Manager Paul Lambert

[AstonMartin82]

Every season we go through a patch where we play badly and lose a few games in a row. If this run comes during mid-season then it disguises any issues that may be in the team. It is conceivable that this run is coming at the beginning of the season.

Amo, yes January will a much better point in time to start making a judgement on the team.

I disagree. Our poor runs in the last 2 seasons have come when we have had a glut of injuries - and have been forced to play the academy players.

This season the squad is so threadbare that the kids are now starting by default. Sadly the results are the same. Whenever we pack the team with academy products we loose matches.

We need to be fielding a team of season professionals - if we don't IMO we will be relegated.

Every team has poor spells during the season whether you are Man Utd or Aston Villa.

After Friday, if we haven't signed the seasoned professionals that you write about, you should put some money on us going down... you'll get incredibly good odds - much better than odds on which is what you believe is reality.

Oh come on - we went 14 without a win last season - Manu might have lost one and drawn a couple. There really is no comparison.

I don't really understand you comments about the relegation odds either - We are are 5th favourites @ 12/5 - not incredibly long odds are they ?

We have lost 2 out of 2 this season. We went on worse runs last season. The team is in transition so lets try and keep things in perspective.

Regarding the odds, you said that it is likely we will get relegated without bringing in some seasoned professionals. Likely means there is a greater chance of us getting relegated than not getting relegated. Odds of 12/5 tells us that there is more chance of us staying up than getting relegated.

As such, my suggestion was if you feel that strongly about us getting relegated, and sincerely believe it is "likely" to happen then you are getting excellent value and should put money on it. Or the alternative is you don't think it is "likely" to happen and we are all overreacting to 2 games?

No club in any division will ever be odds on to get relegated with 2 games gone.

Your statement was that you would get very good odds on us being relegated. We are a little over 2-1 - with only 4 clubs shorter odds than us. - its up to you as to whether 2-1 constitutes very long odds.

I disagree... I'd imagine Portsmouth would be very heavy odds on to get relegated this season.

2-1 still means we are likely to stay up and if you shopped around you will get closer to 3-1 than 2-1. Add on top of this figure the bookies margin (as they always shorten the odds to make a profit) and then on top of that Randy's likely investment in January if we are struggling (history suggests he does invest... eg Bent and Makoun) then I would say 3-1 on us getting relegated is still very short and there is a considerable over-reaction on this board.

Currently I'd be extremely happy to take a bet at those odds stating we are NOT going to get relegated (contrary to popular belief on these forums after 2 games).

[smetrov]

Every season we go through a patch where we play badly and lose a few games in a row. If this run comes during mid-season then it disguises any issues that may be in the team. It is conceivable that this run is coming at the beginning of the season.

Amo, yes January will a much better point in time to start making a judgement on the team.

I disagree. Our poor runs in the last 2 seasons have come when we have had a glut of injuries - and have been forced to play the academy players.

This season the squad is so threadbare that the kids are now starting by default. Sadly the results are the same. Whenever we pack the team with academy products we loose matches.

We need to be fielding a team of season professionals - if we don't IMO we will be relegated.

Every team has poor spells during the season whether you are Man Utd or Aston Villa.

After Friday, if we haven't signed the seasoned professionals that you write about, you should put some money on us going down... you'll get incredibly good odds - much better than odds on which is what you believe is reality.

Oh come on - we went 14 without a win last season - Manu might have lost one and drawn a couple. There really is no comparison.

I don't really understand you comments about the relegation odds either - We are are 5th favourites @ 12/5 - not incredibly long odds are they ?

We have lost 2 out of 2 this season. We went on worse runs last season. The team is in transition so lets try and keep things in perspective.

Regarding the odds, you said that it is likely we will get relegated without bringing in some seasoned professionals. Likely means there is a greater chance of us getting relegated than not getting relegated. Odds of 12/5 tells us that there is more chance of us staying up than getting relegated.

As such, my suggestion was if you feel that strongly about us getting relegated, and sincerely believe it is "likely" to happen then you are getting excellent value and should put money on it. Or the alternative is you don't think it is "likely" to happen and we are all overreacting to 2 games?

No club in any division will ever be odds on to get relegated with 2 games gone.

Your statement was that you would get very good odds on us being relegated. We are a little over 2-1 - with only 4 clubs shorter odds than us. - its up to you as to whether 2-1 constitutes very long odds.

I disagree... I'd imagine Portsmouth would be very heavy odds on to get relegated this season.

2-1 still means we are likely to stay up and if you shopped around you will get closer to 3-1 than 2-1. Add on top of this figure the bookies margin (as they always shorten the odds to make a profit) and then on top of that Randy's likely investment in January if we are struggling (history suggests he does invest... eg Bent and Makoun) then I would say 3-1 on us getting relegated is still very short and there is a considerable over-reaction on this board.

Currently I'd be extremely happy to take a bet at those odds stating we are NOT going to get relegated (contrary to popular belief on these forums after 2 games).

OK fair enough.

if we get 50% of the players were are being linked with today - these thoughts will be distant memory - lets hope they are in any case - .....In Lambo we trust.....

