MarkDrapernumber8 has submitted the following;
I’m a lost Villan tonight..completely lost!!
After the shellshock of yet another cup exit to yet another lower league opponent, this one is even more painful than the last as there was no luck or fluke about it (was there against Bradford? I don’t care to remember) I’m asking myself what the hell is going on at the Villa?! Sheff Utd (from the sounds of it) thoroughly deserved their win so good luck to them and well done.
I went to the pub and had a couple (three) and got thinking, surely there still has to be some kind of plan for AVFC from Lambert (and Lerner and Faulkner if you like) but primarily Lambert. Do we really have a manager in charge – who’s job is seemingly completely intact, free from danger and unthreatened regardless of what happens – completely lost of ideas and direction? This can’t be the case, surely not.
Going back to Wednesday when we beat Sunderland. We do have a way of pulling out the results when we have to, those ‘6 pointers’. The run-in last season was similar. So it suggests Lambert does have the ‘magic’ to motivate the lads for the big games. Also in the same game, we played some lovely football, just like Lambert had us playing last season (when I was a fan of his). Nice one touch stuff in around the park. One move in particular ending in proof that Albrighton can’t finish at all, but what a great move it was, must have been around 10-15 passes before the wasted opportunity. Again this suggests that Lambert can still get us playing that type of footy. On a side note, I don’t think I’d be so annoyed with our results this season if the football was good; I’m that type of fan, like most of us I guess. Football is a strange one, if we had played brilliant football all season and been in exactly this position as we are tonight maybe (I think probably) the view on Lambert would be a whole lot different. What do you think? The fickle football fan eh….
Anyway, the plan. Lambert recently changed his stance somewhat and said we need ‘experience’. I’m not a manager and I knew this when we lost 1st game to West Ham last season and especially after our 3-0 spanking at home by Everton (all this exluding the fantastic Steven Ireland of course, what a guy). I don’t think I want a manager in charge who is either so stubborn or stupid or both that he only decides to go forward with what all of us have been saying for a long time now, 1 year down the road. It might be too late for us this season. On the flip side however, it does show that he recognizes that weakness (finally) and is looking to bolster the ranks with ‘men’ if you will to help see us through. On the whole though it’s not good enough, we’re in the Premier League and problems like these should be identified earlier and solved sooner. Lambert’s had 2 and half seasons experience in the premier league, to learn about which qualities and what type of players are needed to survive and, better, finish healthily and do well. I’ve been watching the Premier League properly for over ten years, some of us on here longer, so I consider myself to have a good idea of the qualities and types of players needed also. Listen to the fans Lambert, we’ve been in the premier league for years and know and have seen good teams, good Villa teams as well. Your team just isn’t cutting it.
Going forward, I think if we can address the experience matter this window, we’ll do okay. To be honest I don’t really see relegation as very likely. Sunderland were abysmal in all areas of their game and unless OGS really is the next SAF, Cardiff and Fulham/West Ham will probably go down before us. Probably Norwich as well. Hoolahan (I think that’s how you spell it) would be good imo, he is a playmaker and he is affordable but more importantly he is experienced and can probably lead better than….who leads again for us?
This Defour guy I really don’t know enough about but from what I’m hearing anyone of that ilk Is welcomed.
My personal suggestions are Heitinga from Everton to partner Vlaar, that could be something special in the making imo. Also Heitinga can play DM as well and is comfortable there. Also I bought him everytime I started a new master league on pro evo 4 so I have a soft spot for him. I would say Lescott but wages will probably be an issue. I think another pop at Barry on a permanent wouldn’t hurt. I would love to see Barry back personally, wages should be an exception with Barry, no animosity on my part and I’d happily drive him from Merseyside to VP. Other than that I’m a bit stuck, January inflation rates and all and your looking at high fees. As an outsider I really liked the look of Jedinek when we played Palace, looks solid and boring, exactly the type of personality which makes a world class DM (not manager though). Also Ince, Ince would be great.
As for shopping abroad I’m no expert but I’d really like to see us approach Real Madrid and have a go at bringing Zidane out of retirement and making him player/manager/director of football.
