Manager Paul Lambert

[Dodgyknees]

Everton replaced Fellaini with Barry on loan and McCarthy.

They replaced one of their main players with two players of quality.

We replaced two players of quality (Downing and Young) with N'Zogbia.

Secondly can people stop saying how unrealistic it is to want to win the league or get champions league.

WE JUST WANT TO COMPETE and be a team that will put up a fight every game, not every noe and then. We don't want to finish bottom six, we don't want to be run like Wigan, we want the manager to be backed, we want to compete with teams like Southampton (!!!!!) in the transfer market, we are fed up of having fallen behind Everton, Spurs and even West Brom!

Accepting second best is bad enough, but some here are accepting one of the worst periods of football and ambition I gave known.

Did Randy drug you all?

[danceoftheshamen]

So according to quotes today from Lamberts own lips "" If we can keep everybody together for a few years then we’ll be definitely be up there.”"

 

Link: http://tinyurl.com/qbchbf8

 

He basically says that we can be challenging top 6 again in 3, 4, 5 years time. 

 

So thats answered a question of mine as to "whats the medium to long term plan for Aston Villa?"

 

So basically we are hoping to keep the squad together for 3, 4 or 5 years when we should be good enough to challenge top 6 again.

 

The key to that is clearly can "we keep everybody together?"

 

I think we all know the reality will be rather different so i guess the key to this is really ..".Can we manage to replace the ones who leave with equivalent quality?".. What concerns me is that we replace ones who undoubtedly will leave as soon as they become anything like an established Premier league player with more young cheap up and coming players? ...Or will we then replace them with an equivalent type of more established player?.. If we take the 1st option i can see nothing other than a treading water situation surely? ...So for this to work as the main bulk of the remaining squad develops we simply have to replace any who leave with more established experienced players.

 

Looking at the Dortmund model, this seems to be what they have done... the bulk of the team has been crowned with some higher calibre players.

[Papillon]

 

 

Everton have a much better squad

 

This.

 

 

& we have a much better manager.

 

Lambo will prove his worth. His investment in young, vibrant energetic blossoming potential talents will eventually bear fruit.

 

Still time to be patient & keep the faith.

 

I'm already excited about our in comings in January.

 

Lambo has shown his eye for talent & will do so again.

 

Believe.

 

 

I don't think a single objective person in the world would argue Paul Lambert is a much better manager than Roberto Martinez, it would be interesting to see where you get that notion from! Martinez stuck to his principles at measly Wigan for many seasons and they did relegate in the end, but most people should realize that the squad they had would never survive no matter who was the manager. Martinez deservedly got the chance at a bigger club and they have come off to a very good start, when he finally gets to manage a team with players capable of carrying out his philosophy. It's worth mentioning that Wigan won a trophy last season as well. When we hired Lambert I had him and Martinez as equally exciting candidates for the job, I wouldn't be disappointed if any of them got the job. It seems we tried to get a hold of Martinez a few seasons ago and who know what he would have done by now?

 

In term of Lambert, I like everyone else have kept the longterm view and wanted to see real progression with our young and "vibrant" squad. After the run-in last season I wanted to see some continued development of both players and tactics, but after 10 games this season I must confess that I think we have gone back two steps. The results are decent enough, but we are barely scraping a result here and there because of the fact that we have some decent players and because the league is filled with equally tactical inept managers. Our tactic is difficult to get a hold of each game, it seems like the players are just free-styling each game when they see how the other team is playing. I don't really care if we are a few points better off compared to last season, making conclusions based on that after 10 games is a bit naive IMO, mainly because we are dire at home, we score few goals, our attacking play is one-dimensional and we have also gotten two out of three wins against Arsenal and Man City. Now, I am not taking away those wins, but we should realize that those wins are bonus wins and it's always hard to explain how that happened. I would rather take comfort in us playing really well at home to Newcastle, Hull, Swansea, Cardiff and Sunderland as opposed to having to beat Man Utd, Chelsea and the best teams away! Those teams will beat any team on a half good day, even if the other team is having a real blinder, but every once in a while they lose. Just like Cardiff beat Man City and WBA beat Man Utd away, it happens, especially in the beginning of the season. The funny thing is that we were closer to beating Chelsea away compared to Newcastle and Everton at home... 

