How can Lambert get it right?

[tomd2103]

In response to the thread title I hope that Lambert does the complete opposite of what some people in this thread have suggested to bring in the motherboard of crap old players like Parker, Lampard, Arshavin or even worse; Yakubu.

All we need is an attacking midfielder, a central midfielder and if the right player is available, a left back. We should definitely keep with the ethos and get in players no older than twenty five and certainly not from the Premier League. I'd much rather finish 16th with our group of young players who will improve rather than a bunch of expensive ageing players finishing 15th.

If you think Parker and lampard are crap I'd hate to know what you think of our players!

But what exactly do we get out of these ancient relics of players? We could bring in 3/4 quality youngsters for the wages we'd be paying someone like Super Scott or Fat Frank. At the end of the day, they're a massive money sink and they'll be clogging up the bench along with Dunne, Warnock, Hutton and Given when they hit the 2nd and 3rd year of their inevitably long contract. They'll also be taking game time ahead of promising player and for what? We'll probably finish a place or two higher on the league table but at the end of the day, we're finishing bottom half and we're not getting relegated. We might as well continue to build for the future by bringing in players under the age of 25 in January rather than MON's style of buying 30+ year old British players.

I don't quite understand this opinion that every British player either over or approaching the age of 30 is a mercenary who is only interested in picking up their wages. 

[N'Zimidy]

I don't quite understand this opinion that every British player either over or approaching the age of 30 is a mercenary who is only interested in picking up their wages.

Even if they put in the effort and do well for us I think you're missing many of my points.

1. No resale value
2. Keeping youngsters out of the side
3. Massive wages
4. Decline in performances / fitness over the length of the contract
5. Can't get them off the wage bill
6. We aren't getting relegated so what's the point in panic buying for a quick fix - invest in our youth and focus on going forward rather than stagnating
7. I would much rather finish 16th and build in the summer with the money rather than buying in 30 year olds to get us to 15th and in the process waste millions that we desperately need

If there was a real threat of relegation then I would be all for bringing in somebody like Benayoun or Arshavin but we aren't and the money we spend on such players and the £50k a week contracts over 3 years we give them will continue to suck us down into the lower half of the table.

[Tuscans]

The last 2 games reminded me of a under 9's match where every player sprints after the ball and leaves the opposing players free to score at will. What happened to good ole man marking like the italians were so famous for in the 80's...it worked!

[Dante Lavelli]

I don't quite understand this opinion that every British player either over or approaching the age of 30 is a mercenary who is only interested in picking up their wages.

Even if they put in the effort and do well for us I think you're missing many of my points.

1. No resale value
2. Keeping youngsters out of the side
3. Massive wages
4. Decline in performances / fitness over the length of the contract
5. Can't get them off the wage bill
6. We aren't getting relegated so what's the point in panic buying for a quick fix - invest in our youth and focus on going forward rather than stagnating
7. I would much rather finish 16th and build in the summer with the money rather than buying in 30 year olds to get us to 15th and in the process waste millions that we desperately need

If there was a real threat of relegation then I would be all for bringing in somebody like Benayoun or Arshavin but we aren't and the money we spend on such players and the £50k a week contracts over 3 years we give them will continue to suck us down into the lower half of the table.

I'm probably in a minority but I agree. 

[Risso]

I don't quite understand this opinion that every British player either over or approaching the age of 30 is a mercenary who is only interested in picking up their wages.

Even if they put in the effort and do well for us I think you're missing many of my points.

1. No resale value
2. Keeping youngsters out of the side
3. Massive wages
4. Decline in performances / fitness over the length of the contract
5. Can't get them off the wage bill
6. We aren't getting relegated so what's the point in panic buying for a quick fix - invest in our youth and focus on going forward rather than stagnating
7. I would much rather finish 16th and build in the summer with the money rather than buying in 30 year olds to get us to 15th and in the process waste millions that we desperately need

If there was a real threat of relegation then I would be all for bringing in somebody like Benayoun or Arshavin but we aren't and the money we spend on such players and the £50k a week contracts over 3 years we give them will continue to suck us down into the lower half of the table.

