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!
There’s no doubt in my mind he’s out of his comfort zone, the man came up with what we all thought the right idea for the game, cut player’s and agents fees, its failed big time, reason plain to see, no older heads to carry the plan out.yes younger blood is a good idea Man utd did it but had players on hand t show the way, Lambert sorry cannot see no further than the end of his nose. No he has to go.
Nice piece BWS….I gave Lambert until this xmas as I thought 18 months was a fair amount of time before judging him.
Firstly, and foremost, I dont believe Randy has given him sufficient funds to change an entire team in 18 months. Having said that, Lambert is 100% responsible for the kick and rush football that we have to endure this season. Its the anti-football that disappoints me more than the results. At the end of the day, on reflection, I think both Randy and Lambert are culpable. I fear the worst if we dont wake up and buy at least 3 quality players in the Jan window. If we do, and there is no improvement, then it will be solely the fault of Lambert!
Again… How is 50m Euros not enough to change the team? 15 players… 15 players of the 22 that have played for Villa this season we bought or re-signed (Guzan) by him. We’re not talking about like… 5 players and 10m to sign players… No… 50m and 15 players, all wanted and scouted by him.
Sorry, but Luna, Lowton, El Ahmadi and even Westwood are out of their depth in the Premier League.
Luna is possibly up there with the worst defenders I’ve ever seen play for Villa, unfortunately. He makes Bennett look like Paolo Maldini!
I rate Vlaar and Okore. It’s a shame they seem so prone to injuries.
Still not 100% convinced with Guzan – sure, he’s a great shot stopper, but does he really command his box?
Think Bacuna has potential, but he definitely isn’t a defender! Neither are Herd or Clark, particularly not at Premier League level. To be fair to Clark, he has improved slightly on last season, but that’s not saying much, as I thought he was our worst player by a country mile then! Baker has been dreadful this season, which has surprised me.
A lot of players have gone backwards, as far as I can see, along with the tactics. This can only be down to the manager and coaches.
It has been an extremely disappointing season so far, as it seemed to offer so much promise before it started. Can anyone really say we’ve deserved to win any of our games?
Exactly, even the games we’ve won we’ve looked shit tbh. Cardiff and Man City gamed for example turned on a free kick, there’s been nothing in open play to suggest we can break any defence down.
Think you’re being harsh on Guzan though, he’s been terrific for us again IMO. Playing in front of the likes of Luna, Lowton, Baker, etc must be an absolute nightmare. Its like a chain, we don’t have a decent DM, so the weak defence is exposed, which in turn exposes Guzan.
Lol lamberk in mail says he now wants experienced players…then goes onto say if we can afford the wages as they will cost more!! What a load of bollocks. Is he only just fuckin realised what we knew a year and a half ago ffs. How can we not afford it with all the cut backs. The club is a fuckin joke
He probably hasn’t has a fair crack of the whip in terms of the money made available for wages, but in terms of getting the team to gel and play football, I think he’s had enough time. There are no signs of improvement. So I’d be happy to see someone else come in.
BWS Fair crack of the whip would like to give him a crack of the whip alright something like one hundred lashes for what the egoistic moron as done and is doing to our beloved VILLA.
How much longer has the villa fan got to put up with his dire tactics or should i say desperate.simply how much longer til it’s too late probably.it’s not working out his plans have hit a brick a wall.get him out before it’s the point of no return.
Good read BWS and good angle..
Honestly though, I think he has a very fair crack mate, he actually started well and we played some slick football. I remember after our tour of the USA I was thinking this is going to get better and better.
We had a rocky season but i was prepared ti give benefit of the doubt as it was a transitional season. We ended the season in fine form. Top 7 if I remember.
Out final game this pre-season against Malaga and I really thought, okay, this season is going to be good, we’ve really improved. We played absolutely brilliant football against Malaga and it wasn’t all that long ago.
