LockStockVilla Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I'll take a bet that we won't see "Benteke knocking it down for Bent to score" anytime soon I'm not a betting man, unfortunately. It's not like I would be surprised if he is sold, I'm just making a case that a 5-3-2 could better suit him more than other formations we have played such as the 4-4-2, 4-3-3, etc..But based on the past two months, I will concede that Lambert does not fancy starting him and does not see him as a fit for his set of tactics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Do you remember Tony Mowbray's West Brom a few seasons back? He played a very similar style to how we played on the weekend. A lot of neat triangles on the half way line but no cutting edge going forward. They went down that year but won a lot of praise for their style of play. We need to get some sort of cutting edge in the side, I have a bad feeling we are going to be right back down there after the next three games. you are right, but so is Pete..... but you have to start the change somewhere and at sometime. hoof football which had been watching over the previous seasons was taking us nowhere it was camouflage football, we were being kidded to think we were progressing, when the content of our game was dire.It had no sustainability, when O'Neill left it fell apart, that says to me it was all built around him and his involvement on the day and that the long term development of the players and team was synthetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I personally think we will end the season with more points than we did last season under McLeish. I also think the club will be in a significantly better state than it was at the end of the season due to the players Lambert is signing compared to the utter tosh that McLeish signed. So while we are on less points and while the number of goals scored is poor I am (although not entirely happy or satisfied with how things are going) prepared to wait and see what happens in January and the second half of the season. While things are far from great I think there are reasons to hope/believe things will improve which is very different to how I felt 12 months ago under a manager who was only ever going to do more harm than good. I understand peoples frustrations, especially over goals scored and the Bent situation but I just struggle to view Lambert's reign as being worse than what went before. Given the mess he inherited and what I believe are fairly obvious financial constraints I think he is doing a decent job. Our squad was thread bare when he arrived and he has bolstered it yet spent less than O'Neill spent on two players for Sunderland. In the wider context of the circumstances at the club I think he is doing okay and due to what he has done so far and previously in his career I'm still fully behind him even if I don't agree with all his decisions. I agree to an extent. I tried to give Mcleish a fair crack of the whip - but then looked at £14m for Nzogbia and Hutton ! - Lamberts much cheaper purchases look better value than thos pair of clowns..... The worry for me is - If we generally accept the Lamberts signings are performing well .....why aren't we winning ?, could it be:- They aren't actually performing that well - just better than last season They are performing well - but need more time They are perfoming well - there just isn't enough of them They are performing well - but need some more players with craft & guile to create chances and score goals - if so can we afford such players, find them, settle them in, get them to perform by the end of Jan. Weve had young teams before - without such dire results - I think just waiting for results to improve won't happen. I also wonder, should we survive - are the prospects for next season much brighter ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted December 11, 2012 Moderator Share Posted December 11, 2012 The worry for me is - If we generally accept the Lamberts signings are performing well .....why aren't we winning ?, could it be:- They aren't actually performing that well - just better than last season They are performing well - but need more time They are perfoming well - there just isn't enough of them They are performing well - but need some more players with craft & guile to create chances and score goals - if so can we afford such players, find them, settle them in, get them to perform by the end of Jan. I think it is a combination of all these things and a few more personally. Weve had young teams before - without such dire results - I think just waiting for results to improve won't happen. I also wonder, should we survive - are the prospects for next season much brighter ? We have never had a team as young as this, the team against Reading was our youngest ever side in the PL. I think results are already improving personally but I think they need a helping hand in January and again next summer. Should we survive personally I think the prospects are good and we won't be in this position next season although I think if anyone still believes we are seriously trying to be a top 6 club needs to revise their hopes and expections in my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Our natural position in the grand scheme of things is a top 8/top 6 club and I think we should be looking to get back into that sort of position at the beginning of the season after next. This season is about surviving and building the core of the team, the next season is about the players gelling, adding the missing pieces and trying to get back into the top half and then hopefully we can get back to where we should be. I'm happy with the way things are going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted December 11, 2012 Moderator Share Posted December 11, 2012 For me the difference between Lambert and McLeish is that under Lambert I think things will improve next year if he's here; under