VTID
MORGAN VILLA he should never have got the job in the first place he only got it on the back of a certain section of fans chanting his name.If he had stayed at Norwich do you think they would have stayed up IMO no.I think the only reason he came to Villa was he had a vision that the hirearchy at Norwich would never have let him impliment and in his mind he seen a fool in Lerner whom would let him.
So you saying the young and hungry revolution is Lambert s idea? I doubt it or he’d have had his marching orders by now
I was not at the Norwich game and he was not my first choice. Saying that I got behind it, until we played spurs this season. Spurs were on a par with us and to listen to there fans chanting your shit and you knoiw you are rang true. Playing for survival for a club like Villa is not in any way acceptable. Especially considering the chairman and CEO promised european football up until McCleish season.
yeah lets just get a sugar daddy, a coach on 6 mil salery, spend 400 million on playing staff and still not finish in the top 4 like man city in thier first season, what the club needs is stability and we will progress. when it comes to the end of the season and we’ve finished mid table this will all seem funny, the team isn’t missing that much 1 or 2 players and we could push on. lol
and give it a right good go lol
Why is it always thesheikh as a defence to Lerners shocking reign at Villa. When this gets thrown up it shows desperation. How many teams actually have mega rich owners. What we need is a Swansea approach a formula that runs right through the club. A footballing philosophy from coach to coach, we were not running on debt when Lerner took over and our position in the league is as it is now. During the Lerner years as a club we have gone backwards. We have enough income to purchase some decent players, if we don’t buy decent players and have a decent coach then we will be relegated it really is not rocket science. Fairplay for standing up for what you believe in I don’t agree with you on this and I cannot see me ever agreeing. However we both support the Vlla so UTV
Actually Morgan you and Bob are both correct. The problem with us aiming to a Swansea is that, despite what most on here will say now is it wouldn’t be enough. Swansea won’t get into the top 6. When we were there it wasn’t good enough then. We are all desperate for an improvement in playing style, but if all we manage from that is 7th or 8th and we win nothing we would be after the head of another manager. Something needs to change though.
The reason a sheik is used as comparison because the theme of our all gripes as villa fans is that we want more success. and in order to be successful you need a sheik or an oligarch or whatever FSG could be described as scale of funding to succeed in the premier league.
otherwise .. realistically .. what is the difference between Lerner and all the other also ran chairmen/ owners in the prem?
he is not the best .. not the worst.
we could model ourselves on Swansea and after the years it takes to implement a style or direction from root to stem in a club has been executed .. we too could achieve the great heights of being two places lower in the table than we are right now.
its not desperation .. its big picture comparison .. its realism its being honest with ourselves. Its putting the last result .. or the last 10 results in context of a season or 3 seasons.
Thats why I still don’t see a strong enough argument yet to depose Lambert at this point and press the reset button .. again .. and get another manager in ..again.. that will face the same obstacles as Lambert without a years groundwork or continuity that Lambert currently has.
He will end up in the exact same place as Lambert currently is..
He too will have keyboard warriors trying to master alliteration or other sensationalist tabloid writing styles to vent their frustration at anyone that will listen including other fans.
Maybe a few ryhmes or perversions of a name etc throw in a few grandiose decrees of awfulness. (my favourite is the .. this is the worst villa team since … insert decade, manager, era etc … ) honestly if i were to compile all of those together it would seem we havn’t played football in 50 years.
and round and round we go.
In light of the bigger picture and the almost impossible task any manager would face without the sheik’s or oligarchs backing .. I say lets change the record.
stick with a manager and let him learn from his mistakes and evolve and improve..
worked for utd . worked for everton .. some would argue it worked for arsenal (not so sure about that one)
its one and a half year in .. we are 11th and out of an Fa Cup its Jan transfer window time.
it will be the end of this season that will show how far along we are for me.