 

You mention words like Faith, Eventually, Patient and Believe. All empty words that could be a title for Justin Bieber's next album. All in all it's about wishful thinking isn't it? He is OUR manager and thus we have to hope and dream about the future, but in this extremely result-oriented world we know that managers get 2-3 years before they are eventually kicked out or leave. Lambert got in a whole bunch of signings this summer, but very few of them if any have been convincing. Luna is decent going forward but pretty limited at the back, is Bacuna a defender or a midfielder? Helenius isn't playing and Kozak is hardly anything else than a body to put on the bench. Joe Bennett did really bad last season and has 0 minutes to him so far this year, guess he's been injured for most of the time but I don't really know. El Ahmadi for me is incredibly mediocre and I don't want to see him start a single game, Sylla is marginalized this season and Tonev looks to need at least a year before he is ready to even play at this level. Bowery is not good enough for this squad, or any Premier League-squad to be fair. Benteke for me is the only player with a solid success to his name, alongside Lowton and Westwood who are both player that other clubs in the league would want in their squads. Both of them have of course been very poor so far this season, but I guess that is normal given their age and responsibility in the team. It's not the first time a young player has done decently and then failed to live up to that expectation the next year, but that of course becomes a problem for us when we need them to be at a certain level. You say you are excited about the January window, then let me be the cynic who fail to see what can happen when I base my assessments on his previous signings. I would have loved a Parker or a Barry in our team right now, at least an experienced midfielder who could tie things up and lead the others.

[AVFCforever1991]

Lambert/Faulkner should get Ivan Rakitić from Sevilla.

Edited November 4, 2013 by AVFCforever1991

[RimmyJimmer]

Will everyone just calm down...ur gonna make urselves ill!!!

Lamberts approach is going to take TIME....that means u have to ride the ups and downs for a while and give him TIME....or do we want the expensive 'quick fix' like we have shown before, doesn't work??

We will do better than last season, I have no doubt. Continued steady improvement over TIME.

[jim]

Will everyone just calm down...ur gonna make urselves ill!!! Lamberts approach is going to take TIME....that means u have to ride the ups and downs for a while and give him TIME....or do we want the expensive 'quick fix' like we have shown before, doesn't work??We will do better than last season, I have no doubt. Continued steady improvement over TIME.

How much TIME does he get? 4-5years?

[villan_007]

Will everyone just calm down...ur gonna make urselves ill!!! Lamberts approach is going to take TIME....that means u have to ride the ups and downs for a while and give him TIME....or do we want the expensive 'quick fix' like we have shown before, doesn't work??We will do better than last season, I have no doubt. Continued steady improvement over TIME.

How much TIME does he get? 4-5years?

A lot longer than a season and 10 games.

We've done nothing but chop and change over recent years, teams like Everton, baggies, Swansea and Southampton have been slowly building solid foundations for a number of years. We'll achieve nothing if keep getting rid of managers after a season

[McGregor1888]

 

Will everyone just calm down...ur gonna make urselves ill!!! Lamberts approach is going to take TIME....that means u have to ride the ups and downs for a while and give him TIME....or do we want the expensive 'quick fix' like we have shown before, doesn't work??We will do better than last season, I have no doubt. Continued steady improvement over TIME.

How much TIME does he get? 4-5years?

 

Hopefully, yes.  If we start winning trophies here's hoping he'll be with us even longer.

[dudevillaisnice]

I'm not sure he will be here in 4-5 years time personally.

 

Infact i'll be shocked if he is still around.

