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!
Comments
55 responses to “Are we giving Paul Lambert a fair crack of the whip?”
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.