What has happened since then on the filed is 100% Lamberts responsibility, injuries or not. His team selection and tactics are bizarre and I think he lost his vision and direction with us.
everybody goes on about wages he has only signed 16 players would he not been better in summer instead of7 players buy 3 or 4 good ones when the only good buy gets injured straight off we need a commanding ch hm and some body with a brain to play am if our youth team cannot provide better than luna bennet tonev bowery its time to stop waisting any more money on it our homegrown players who wants them 1 division or lower the longer baker plays the worse he looks allbrigton shipped out to wigan now hes back as some kind off messiah stoke cpalace sub against swansea and match against worst man u team in ages how many goals or assits we need a major red out including most of lamberts dross mc leish nobs and start with somebody like what swansea did play same system from youth right through not 4 managers in a row with different pl;aying styles
Give me Glenn hoddle he talks sence and know football unlike lambert at mo. if u watch motd ul realise how bad we are cos where last team to be shown everyweek unless we are playing a top 4/6 team! That speak volumes too me!! Shit garbage football…
Don’t remember hoddle ever being a success at management plus he’s been out of it too long as has a continual wank fest over spurs. He wanted spurs job when AVB left but levy gave it to Sherwood which says it all.
He would want god as his understudy,
Like the angle BWS, but have to say Lambert is the worst Villa manager I have seen at Villa, no tactics, terrible man management, arrogant and makes our club look ridiculous with his mumbling post and pre match speeches that would make David Brent cringe…. lets not forget he has sidelined players who could do a job (just) and replaced them by spending £40m on absolute dross.
Get rid and quickly, and take that tosser Faulkner with him!
Shit Chairman – Shit CEO – Shit manager
Lambert has no tactical idea and no eye for a player (bar Benteke & Okore) Westwood, El Ahmadi, Tonev, Bowery, Luna, Bennett are all Championship at best.
If Lerner was to give him money for quality, i’m not sure i’d trust him to get the right players in and I’m also not sure he would know how to play them should he get them as he’s a tactical nightmare.
So, although he was given a difficult task, he accepted and has not delivered….In fact I think we have gone backwards since last season.
are we being too harsh on Lambert?
in terms of criticising – No .. the team is playing rubbish football and the results are not up to scratch or worsening. Lambert needs to improve that.
In terms of what we think is the remedy .. sacking him? yes ..
I think back to how we were under mcleish. The squad depth and the level of application vs the cost of the players on our books then.
Exactly one and half seasons later. we are 13th – lots of new faces but in a slump with worsening football.
all be it with a star striker out of form and one key defender out also.
We had address some defensive frailties from last season and pulled off some good results in the year to date before our current slump.
Have we at any times played good football under lambert?
Yes .. the counter last season in the second half and our early preseason form.
but its farcical how far we have fallen from those styles.
all said and done. Lambert has had 1 and half years so far .. is that enough to turn this around from the point at which McLeish had left us?
No not for me. There has been enough progress to show me we can improve.
and more importantly and i won’t go in to it here as you all know my take on this but what is the alternative.. ?
Lets not get carried away and let our emotions rule over our logic.
The exaggeration i see posted daily is astonishing.
I hear all the name calling and abject descriptions and accusations aimed at club, chairman CEO manager etc ..I understand the need to vent, I understand the sentiment based on the crap football.
but if i hear another ” this is the worst villa team i have seen since insert -number of decades-…… give me a f%^&ng break ..
Football has changed so much in the last 20 years that its almost impossible to compare styles from todays immaculate heated undersoil snooker pitches,the latest swerve 2 feet in the air balls, to the fully professional overpaid players; enhanced and protected physically from sports science and the dieticians, referees and european contract law. not.
Its bad but no where near the consistently bad football and results under mcleish 2 seasons ago.
Just the other day Fulham lost 5-0 to Hull last week they sit in 18th ..they have already sacked their manager ..they have a squad packed with experience where do they go now? Cardiff city had their very identity diluted with a new red kit and what appears to be a semi maniacal despot owner. (who still can’t outspend the mid table clubs and who still are 2 points behind us)
There are worse teams than us. there are better teams too and it doesn’t mean we don’t need to drastically improve .. but lets put in perspective.
bad as we are .. we have been worse..
Lambert has earned the criticism but in my humble opinion, sacking him would be harsh at this point.
That doesn’t even matter though, I care more about Villa not so much about Lamberts career.No one is bigger than the club and Lambert still has a great deal to do before he is given another year.
But right now i think Villa still have a chance to be further along at the end of this season with Lambert than if we pulled the trigger now.
Do you have trouble sleeping?
The football has deteriorated over this season and is in my opinion as bad as under McClown, the whole thing is unravelling but Lambert’s saving grace is the transfer window.
This is his last opportunity to address our shortcomings get it wrong and we’re right in the proverbial shit.