[piav_k4]

Lambert seems like a class act to me. I was delighted when he was appointed. The team selection was strange against Everton but he is still contending with square pegs in round holes. As was McLeish to a degree, but even more so now that he has told Hutton and Warnock where to go.

I just hope in my heart of hearts that the fans accept what ever this happens season and give Lambert the 3 years he's earned working miracles at Norwich, to turn our club around.

[Woodytom]

Just reacting to the posts about how Lambert is only getting to see the players competitively now and blaming defeats on our poor squad / lack of spending, we are being way way more tolerant of Paul Lambert than we were of Alex McLeish. Judging on the lack of any coherent tactics or definite squad selection in the first couple of games I'm wondering were we correct in getting rid of McLeish? How long do we give Lambert to sort it out? I can't see us getting anything out of Newcastle and Swansea are in much better form than us so things could look very bad for us quite soon.

I can see your point here. Before I say this Id like to make it clear I am behind Lambert and he obviously needs time.

But......

Some people thought we could do better than Martin O'Neill. We got Houllier (who FWIW is actually probably would have got us sorted by now)

People wanted rid of Houllier (thinking we could do better) - We got Mcleish

People wanted rid of Mcleish - We get Lambert - and at the minute it doesnt look like any improvements been made.

Now, of course Im confident that Lambert will end up doing a good job, but Im in genuine shock that people are only just realising (or being prepared to realise) just how poor the players are that these managers are working with.

The best player at Villa Park over the last few years is Ashley Young. He is streets ahead of anything we have got. But, Just look at his performances in the champs league and the Euros. At the very top - hes distinctly average going on abysmal at times.

It is time to get real and stop spending the summer months convincing ourselves that Ciaran Clark (who's never done anything) and other players are anywhere near good enough at this moment in time.

And I dont think we gave Houllier/Mcleish the benefit of the doubt with that.

[Woodytom]

As I havent seen a moment of football so far this season, can anyone tell me if we are at least approaching games with a desire to win?

[KHV]

As I havent seen a moment of football so far this season, can anyone tell me if we are at least approaching games with a desire to win?

no. it took us 46 mins to have a shot at home. we seem to have no organisation and no idea what we are doing. it is all very clueless. the defence is the worst is has been in about 25 years. its woeful all round.

[Woodytom]

As I havent seen a moment of football so far this season, can anyone tell me if we are at least approaching games with a desire to win?

no. it took us 46 mins to have a shot at home. we seem to have no organisation and no idea what we are doing. it is all very clueless. the defence is the worst is has been in about 25 years. its woeful all round.

Thats disappointing to hear.

[KHV]

As I havent seen a moment of football so far this season, can anyone tell me if we are at least approaching games with a desire to win?

no. it took us 46 mins to have a shot at home. we seem to have no organisation and no idea what we are doing. it is all very clueless. the defence is the worst is has been in about 25 years. its woeful all round.

Thats disappointing to hear.

mcleish was very negative but at least there was some sort of game plan even though it wasnt entertaining at all. After 2 games of lambert i can honestly say i have no idea what we are trying to do at all. alarmingly neither do the the players :?

[Laivasse]

As I havent seen a moment of football so far this season, can anyone tell me if we are at least approaching games with a desire to win?

no. it took us 46 mins to have a shot at home. we seem to have no organisation and no idea what we are doing. it is all very clueless. the defence is the worst is has been in about 25 years. its woeful all round.

Thats disappointing to hear.

mcleish was very negative but at least there was some sort of game plan even though it wasnt entertaining at all. After 2 games of lambert i can honestly say i have no idea what we are trying to do at all. alarmingly neither do the the players :?

I don't agree at all that we ever looked like we had a gameplan under McLeish, beyond "let's try to lose 0-1 instead of 0-2", but it is true that we've looked aimless and clueless in these two opening games.

I'm happy with Lambert's appointment and think we've potentially got a very good manager, based on what he did at Norwich, but he needs to take some of the stick for the way we've started this season. It's not all about squad weakness. He's made some very poor tactical calls and I hope he starts learning from his mistakes quickly.

[KHV]

As I havent seen a moment of football so far this season, can anyone tell me if we are at least approaching games with a desire to win?

no. it took us 46 mins to have a shot at home. we seem to have no organisation and no idea what we are doing. it is all very clueless. the defence is the worst is has been in about 25 years. its woeful all round.

Thats disappointing to hear.

mcleish was very negative but at least there was some sort of game plan even though it wasnt entertaining at all. After 2 games of lambert i can honestly say i have no idea what we are trying to do at all. alarmingly neither do the the players :?

I don't agree at all that we ever looked like we had a gameplan under McLeish, beyond "let's try to lose 0-1 instead of 0-2", but it is true that we've looked aimless and clueless in these two opening games.

I'm happy with Lambert's appointment and think we've potentially got a very good manager, based on what he did at Norwich, but he needs to take some of the stick for the way we've started this season. It's not all about squad weakness. He's made some very poor tactical calls and I hope he starts learning from his mistakes quickly.