[Robbie09]

Will everyone just calm down...ur gonna make urselves ill!!!

Lamberts approach is going to take TIME....that means u have to ride the ups and downs for a while and give him TIME....or do we want the expensive 'quick fix' like we have shown before, doesn't work??

We will do better than last season, I have no doubt. Continued steady improvement over TIME.

 

Will everyone just calm down...ur gonna make urselves ill!!!

Lamberts approach is going to take TIME....that means u have to ride the ups and downs for a while and give him TIME....or do we want the expensive 'quick fix' like we have shown before, doesn't work??

We will do better than last season, I have no doubt. Continued steady improvement over TIME.

 

Absolutely spot on. The quick fixes are what has dropped us in the brown stuff, the rebuilding is going to take time.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Robbie09

[Raver50032]

Brb going to support Man United.

 

To be fair... imagine how good it would feel... ;-)

[Raver50032]

 

 

I don't see the point of acting like a spoilt child because Lerner's money didn't buy us success.

So expecting a club like ours to be better than surviving on the cheap is acting like a spoilt child?

 

 

Constant bitching and moaning about how our great club should be at the top of the league, and how far we've fallen and how loads of us are brainwashed to accept this rubbish etc. etc.

 

It's just being realistic, we can all sympathise with the fact that we were top 6 a few years ago and now we're not. Simple fact is we aren't anymore, get over it. The spoilt child thing comes from the amount of people going way over the top stamping their feet and throwing their claret and blue toys out the pram because we aren't up there again now Lambert has been our manager for a year. We all love Villa, we all WANT us to be at the top of the league, we all know it's been sh*t for ages. No-one is settling for just surviving and loving it. Stomping your feet and crying like Lerner just nicked your sweets and repeating the fact that we SHOULD by some divine right be competing at the top of the league is mental. Not going to be happening this season for sure, might start happening next, it'll be a slow process though and I for one think Lambert is just the type of manager we need to oversee this long process away from the crap end of the table and to where we can all feel a bit happier winning football matches a lot more often.

 

No super rich sugardaddy is on the horizon, we haven't produced the next Messi in the academy yet so you know, be patient and let Lambert get on with it.

 

 

Nice post, liked it.

 

I am battoning down the hatches to be disappointed and unhappy for a very long time. It's just a case of how long I can continue to justify paying the best part of 480 quid on a season ticket each year. I'm currently here out of 'blind' loyalty to fend off any 'where were you when we were shit' rhetoric should we come good again in the future.

 

Only joking.

 

At some point, I will have to make a decision about whether I get value for money from 480 quid EACH year. Not had value for money down VP since MON was here. That's a lot of money to fork out when you are not enjoying it... and all because of 'blind' loyalty and being made to feel grateful for what we do have. As I have said elsewhere about these forums... I am pleasantly surprised by just how many people still go down VP on regular basis taking into account the cost... the hassle... the more often than not frustration/misery.

 

Th key thing is, we're still here. It's just a case of how long for me...

 

As somebody else said, we have a piss easy run of fixtures now, so all will be well won't it? And this debate will be all forgotten.

 

<here's hoping then...>

[Raver50032]

 

 

Expecting that the moon will turn into a teapot will ultimately end in tears.

 

 

And whatever happened to the 'bright future?'

 

I guess there are 50 shades of 'bright' huh? One man's 'bright' is finishing without relegation and making up the numbers. Another man's 'bright' is a tilt at qualifying for Europe... I'd actually like to have a go at winning the FA Cup in the colour/high def era.

 

'Bright' for me, is feeling secure in the future of my club, and feeling as though we can compete - and that includes competing for silverware of any flavour. 'We've done it before, and we'll do it again.' It's just when. If my club can't ever compete, and we are just making up the numbers, what is the point of us being there? We might as well just re-live the glory days on DVD or in our books. Save ourselves a few bob in the process.