McLeish I came to believe that things would only improve once he'd gone. He's done a pretty good job so far, he's making some progress with a pretty weak squad and he's strengthened it in a number of areas without a massive outlay - I think the job will take a while, and I think he's approached it that way - that's the right thing to do imo. We carry a risk because of where we are in the league and he's not been faultless but I think we're heading in the right direction under him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Our natural position in the grand scheme of things is a top 8/top 6 club and I think we should be looking to get back into that sort of position at the beginning of the season after next. This season is about surviving and building the core of the team, the next season is about the players gelling, adding the missing pieces and trying to get back into the top half and then hopefully we can get back to where we should be. I'm happy with the way things are going. I'd be happy with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I agree to an extent. I tried to give Mcleish a fair crack of the whip - but then looked at £14m for Nzogbia and Hutton ! - Lamberts much cheaper purchases look better value than thos pair of clowns..... The worry for me is - If we generally accept the Lamberts signings are performing well .....why aren't we winning ?, could it be:- They aren't actually performing that well - just better than last season They are performing well - but need more time They are perfoming well - there just isn't enough of them They are performing well - but need some more players with craft & guile to create chances and score goals - if so can we afford such players, find them, settle them in, get them to perform by the end of Jan. Weve had young teams before - without such dire results - I think just waiting for results to improve won't happen. I also wonder, should we survive - are the prospects for next season much brighter ? But the expectations from the fans have also gone done a lot, even with Lambert's "magnificent" signings we are playing awful and are in the relegation dogfight. Our play is equally awful, we score even less goals and less people come to the stands. So many of the variables are the same, except for expectations. When McLeish came here we believed we were good enough for 6th, now we know we weren't even back then. Spirit is better under Lambert, people have hope for his potential as we knew what McLeish was capable of (which was nothing). But all in all, nothing has changed and we are still in the shit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Perhaps we can have a rest from the negatives for a bit now, lost only 2 of the last 10 games (and those against the Manchester Clubs) and scored as many as we have conceeded even with City getting 5. AND a semi Final. Alright isn't it ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaForever1970 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Keep on moaning moaners! Continued improvement tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepDish Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Seems like the improvement continues. That is good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 A good win tonight for sure. Lets do it in the league please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendi Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Great result tonight at Norwich hopefully things will pick up now for him and the whole club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 didn't see the match, but it sounded like we were balls to the wall attack all the way. we need to start doing that in the league we've scored more goals in the league cup in 4 games than we have in the entire league season 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic_bouma Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Continued improvement tonight. and that is the key point 2 losses in 10 games against big teams we are improving game by game and the team is finding a bit of rhythm in their play we are going to have off days but we are heading in the right direction i'd give my left nut for a win at liverpool but even if we get turned over we have got to stay positive and believe we are better than Southampton Wigan etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 we gave one of most in form teams in England a good hiding in their own backyard, heres hoping this form can continue and bounce up the table Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I think it is a combination of all these things and a few more personally. We have never had a team as young as this, the team against Reading was our youngest ever side in the PL. I think results are already improving personally but I think they need a helping hand in January and again next summer. Should we survive personally I think the prospects are good and we won't be in this position next season although I think if anyone still believes we are seriously trying to be a top 6 club needs to revise their hopes and expections in my view. Depends what you mean by Never - check the age of 1980/81 squad - gibson, williams, shaw, sid, were all around 21 - don't forget premier league is only 1992 - there was football before that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 What a performance and result. Need to take this improvement and get some points over the next 3. **** superb though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TezzRexx Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 These kind of results don't happen by Fluke and it's clear to see we're getting better. A few extra signings to strengthen the squad and add some more experience at the back and we could go on to have a really impressive season playing decent football. UTV! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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