Good post m8 and a happy new year to you too.Now Lambert as I see it is playing damage limitation football at the moment with the injuries present and lack of form a protection if you will.Lerner is responsible for not being able to sign experienced quality because of poor funding and wage limitations.Lambert is doing what he sees as his best option for the club.Im sick and tired of Lerners penny pinching and I think Lerner needs to know it.Lambert needs proper funding to he can build a team worthy of AVFC tradition and worthy of the premier league.As I look at it Lerner can save AVFC from further damage by giving decent fundings that represent a club of our size.Lambert has been cutting his cloth far to long and is now paying the price for Randy Lerners penny pinching….UTV
Very true JD mate
But Lambert has chosen the players he wants and has us playing the shite football we’re seeing week in week out, that is Lamberts fault entirely. He could of used half the funds for young and hungry and half for a bit of experience or even loan deals..
Do you really think Lambert would buy these players if he had decent funding.
This is a good laugh lads
http://metro.co.uk/2013/12/30/a-glimpse-into-what-may-or-may-not-happen-to-aston-villa-in-2014-4245336/?
Ha! I like it 🙂
Lambert will be Lerners scape goat unless the supporters let him know we know what he’s up to
Thanks for all your kind comments can’t put an argument forward it’s all true but we are where we are, circumstances appear to have conspired against Lambert and it’s all gone horribly pear shaped.
With the chances of Lerner dispensing with his services are remote so we can only hope Randy comes ridding valiantly on his trusty steed brandishing his cheque book come January and Lambert spends it wisely otherwise (not to put to fine a point on it) we’re f##ked.
I think everyone understands the magnitude of the job, it’s an incredibly tough challenge but Lambert IMO is out of his depth.
The key for me is always progression and there can be no doubt we have regressed from the back end of last season performance wise.
IMO we’ve been extremely lucky to accumulate the points we have, City game was as fluky as any game you’ll ever see, as was the Southampton game where we barely touched the ball and Guzan pretty much on his own won us the game at Norwich.
My point is we’ve not been convincing once since the opening day of the season and the signings made last summer have not improved the squad (bar possibly Okore, but still need to see more of him).
I don’t trust Lambert any more, or Lerner or Faulkner, they’ve all let us down and tbh I’m fearing the worst for 2nd half of the season.
We all buy into the idea of stripping the club back and removing the deadwood, i feel it made a lot of fans angry knowing players were on very high wages and could not be bothered to perform.
I liked the idea of buying from the lower leagues and bringing on players that would not get a chance normally, I liked some of the football i saw last season albeit we played terrible for one half and then well in another.
Then this season comes around and we sign Tonev an individual player who has zero ability, we play well for ten minutes a game if you can really call it that. I so want it to work at Villa for any manager as i am sure all fans of the club do but it is so bad how much bullshit we are being fed
Adding to that a CEO who only comes out for interviews when we announce a new manager and an owner who lives in a bunker somewhere in the centre of area 51.
Its no wonder we are all up in arms.
How is Lambert still in a job i mean does the owner actually watch games. Crisis point for owner and manager another poor decision and i can see us doing a Wednesday
Happy New Year to everyone saying it early as my Mrs has me organised for most of the day 😉
UTV
Same to you pal UTV
“We all buy into the idea of stripping the club back and removing the deadwood, i feel it made a lot of fans angry knowing players were on very high wages and could not be bothered to perform.”
I’m sorry, but you’re not speaking for me there, Morgan.
Some of us said it was too much, too soon and I never subscribed to the view that they weren’t trying either.
It just wasn’t happening, the same as it isn’t now.
That to me, says there’s more wrong than we realise.
Not that it matters. We can’t turn things back now (except I’d have Bent back in a heartbeat, if I thought Lambert a) could handle him and b) knew how to give him some service).
An interesting article, but 50m should be enough in 18 months to improve, which Villa have not. You’re right, he did think he helped with Villa’s frailties defensively and Luna’s an upgrade to Bennett and Okore’s quality… HOWEVER. In doing so, he’s horribly made our attack absolute garbage, and our midfield has no quality in it to play this hoof ball, when one player (Delph) actually suits the style of play. I do get that he’s had a couple injuries to Vlaar, Benteke and Okore, but we’ve had a lot, lot worse under Houllier and McLeish and they looked better as Manager’s (I can’t believe I admitted that about McLeish). My problem is despite his “claims of fearing the sack”, he doesn’t.
It does sound good that he’s looking to add experience in January, has targeted 1 player so far and we’re still reportedly in talks with Chelsea for De Bruyne still on loan. A couple loans and a couple permanent signings would do really well.