 

Look, I have no issue at all with people who demand/expect more than what we've got right now. I am one of them... and I am prepared to be miserable for a long time if I have to. Even die I guess and come back to haunt the Holte. But by Christ, I would expect and hope that both Lerner and Lambert want us to be in a place much better off than we are now. So figure that into the equation please folks.

 

We all seem to agree at least that nobody likes where we are now. That is progress.

 

Accepting our lot now will ultimately end in a Charlton, a Coventry, a Leicester, a Forest, a Derby, a Blues etc. Certainly no spoiled child am I, and I am not in tears either because the moon is still the moon. I just want better for my club...

 

What we need is to give somebody a good 'dicking' over the next few fixtures. Are we playing Sunderland soon?

[Raver50032]

Lambert/Faulkner should get Ivan Rakitić from Sevilla.

 

Wasn't he outed as a war criminal during the Kosovo conflict of the late 1990s?

[Cliffy Biro]

In the mid 90s he was about 10 so i highly doubt it

[BOF]

Will everyone just calm down...ur gonna make urselves ill!!! Lamberts approach is going to take TIME....that means u have to ride the ups and downs for a while and give him TIME....or do we want the expensive 'quick fix' like we have shown before, doesn't work??We will do better than last season, I have no doubt. Continued steady improvement over TIME.

How much TIME does he get? 4-5years?

What do you think is a fair timescale to turn the breakdown of a squad completely around, change the short-termism philosophy of a club into a longer more progressive one, create the youngest Premier League squad of the 20 sides and get them matured/gelled and playing your way? Do you give these players one season? I'd say one season gives them the enormous learning curve they got last year and stands them in good stead. I'd say the second season; the one we're in now; means they'll be battle hardened in the sense that there won't be any 8-0 rabbit-in-the-headlight performances. Some of the players will begin to look like bona fide Premier League players and we'll have a nouse that wasn't there last season. I think it's the 3rd season where we start to actually criticise players and manager if appropriate. In the context of this season though, given that IMO it is one of consolidation, we need to wait another month and a half until we've played the next 5 fixtures to give ourselves a better idea of where we stand.

[GENTLEMAN]

We are making progress -  the West Ham performance/result is testament to that fact. We have been unlucky in recent games, we have deserved more points in my opinion.  I just hope in the future transfer windows we can acquire players who can make a difference to our side immediately. 

Edited November 4, 2013 by GENTLEMAN

[Keyblade]

We are making progress -  the West Ham performance/result is testament to that fact. We have been unlucky in recent games, we have deserved more points in my opinion.  I just hope in the future transfer windows we can acquire players who can make a difference to our side immediately. 

 

Where I stand pretty much

[tinker]

Looking at last seasons fixtures were 7 points up this season in like to like games. We wasn't outplayed against Everton or Spurs, we was last season.

 

On the downside we do have a habit of panicking on the ball when we are in possession, players need to help each other by giving the player in possession decent options to pass, we are far to static and this allows opposing teams to easily close us down and it makes us play rash balls and lose possession far to easily. Its very frustrating, its the same game after game.

 

I suspect its the players confidence.

 

Its isn't all roses but I do think most fans realize that Villa need the stability of a manager staying for a few years.

 

We need to try and build something that's going to last longer than the owners money.

[VillaCas]

Looking at last seasons fixtures were 7 points up this season in like to like games. We wasn't outplayed against Everton or Spurs, we was last season.

 

On the downside we do have a habit of panicking on the ball when we are in possession, players need to help each other by giving the player in possession decent options to pass, we are far to static and this allows opposing teams to easily close us down and it makes us play rash balls and lose possession far to easily. Its very frustrating, its the same game after game.

 

I suspect its the players confidence.

 

Its isn't all roses but I do think most fans realize that Villa need the stability of a manager staying for a few years.

 

We need to try and build something that's going to last longer than the owners money.

 

5 points up on like for like fixtures - not 7