I am hoping against hope that the blunders Lambert has made was a deliberate ploy to get Lerner to buy some players, either that or he isnt all he is made up to be. Tactically he has made massive howlers

[Woodytom]

As I havent seen a moment of football so far this season, can anyone tell me if we are at least approaching games with a desire to win?

no. it took us 46 mins to have a shot at home. we seem to have no organisation and no idea what we are doing. it is all very clueless. the defence is the worst is has been in about 25 years. its woeful all round.

Thats disappointing to hear.

mcleish was very negative but at least there was some sort of game plan even though it wasnt entertaining at all. After 2 games of lambert i can honestly say i have no idea what we are trying to do at all. alarmingly neither do the the players :?

I don't agree at all that we ever looked like we had a gameplan under McLeish, beyond "let's try to lose 0-1 instead of 0-2", but it is true that we've looked aimless and clueless in these two opening games.

I'm happy with Lambert's appointment and think we've potentially got a very good manager, based on what he did at Norwich, but he needs to take some of the stick for the way we've started this season. It's not all about squad weakness. He's made some very poor tactical calls and I hope he starts learning from his mistakes quickly.

I am hoping against hope that the blunders Lambert has made was a deliberate ploy to get Lerner to buy some players, either that or he isnt all he is made up to be. Tactically he has made massive howlers

I seriously hope he hasnt (although as if we are ever going to find out).

Would be absolutely discusting to deliberately lose games for any reason.

[Dr_Pangloss]

Ahh yes, as if he would do that. Dumb.

[KHV]

As I havent seen a moment of football so far this season, can anyone tell me if we are at least approaching games with a desire to win?

no. it took us 46 mins to have a shot at home. we seem to have no organisation and no idea what we are doing. it is all very clueless. the defence is the worst is has been in about 25 years. its woeful all round.

Thats disappointing to hear.

mcleish was very negative but at least there was some sort of game plan even though it wasnt entertaining at all. After 2 games of lambert i can honestly say i have no idea what we are trying to do at all. alarmingly neither do the the players :?

I don't agree at all that we ever looked like we had a gameplan under McLeish, beyond "let's try to lose 0-1 instead of 0-2", but it is true that we've looked aimless and clueless in these two opening games.

I'm happy with Lambert's appointment and think we've potentially got a very good manager, based on what he did at Norwich, but he needs to take some of the stick for the way we've started this season. It's not all about squad weakness. He's made some very poor tactical calls and I hope he starts learning from his mistakes quickly.

I am hoping against hope that the blunders Lambert has made was a deliberate ploy to get Lerner to buy some players, either that or he isnt all he is made up to be. Tactically he has made massive howlers

I seriously hope he hasnt (although as if we are ever going to find out).

Would be absolutely discusting to deliberately lose games for any reason.

would also be very worrying if he is tactically that inept

[smudge]

Bannan loved marking Fellaini!

[AndyHowell]

Lambert's only problem is the poor quality of the squad — the core of this team is nowhere near good, as we have seen over the last couple of seasons.

Some of players probably do look OK in training but when it comes to it you can't rely on Ireland or Bannon as creative forces. Herd is full of endeavour but is never a top 6 player — which is what we should be looking for. Of the new boys Holman doesn't look up for this league yet and Vlaa looks to me as if he could be one of the worst buys in recent years.

We move the ball too slowly and don't have midfielders who can get beyond the centre backs. Bannon particularly annoys me — his assist stats must be dreadful.

And let's hope Given get's over his wobbles.

A long season ahead I fear.

[AVFCforever1991]

Vlaa looks to me as if he could be one of the worst buys in recent years.

:shock:

[KjParton]

Of the new boys Holman doesn't look up for this league yet and Vlaa looks to me as if he could be one of the worst buys in recent years.

.

Holman - the man who played the sweet ball for Weimann in the 90th minute, which split Everton's defence, Weimann then went on to hit the post.

and Vlaar one of the worst buys!? :shock:

[Dr_Pangloss]

Lambert's only problem is the poor quality of the squad — the core of this team is nowhere near good, as we have seen over the last couple of seasons.

Some of players probably do look OK in training but when it comes to it you can't rely on Ireland or Bannon as creative forces. Herd is full of endeavour but is never a top 6 player — which is what we should be looking for. Of the new boys Holman doesn't look up for this league yet and Vlaa looks to me as if he could be one of the worst buys in recent years.

We move the ball too slowly and don't have midfielders who can get beyond the centre backs. Bannon particularly annoys me — his assist stats must be dreadful.

And let's hope Given get's over his wobbles.

A long season ahead I fear.

Out of interest, have you actually been to any of the games played so far this season?

[sonic_bouma]

did Lambert play Herd on the right against Everton?

coz if he did that is truly baffling...

im all for mixing it up and surprising the opposition but that seems to have little sense behind it

[smetrov]

Whatever you think of Lambert (and i think he is the right guy for us) - you'd all better hope he succeeds - the alternative is a very very dark place indeed.