I agree with what you say to the point that Lambert is in fact an awful manager. His tactics are abysmal. We made a Palace team that on paper is mid table championship look like Brazil. The difference was the managers one who knows what he is doing and one who is clueless. I still don’t buy into the shiekh thing, a club that is ran well has the facilities and staff will do well. Swansea position is down to the europa league which has killed teams year on year since it started. It just feels to me that as aclub we are going backwards in every department, I like you provocative language. Your posts are amusing.
can anyone answer me this
i just watch Nottingham forest v west ham utd while I understand hammers rested players or just sent on under 21 and a few 1st teamers, but the way forest went about the game ~ they passed moved and really set about the hammers they entertained but were effective ~ very rare did forest pass back 2 goalie or a forest player find himself stranded without a option of a pass.
also looking at the forest line up, I saw most were rejects one was eric lichaj who we dumped cos he must av been worst than bennet and moon, but on this performance he was faultless. he was never out of position, passed decent, made countless last ditch tackles, almost scored.
finally why can’t we play sumat like this, we av better training ground better players and better management, also how can we be with moon and bennet and allow lichaj 2 leave when on this performance is no way the worst of the 3
I always thought lichai was ok, plus he could play RB aswell as LB but benntett always seemed to get the shout over him most of the time dispite being god awful on a regular basis much as wiemann is this season, playing every game despite some really really piss poor performances.
I was thinking along similar lines, perhaps the gap between the middle to lower end of the Premiership and the Championship may not be so big as we are led to believe.
spot on there foxy, the main reason McLeish got the boot was because learner and co knew season tickets and merchandise sale would be at an all time low if he stayed, if we do manage to stay up and keep playing the way we are it’ll do for lambert too when the projections arrive on learners desk.
im really not sure why so many people seem to feel comfortable about relegation, I have seen nothing from our team, especially the last two months to suggest that we are anything other than prime candidates for the drop, we just about made it last year and this year imo we are playing much worse and the team spirit doesn’t seem as it was, I feel even some of the players are disillusioned now, just a feeling I get from watching us. other clubs at the bottom seem to be showing some signs of fight, crystal palace, Fulham and even sunderland despite looking poor against us they have looked much better since poyet got there, add to that the arrival and no doubt few quid in his pocket to splash in the window the arrival of ogs at Cardiff.
for me the teams that look the most dire this season especially over the last 6 games or so are west ham, Norwich and us, these teams I see no improvement in at all.
NM, I think we still have the ability to score goals, and with Vlaar back, the ability to defend and keep some clean sheets. That’s what’s going to save us. Benteke will get back scoring again and Albrighton has been a breath of fresh air, he’ll knock in a few, and Gabby will do too. The only thing is that it won’t be pretty or worth paying to go to watch, unless you enjoy a weekly masterclass in last ditch defending.
“how can we be with moon and bennet and allow lichaj 2 leave when on this performance is no way the worst of the 3”
Totally agree.
Yet another poor decision by Lambert that was no doubt money driven.
I thought Lichaj was ok as back up at least and said so at the time.
I’ve noticed calls for Bennet to come back in of late.
That sums it all up for me, as he’s utter garbage, imo.
What an absolute mess we’re in 🙁
Yes, bugger Bennet, it’s Warnock we need back!
(Dons tin hat and scarpers)
Well, at least he can defend!
I can hear the Leeds supporters laughing from here. The useless piece of shit hasn’t played a game since November, being kept out by a kid in a team that lost to Rochdale yesterday.
And?
I’d bet the same kid would probably keep any of our current full backs too.
One report on another Villa site I read earlier gave Luna a 3 because he got pissed on by league 1 players.
And he was supposed to be an improvement on Bennett?
But yes, we’re progressing and things are peachy.
I don’t think.
HELINIUS this is Lamberk prodject as are as i know and anybody else knows this young hungry theme only came about when Lamberk took over it was never mentioned while Mc Clueless was in charge.This is Lamberks idea and like a fool Lerner bought into it the same as those whom are now defending to the hilt the man is inept and totaly void of knowing anything about football.The blame must solely be laid at his door.
While I agree Lambert is the brains behind getting in young players Im still of the opinion he was left with little choice as lerners cut the wage bill massively. Therefore they’re both as bad as each other surely!
Mate agree in some respects but LAMBERK seems to have the idea that any player over the age of twenty three are just ready for the scrapheap and we all know most players don;t hit their peak until their mid twenties.But this lot have reached their peak and gone past it.
Oh ye definitely. Poor manager without doubt
TJ agree with you here 100%
My concern is when will Lerner react or is Faulkner protecting Lambert?