1) Sometimes you just get value for money even if their resale value is nil.  Compare the likes of Merson and Dublin, to say Curtis Davies and Delph.  Years of great service from two older players, compared to bright young things, who turned out to be shite....with no resale value.
2) A lot of our youngsters shouldn't be in the side as often as they are, so not necessarily a problem.
3) Not necessarily, although even if true, if it's the difference between staying up and going down, the wages are a non-issue
4) That can be true of young players as well, if they're not very good.
5) Again, that's true of any player if they turn out to be shit.  At least with older players you have some sort of history to go by.
6) We might get relegated, it's a very real threat.  We've got loads of youth, so one or two older heads shouldn't stop them developing, and indeed should help.  We risk ruining the good young players we do have by destroying their confidence.\
7) Fair point, but I'd rather buy a couple of more experienced players and stay up, than stick with the current squad and risk going down.  At which point any good young players like Benteke would be off like a shot to  better club.

[ozzjim]

The likes of Benteke will be off when the big boys come calling anyway, it is one of the sad facts of football in 2012.

I agree totally re the likes of Merson and Dublin, the likes of Colin Calderwood, Ronny Johnson and Stan Staunton second time have all given us experience, quality and bodies when we have needed them. We need to pick up 2-3 like that, that can come in, add quality and experience for a couple of seasons without breaking the bank totally.

[OzVilla]

I'd like us to go for Dawson, Huddlestone, Parker and Benayoun - even if some are loans with a view to permanent.

If they have some others up their sleeve too then that'd be great.

We'd get our quality and experience and presence out of that lot and they'd all be wanting first team football.

[Rigadon]

I'd like us to go for Dawson, Huddlestone, Parker and Benayoun - even if some are loans with a view to permanent.

If they have some others up their sleeve too then that'd be great.

We'd get our quality and experience and presence out of that lot and they'd all be wanting first team football.

That's a petty good list.  Some of the wages might be a problem though. 

[Ian.]

It's plainly obvious we need some experience, but it needs to be experience that fits into a system that suits the way Lambert is trying to play. This will be key. He is not going to add experienced heads into a team who are not natural footballers. Hopefully his scouts have been searching since August and early in January it will be rectified asap. We do need to act quick and get some players in to steady things and bring back confidence.

I still have the utmost faith in what Lambert is trying to do, I'm not angry and not even that worried about our situation. Maybe I should be but for some reason which I have no idea why I'm still confident Lambert will get it right.

[eastie]

I'd like us to go for Dawson, Huddlestone, Parker and Benayoun - even if some are loans with a view to permanent.

If they have some others up their sleeve too then that'd be great.

We'd get our quality and experience and presence out of that lot and they'd all be wanting first team football.

All of those players are the sort of quality and experience we need.

[brian green]

I am with N'Zimidy on this one.   All the points he makes are valid ones but two important ones are missing.

Players like Lampard and Parker have very active and potentially very troublesome agents.   Big name players are very hard to manage and almost impossible to discipline.

Clubs like ours often are seen as fair game for players who should have retired and are in effect burned out.   Michael Owen is a classic case in point.

If we start buying old has-beens who spend most of their time in the treatment room and playing as though they are doing us a big favour turning up at all that will be the end of my 70 year love affair with Aston Villa.   Everybody has a breaking point and that would be mine.

[eastie]

I think Parker and lampard who were mentioned are both great pros and far less maintenance than the likes of Ireland and nzogbia who both have reputations for being awkward to say the least.

Lampard would not come here in any case but if if Parker did I think he would set a great example to younger players rather than being a prima Donna.

[DB]

I am with N'Zimidy on this one.   All the points he makes are valid ones but two important ones are missing.

Players like Lampard and Parker have very active and potentially very troublesome agents.   Big name players are very hard to manage and almost impossible to discipline.

Clubs like ours often are seen as fair game for players who should have retired and are in effect burned out.   Michael Owen is a classic case in point.

If we start buying old has-beens who spend most of their time in the treatment room and playing as though they are doing us a big favour turning up at all that will be the end of my 70 year love affair with Aston Villa.   Everybody has a breaking point and that would be mine.

I have never heard any bad stories around Parker and Lampard. They would be doing us a big favour, if they can help stop us being relegated! I don't think they would ever come but we need experience not more youth players.

[N'ZMAV]

We're not going to get PArker. Huddlestone, maybe? He was going to Stoke at the end of August but that fell through.
I think we missed a trick getting N'Zonzi from Blackburn. He is exactly the type of player we need.
Benayoun could add some guile to the middle of the park. He could do a very good job for us.

[N'ZMAV]

The type of players we need are Kevin Nolan, Michael Dawson & Darren Gibson. Solid Pro's. Obviously, we're not going to get those 3, but that's the type we need.