Paul Faulkner interview.

[not3bad]

I want to see entertaining football.

Yeh, this 'simple' thing seems to get lost in a lot of discussions when people say we are progressing. Look we're 11th in 'mid-table' they say, we've got more clean sheets than last year, and our income to wages expenditure is looking much better now too etc., etc. Maybe that's all true, and these are things that are important & show some underlying improvement, albeit against a petty low benchmark, but ultimately i usually end up sat there thinking, 'yeh, but our football is still mostly shit and painful to watch' and the reason i watch football is to be entertained.

This is a fair point.  One of the main things we agreed with during Mcleish's time is that we "just wanted to enjoy going to the Villa again." And during Lambert's first season, despite some well documented setbacks, it did look like he was working towards that goal.  "We're Aston Villa - we're passing the ball," we sang during the Swansea and Sunderland performances of 2012/2013.  But that seems to have gone bye the bye now.  And Lambert is now saying things like "possession isn't that important". I'd guess this change in priorities comes from a pragmatic stance due to the players at his disposal and it has made Villa more resilient.  You can tell that by the number of clean sheets we've kept.  But yes it is painful, and it is dissapointing to see that going to the Villa is once again a chore.

[Damo70]

I only read the full interview for the first time this morning. To be honest I don't have a problem with anything he said.

[Toronto Villa]

I only read the full interview for the first time this morning. To be honest I don't have a problem with anything he said.

I juts read the whole thing too and I can't find any fault in it. He's trying to be as candid as he can be about where we are where we want to go. No point writing cheques that can't be cashed or providing promises that gets everyone excited only to be let down. I think they all recognise that the volatility of the past few years simply cannot be repeated and that they'll ride this out. I'm sure behind the scenes they are not happy about a few things but they will never go into that detail publicly. I cannot believe for one second they have covered their eyes and ears to what is bluntly obvious, and some of that comes out in the article. I'm as frustrated as anyone and some of the progress feels blunted especially over recent weeks. But maybe the last 30 minutes of the Arsenal game gives some indication of what can happen with a bit of belief and our main forward scoring again.

[robbo1874]

What has happened since O'Neill flounced out has been an orchestrated push by Faulkner to reduce massively our expectations of the club.   I excuse Randy Lerner on the grounds of his naivety but I do not excuse Faulkner.   He has followed a premeditated plan for the purging of the fans of any expectation of glory.   Mazrim's description of him as corporate middle management is exactly right.   He reads the papers and picks up on words like "silverware" and believes that we, the fans want a trophy cupboard at Villa Park with cups and shields in it.   Her treats us like a parent who gives a child a bag of crisps when it wants a book to read.

Imagine what lies down this road.   Picture me leaving on a Saturday morning to drive 200 miles (sometimes 400) to see a Villa game.   My wife of many years asks if I really should be doing it at my age and why don't I stay home, have steak and chips for lunch and watch the racing on telly.   Faulkner believes that I will reply "sorry dear, these are exciting times at Villa Park, we have balanced the books."

We need glory.   We need famous victories.   We need breathtaking flashes of skill.   We need net bursting goals.   We need singing and chanting and jumping up and down and hugging and kissing each other.   That is what we need to disperse the pain and agony of years now of ridicule and piss taking by the media and by rival fans.   Silverware has nothing to do with it but Faulkner with zero grasp of what football is all about is more interested in spinning the spin sufficiently plausibly not to be sacked and to climb his chosen career ladder .

I also think that the malaise at Villa can be laid squarely at his door because I am sure he has promised Lambert that his job is safe even if we are relegated.   I would not be at all surprised if it is a promise in writing.   It is the same massive vote of no confidence in Lambert that Lambert gave the players with his opinion of them that they were not up to winning the cup and staying in the premiership.   Lambert can buy championship players on championship wages because it makes no difference to him.   He has bought into the no glory ethos and everything he does and says tells you as much.

I watched Bent tear holes in one of the worst Norwich sides I have ever seen last night and I could not believe that we had come to having a 24 million player out on loan and signing a Wigan reject.   What has happened to us?   I asked myself over and over.   Then I realized that the second part of the Lambert master stroke is to sign a Norwich player who cannot get picked for that utterly abysmal Norwich team, turned of the tv and went to bed in as black a mood as I can remember for many years.

you're a big drama queen Brian. I like reading your posts as i find them entertaining. But reality bites mate. We are where we are; which is slightly better than last season and a bit better than the season before it.

Progress (slow, yes) i call it. but progress none the less. the depressing thing is looking at the table, the points gulf will make it difficult to get much higher than 9th this season.

yes i  have a higher aspiration, most of us do, but reality would suggest we will be mid-table for a few more seasons yet before kicking on. If we continue to improve each season, that is good enough for me with a steady manager like Lambert in place.

If you want to look at changing things at the top - who do you bring in and which players (realistically) who can kick us on to 6th - 4th place? I'd love to know.

[paul_e]

I don't think it needs a few more seasons to be honest.  We're 2-3 players away from challenging Newcastle (and Everton next year when they don't have Lukaku) which should be resolved in the summer so 7-10 next year should be the aim, if we get the upper end of that then pushing to the top 6 can begin summer 2015.