BWS has submitted the following and it’s in a similar vein to JD’s earlier article, although from a different angle. Personally, I like it when we question ourselves, as it’s all good for balance;
I have to admit I’m as guilty as anyone for laying into Lambert and to be honest his record (particularly at home) is appalling but if you put yourself in his shoes for a minute things may look a little different.
Look back to August before a ball was kicked in anger he’d (Lambert) thought he’d dealt with our defensive frailties of last season with the signings of Jores Okore and Antonio Luna, added width with Leandro Bacuna and Aleksandar Tonev.
Add these to his signings from last season and the line up would probably look something like this –
Guzan
Lowton Vlaar Okore Luna
Delph Westwood El Ahmad Bacuna
Benteke Gabby
With the likes of Kozak , Weimann, Albrighton, Sylla to come off the bench, Tonev and Helenius both works in progress and it’s not really too bad a side.
Now take into account the injuries namely to Vlaar and Okore, the loss of form / injury /disinterest of Benteke (who’d have predicted that?). Throw all that into the melting pot and would it not put the skids under the best laid plans?
Lambert’s been forced to throw the likes of Tonev and Kozak in at the deep end with no time to acclimatise to the EPL and to cut his cloth to suit regarding the style of play.
So with that in mind are we really being a little harsh on Lambert?
Do we really want him being sacked /resigning and going back to square one of the AVFC snakes and ladders board with yet another manager’s version of this here 3 year plan?
Should we be careful with what we wish for?
Happy New Year.
UTV!
LIVE FROM SEOUL…
HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY VILLA FAMILY.
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
Happy new yr to you to mate
We should get the athletico madrid manager in
Get Barry now…18 month deal. And please dont tell me we cant because he is on a year long loan! He can still be bought in Jan…..thats in the PL rules!
Get Barry now….dont fuck it up twice, learn from your mistake Lambert!
Langford why the fuck would Barry come to us when Everton gave a chance of champions league and more likely pay him more than we would.
He said villa is his team and always will be when he left for City
However PL rules mean he cannot be registered for more than 2 clubs in a season, so can’t happen, and as we know he wanted to come back and we didn’t do it in the summer, so he won’t come back under Lambert
Shame really as I think he would have been worth a extra 10 points to us this season
As an example, Everton got Seamus Coleman in around 2009, as a young up and coming player. He went on loan to Blackpool to learn and get valuable experience, which he did by helping them get promoted.
When he returned to Everton he was in and out the side, learning his trade at the best level from the experience around him.
My point is throwing these youngsters in at the deep end like Lambert has is tragic to their development and not only will it play on their minds short term (the shite we are playing atm) but it will be a huge negative influence for them to carry in the future!!! IMO
Plus he would of had experienced pros like Neville etc to help bring him on. It’s all bollocks it’s another pr stunt to sell half yr season tickets. We will get someone like a sylla or Dawkins on loan Ffs that’s it.
I’ve kept away from this debate for a few days as it is so hard to be objective in the immediate aftermath of another miserable performance.
I can’t see any reason for Lambert to abandon the style of play from the end of last season. This makes me think that maybe it doesn’t stem from his tactics. Perhaps it is just inexperience. A couple of decent signings may make all the difference. I hope this is not just wishful thinking.
I can’t see any likelihood of Lambert being sacked, and who knows what would happen in terms of his replacement?
Happy New Year Villa fans. Let’s hope 2014 brings better football, with or without PL.
Good post BTW BWS
Think, there is some truth in your post, BWS. Injuries, loss on form and a decline in self-confidence are reasons for our poor form. I think, that PL planned with a back-bone of Guzan-Vlaar (Okore) – Delph – Benteke. At top of their form this would quite a good platform, even to surround them with less experienced youngsters.
It looks like Vlaar is more important than we thought after last year. Since we have been missing him we can´t get results. Benteke is a big question mark – nobody can understand his current low-quality performances. So our back-bone is lost.
But PL brought in Kozak, from which he and we could expect more. And he brought in Luna, a player form one of the Top leagues in Europe, which is the weakest link in our defence so far.
If I have a wish for 2014, I would love to see Benteke recapture his best form and Vlaar coming back with his pre-injury form. Then the whole picture would be brighter. But we have to bring in new players for left back – creative midfield – and a striker.
Wish all Villa fans a happy new year – and 3 points for tomorrow.