VTID Mate that is anybodys guess at the moment think it may hinge on the next few league games and looking at those can;t see where we are going to pick points up from and can;t see us making any signings this month.But there is or was speculation after yesterdays humiliation there is going to be a meeting at VP tomorrow have you or any of the lads heard anything to this.
I’ve read somewhere Lerner is due to come over for the Arse game, so it could be right TJ.
Whatever, I hope he watchs that game as it might open his eyes.
id be very surprised to see lambert get the bullet at least until the end of the season, learner may get rid then if only to sell season tickets and so on. it may sound cynical but how many season tickets would we have sold had mccleish stayed on another season.
staying with lambert is a risk as is getting rid of him but if we are to start over yet again then it needs to be now and the new boss will need Darren bent type money to come in a do a job, no good doing a reading and sacking the manager come feb/march.
as said I think learner will stick with him although there’s potential for some real 8-0 style pastings over the next couple of games. if learner does stick with him then he really needs to give him something to work with money/wage wise although my current view of lambert has me concerned that even given the right tools he’d still fail to sign any decent ‘experienced’ players because I have the feeling he does struggle with or simply doesn’t want to manage older more experienced players.
all that said I expect learner to give lambert the bare minimum to keep the fans quiet for 5 minutes and cross his fingers for the rest of the season but if he really does watch us play and understands anything about football he’ll know that its one hell of a gamble.
Badger123 mate what happened to the articale i sent in on Friday about what Rodney Marsh said in The Birmingham Mail i Titaled Hangers On League mind you ADAM was on posting duty so did not expect anything.
I totally missed that one for some reason Terry, apologies.
I may still put it up tomorrow, but others are submitting stuff too and to be fair you have had your fair share over the last few months mate.
BADGER no worries mate but thought i would submit it as after reading The Birmingham Mail online and some of the comments Rodney Marsh had to say about our great club made my blood boil to think this is what pundits and the media think of us and even now as i write this reply to you i am thinking back to what he said and would like to go down to VP and kick some arses for allowing such comments to be made and that goes for Lambert Lerner and the hole lot of them that as bought this situation about.
https://www.facebook.com/VillaFansDeclareWar/posts/584969308223599
Just had this link on my Facebook page, most may have already seen and read it, but it is quite appropriate
Sums it up perfectly
Its virtually the same post I put on here last night!
It’s fine VTID, except I’m not right behind Lambert at all.
Shame about the title.
As for the claret and blue army, well I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing them as up for a fight and it’s why I won’t call for anyone’s head.
there would be no point sacking him now, who would/could we bring in ? hollaway lol, we sould ride this out see what happens in the window and if by the summer if things havn’t change then a manager could come in at the end of the season ready for a fresh start
Thanks for the kind feedback.
I’ve been getting a little bit of stick regarding Heitinga haha, but, as I said in a reply the saddest thing is is that he is still better than our entire current defence and midfield bar maybe Vlaar and Sylla. That’s what we’re staring at here…sad days
You rate Sylla???? He is a shocking player….
I do coe1982 mate, I think he’s very good, good touch and technique and good awareness, not shuy to put in a tackle, needs to work on his positioning but he’s young and that’ll come with time, the way I see it is that everyone else around him are absolute dross, our midfield specifically I mean.
His performance at WBA this season was the worst I have ever witnessed from a footballer, cannot pass, tackle or position himself what so ever. Nothing since has made me believe he will improve since that game!
Fair play mate, but he is young, all footballers in a team based game are susceptible to howlers and especially at his age, for me he has the most promise out of all of our midfielders.
Agree about Sylla. I’d like to see him played regularly in his actual position, then we can judge him. But then again he won’t drop delph and his love child Westwood
Yes it’s very sad times being a villan atm it’s enough to drive anyone to drink.
Just the Villa makes you drink then Giddy mate?
No mate not just the villa also the daytime & night time also affects me. 😉
Giddy mate thought you staggered the same as me.
Lol tel it’s a bit hard to stagger when your totally legless mate. 😉
DRINK DRINK I’LL HAVE A LARGE ONE, HIK, GOD BLESS YOU SIR,
ron saunders used to insist the players took a dram before running out onto the pitch before any game(true btw)many lambert should try that, if we go out totally pissed we couldn’t be any worse and maybe the more pissed the players get the more coherent lamberts system and mumblings may become.
its a thought 😉