for him at the start that changed to a realisation that he is not the manager we thought and hoped. I base those views on the facts of the season

[The_Lions_Roar]

I like the tippy tappy stuff. Because it is possession and when you have possession you are not defending and lets face it defending is still a massive problem for us. The past two games we have played the possession style we did at the start of the season, we are a much better team when we do it. Also because of our forwards mix (Gab=pacey+ strong, Tekkers=big + accurate, Weimann=workrate+vision) we can always throw in a direct ball or ball into space when we like. It is a great mix to put in front of a team playing possession football.

 

More please Lambert, more please.

Yeah I see nothing wrong with it, if there's no movement up front and not an easy ball the play then I'm more than happy to see us pass it sideways and keep the ball. I'd rather that than we just lumped it forward.

[Condimentalist]

1st half performance showed exactly the sort of shite that Lambert has been dishing up all year. Interesting that Gabby and Andi both were shouting at the midfield and defence to play the ball in behind the defence rather than that shit tippy tappy sideways crap that Lambert had them playing. The fact that until Gabby scored we had not even worked their GK showed how the tactics were all wrong (again). Lambert should insist that Guzan is paid his weight in gold after his performance in keeping us in the game.

 

I just wonder how much the players influenced the second half tactics because they were nothing like the first half stuff that Lambert dished up.

 

Very happy we won and very happy with some performances. Still nowhere near convinced that Lambert is anything more than a very poor manager with very few ideas

 

So if we play poorly it's Lambert's fault and if we play well it's because of the players?

 

I wouldn't believe anyone could write such nonsense, but having seen you derail numerous political threads with such blinkered and partisan tripe (tripe which, otherwise presented, I'd frequently have some sympathy with) I can't say I'm surprised. 

[drat01]

Patrick no need for abuse.

Such a shame that those who feel so strongly in their support for lambert have to resort to abusing others who do not share their views.

[darrenm]

Patrick no need for abuse.

Such a shame that those who feel so strongly in their support for lambert have to resort to abusing others who do not share their views.

I wasn't commenting in support of Lambert, just to point out how ridiculous your post was. That's why I said you were on another planet. Mysteriously my post has disappeared, wonder what happened there.

[DamsonwoodVillan]

The lads have now recovered the situation sufficiently to give us a position where it is ours to lose from here on in.

 

7 points on Reading and QPR, and realistically about 3 points on Wigan going into the final 8 games.

 

It's in our hands now undoubtedly.

 

Whether you've had faith in Lambert from the start or whether you think he's useless, we now have 8 games where I think it will give us a very clear indication of how well he can manage a situation.

 

I say back him and the team to the death in these last 8 games, if after those games we've thrown it away whip him then.

[myb]

I think he deserves huge credit.  Yes, he led us through a very dark period and undoubtedly made some big mistakes during that.  But he is slowly put surely pulling us out of it.  When we find our feet in a game we play some very good stuff.  It is inevitable given the age of the squad that we're going to wobble both for spells in a season and spells in a game.  If we stay up we will be so much stronger for it and I think we're building something quite exciting, or at least a little different, from the traditional spending approach which we have seen in the past and elsewhere.

 

I also don't see how keeping us up cannot be viewed as an achievement.  Have the last 2 years and the total rebuild not just happened?  I think if he keeps us up having built this team f youngsters he deserves huge credit and, as said a second ago, sets us up nicely for next season.