smetrov Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I don't think he is blameless. I think he has made mistakes and would do some things differently with the benefit of hindsight. I haven't got blind faith in him - I expected him to do better but the fact he hasn't says more to me about the size of the challenge than the calibre of PL. I'm worried not because he is a bad manager but because I think he is a good manager - let's say that instead of Lambert being here, say Roberto Mancini had been appointed - he would have the same meagre resources and the same need to cut the wage bill - do you think that we would be much further up the table? I don't At the moment PL is making do with a very very poor squad. We can all second guess, who he has bought and who he should have bought, but I really think he expected more from the likes of Bent, Ireland, Delph, Nzog etc - they let him down and he was forced to play more of his purchases, sooner than he thought. Lowton, Vlaar, Westwood, Guzan and Benteke (who needs to buck his ideas up) look good aquisitions. Bennett i think will be good but needs confidence (it is a horrible situation for a young player to come into). Bowery was bought for the future. KEA has not looked a good buy so far (that happens) I expect PL to sign 4 or 5 in this window - probably again a mix of abroad and lower leagues but maybe RL will see the need to invest a tiny bit more and they will be the next level up If once the new players arrive and bed in we go on a similar run to the last 5 games I will join you in criticism of PL but I very much hope that won't happen. It's sad that people who previously supported PL seem to be turning but I understand it. In reality football is not black and white - a tiny shift in confidence could make all the difference. NOT EXCUSES but if Benteke had put those first two chances away you can imagine everything may have turned out different You're very much within your right to criticise but for me it is aimed at the wrong person - RL failed to control MON, made an odd appt with Houllier and a terrible one with McL I'll back PL for the time being to sort it out I actually think that if Bentekke had put his chances away - Bradford would still have gone on the score the goals they did. What concerns me about the 2nd leg is not us having to score 2 or 3 goals - I think we are capable of that. But can we stop Bradford at the other end ? of that Im not so sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 agree with above, to win the second leg i think we'll need to score a minimum of 4 goals. If we lose to Southampton on Saturday, depending on the manner of the defeat I think Lambert would have to go. Our form would be very poor, the players dont necessarily seem to be playing for him, his transfer record is very hit and miss, defensively we are a shambles. I want him to turn things around, I want him to reduce the wage bill but staying in the prem is the most important thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) I expect PL to sign 4 or 5 in this window - probably again a mix of abroad and lower leagues but maybe RL will see the need to invest a tiny bit more and they will be the next level up If once the new players arrive and bed in we go on a similar run to the last 5 games I will join you in criticism of PL but I very much hope that won't happen. And there in lies the problem doesn't it. Lets just say he signs 4 or 5 players. None have arrived yet and none look likely to arrive before Saturdays game. If as you suggest these players are again likely to be from abroad or lower league they will as you say need to bed in. How long do you give these players to bed in and adjust to this league/level? 4 games, 6 games, 10 games? By the time any new players arrive and if they are lacking experience in this league/at this level we could be anywhere from another 6 to 12 games down the line. I am sorry that is not good enough now. What we need is proven quality at this level. Players who can come in now and make an immediate impact and hit the ground running. Given our current predicament and the fact we have been battered in our last 4 league games (Swansea should have been 4 up inside 25 mins) I really expected that Lambert/Lerner would have pulled their finger out and made some desperately needed signings by now. The fact they haven't and non look likely to arrive before Saturday shows total ignorance to the desperate nature of our situation. Edited January 9, 2013 by markavfc40 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Looks like it's going to be Swansea Bradford in the final. The missed opportunity is going to hurt even more if we could have faced Swansea to lift the league cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Lambert can stay until he relegates us out of the football league for me. I cant take another one of them 'joke' managerial searches that lasts for weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 agree with above, to win the second leg i think we'll need to score a minimum of 4 goals. If we lose to Southampton on Saturday, depending on the manner of the defeat I think Lambert would have to go. Our form would be very poor, the players dont necessarily seem to be playing for him, his transfer record is very hit and miss, defensively we are a shambles. I want him to turn things around, I want him to reduce the wage bill but staying in the prem is the most important thing. I actually think his transfer record is ok. Bentekke is worth the fee, so is lowton, westwood, - Vlaar but for his injuries. KEA, Bennett not so much - but we didn't pay big fees. contrast this with Hutton, Nzogbia (£14m). Whats really hurt us is the lack of depth in defence - there was just no room for injuries\poor form. A couple of journeymen signings might have helped here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Looks like it's going to be Swansea Bradford in the final. The missed opportunity is going to hurt even more if we could have faced Swansea to lift the league cup. Yeah, the chances of Chelsea winning at Swansea are about as slim as us beating Bradford 2 or 3 nil @ home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I wonder where we would be if we signed Laudrup as manager instead of Lambert. Wonder how the likes of Ki, Michu, Pablo Hernandez, Chico and De Guzman would have worked in our squad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ED Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Knowing we dont get Chelsea could be a massive boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lions_Roar Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Looks like it's going to be Swansea Bradford in the final. The missed opportunity is going to hurt even more if we could have faced Swansea to lift the league cup. Hopefully it can motivate us knowing at its not clear cut that Chelsea will be in the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted January 9, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 9, 2013 Gutted. Absolutely gutted. There's still a chance Chelsea will go through, there's still a chance we will go through, but I feel both are very unlikely. So annoying, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Hopefully it can motivate us knowing at its not clear cut that Chelsea will be in the final. Not being funny chaps but if the opportunity to have Petrov lead the team out at Wembley can't motivate are useless bunch of tards I doubt the fact that they might not face Chelsea if somehow they got to the final will have much of an impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) I totally don't get the calls to sack Lambert. Who is going to come in and replace and him? Its abundantly clear we need to sign players so we are expecting a manager to be found and to come in and in say two weeks identify what players we need sign them and bed them into the squad and start getting points in the PL. Some posters need to stop ranting and start thinking more clearly. I very much doubt he will resign. If he is that shit Villa will sack him and he gets his compensation. He is not too damaged goods and he will simply point to the restrictions he (allegedly) had to work under and then take a step back to a slightly smaller club and start again. Lambert has done a great job at his previous clubs but it was never done in the unforgiving PL. Lets face it when he when to Norwich they were dead in the water. He got them out of League 1 and very surprisingly, probably to him too, they came straight up into the PL. Had they spent a couple of seasons in the Championship before coming up I doubt many Norwich fans would have complained. They key point is he built a side in a far less competitive league with fans with much lower expectations. He has tried to repeat the exercise with Villa and to be honest he has been found wanting. That does not make him a bad manager. He has brought in young players from the lower leagues, something posters on VT banged on about doing for years. I still think that is the way to go but he has done it too quickly and coupled with injuries it has left him very short of experience. Even more crucially I think he has been severely let down by many of our existing so called 'wonder kids' ironically all of whom are now in their 20's. In defence of him I recall Paul Faulkner talking about developing the talented young players we have. As I see it the players who have performed the worst have by and large have been our existing players, a significant proportion of whom are simply not PL players and have be found out. Some of the signings we have made have found it hard adapting to the PL. Perhaps the most obvious example is Bennett. What did elements of our wonderful away support, that so many posters get so very dewy eyed about, actually expect to achieve by verbally abusing the lad (allegedly)? He had a very good game on Saturday against Ipswich not least because he had some decent cover in front of him. Maybe he won't make the grade but FFS give him a chance. He has been expected to perform brilliantly in a weak back four with an even weaker midfield in front of him. Back to Lambert, who for the avoidance of doubt I have major issues with. Chief amongst those is his tactics and formations. Maybe he would argue that he has to play with the resources he has got but that does not excuse some of the selections. My biggest gripe would be his selections in central midfield. Any fan with half a brain can see that Delph and Bannan in what is effectively a two man midfield are just out of their depth and over run. The formation is all wrong, far better to play a 4-5-1 which gives some rigidity and try to support the lone striker. Just my view of course. Lambert now faces the biggest challenge of his career. He needs to go into the market and buy or loan in 3-4 players who will give our squad some sort of backbone which we so obviously don't have. The owner needs to back him in the market and if he does not we might as well prepare ourselves for the Championship and once we are down there I doubt we will get back any time soon. As for the owner I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that his stewardship of the club is the stuff of business school case studies but there is a separate thread for all that. As I have been writing Swansea have beaten Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge so the there are always cup upsets and I think properly organised we could beat Swansea in the final. There is a challenge for our second leg. Edited January 9, 2013 by Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 And there is lies the problem doesn't it. Lets just say he signs 4 or 5 players. None have arrived yet and none look likely to arrive before Saturdays game. If as you suggest these players are again likely to be from abroad or lower league they will as you say need to bed in. How long do you give these players to bed in and adjust to this league/level? 4 games, 6 games, 10 games? By the time any new players arrive and if they are lacking experience in this league/at this level we could be anywhere from another 6 to 12 games down the line. I am sorry that is not good enough now. What we need is proven quality at this level. Players who can come in now and make an immediate impact and hit the ground running. Given our current predicament and the fact we have been battered in our last 4 league games (Swansea should have been 4 up inside 25 mins) I really expected that Lambert/Lerner would have pulled their finger out and made some desperately needed signings by now. The fact they haven't and non look likely to arrive before Saturday shows total ignorance to the desperate nature of our situation. Mark I agree - from what I imagine there is a battle going on. Lambert fighting for investment, RL willing to tread the tightrope and make PL the fall man In answer to your question - my patience will run out after the West Ham game if no improvement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 West Brom game for me is crunch time. Doubt we will sign anyone before the game on Saturday and must play better than last night to get anything from the game. Anything less than 2 points from our next 2 games and I will be pissed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lions_Roar Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Well said Harry. I actually think Chelsea losing is the best thing that could of happened tonight. Imagine Chelsea winning and having one foot in the final, do you think our places would want to face them again? Going into she second leg knowing hat Swansea have one foot in the final could give us he push we need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Di Matteo favourite to replace lambert. - Really hope Lambert turns it round - but its a tall order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Good post Harry. I don't think sacking him now will achieve much and i agree with your criticism of lambert in regards to tactics. The only thing i disagree with is your point about most villa fans wanting players from the lower leagues. While we wanted to find cheap talent i don't think anyone wanted the majority of our signings to be lower league inexperienced players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I dont want him sacked half way through season, but if we lose against Southampton then lose the 2nd leg against Bradford at the Villa, I expect him to walk. That'll be the icing on the cake for me. If we just stay in the Premier league I would have FSW end of season with funds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Haven't read the 20 or so pages which have been added to this topic since I was last on here yesterday morning. I imagine there is a lot of discussion over whether Lambert should get the sack or not. I think it would be a terrible decision. We need him here for a few years. Last night is the kind of cup upset which happens every once in a while and whilst our performance was frankly embarrassing at times I don't think changing the manager is the answer at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts