Fulham v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Risso]

Well, that was piss poor.  We're still an absolute shambles.  This season of "ups and downs", and "peaks and troughs" seems to be light on the ups and peaks thus far.

[CJ]

That was piss poor. Didn't look like we meant it until they scored.

As others have said - we look like a very poor team and other sides must now love seeing our name on their fixture list. Even Nigel Adkins said their season would start against us - and he was right. When we're getting mullered by the likes of Southampton alarm bells should be ringing - but we've just carried on in the same vein. The measure of the squad is how many would be pinched if we did drop - probably Darren Bent, and he may be gone in January.  I really fear for the future this season.

[DC Fontana]

It seems ludicrous to talk about relegatiopn battles in October but I actually think we are firmly ensconced in one and like the rest of you I find it all totally frustrating, immensely disappointing and yet TOTALLY predictable!!

Yes the perfoprmances HAVE been better than the past year or more but the results are plainly dire and looking at the matches up-coming I think the writing is on the wall for the club this season.

Randy will need to make a major change of poilicy for January if we are to plug holes in this sinking ship because the mixture we have right now is nowhere near good enough and although some of the young lads we have brought on board may well mature into really good players at this level the problem we face is a lack of time to allow them to develop....

The Premier League is an unforgiving arena and you just don't get the time to develop a team this way in my opinion....I hope I am wrong and I really do like Lambert and admire his bravery and faith in the players he has at his disposal but I fear this is a season too far for the club.

If - and for me it is now a huge IF!!! - we manage to stay up this season then we will undoubtedly improve (though probably albeit in a slow way) but it's looking decidedly grim and unlikely right now.

Next week is already a must-win game and though this is a well-worn cliche I think it's true because promising performances and more exciting football that still gives NIL points is not going to save us.

Very predictably concerned!

[onje_villa]

I'm still very much on board with Lambert and his plans of long term progress but I think he/ the club are trying too much too soon. Youngsters need to be blooded in a certain environment. Bennet today looked well out of his depth. It's clear he's got quality but these players need cameos and experience beside them.

I think this will be rectified in January.

[Apyadg]

Say what you like about Lerner's shoddy management of the club, but that mosaic is beautiful. If that isn't worth a few years in the Championship, I don't know what is.

Who knows how many millions of pounds of debt, owned by a chairman who couldn't be more absent unless he died, and facing a potential relegation battle for the third season in a row.

And all we have to show for it is a nice pub and a few new signs.

[john e]

least we got Strictly to look forward to later

[PeterWithesShin]

least we got Strictly to look forward to later

I'm hoping there will be some decent clunge on Take Me Out to cheer me up.

[Irish villain]

I think this will be rectified in January.

The villa hierarchy not doing something arseways? I wouldn't hold my breath.

[ROBBO]

Didn't see much wrong with defence the midfield however is powder puff and the forward line like a blunt knife, to narrow without wingers we need genuine quality and quickly.

[andyh]

I'm still very much on board with Lambert and his plans of long term progress but I think he/ the club are trying too much too soon. Youngsters need to be blooded in a certain environment. Bennet today looked well out of his depth. It's clear he's got quality but these players need cameos and experience beside them.

I think this will be rectified in January.

It just might be too be bloody late then.

[hawkeye]

I still think it will improve, but we might again be thanking our lucky stars for the likes of Swansea, Reading, QPR, Norwich and Southampton being in the same division this year.

I agree. I think its not a case of we are shit so we will go down, more a case of we are shit but there are shitter teams out there and they will go down.

Southampton maybe but we are as bad as anyone else, the table would sugest that

[AvFc4eVeR]

Bent will save our season.

Not by scoring 20 goals, but by being sold in Jan for at least what we paid and bring in some quality to get us out of this mess.

I actually believe the Bent stories of the last few weeks may have originated closer to home than we are lead to believe, generates a bidding war before Jan, guaranteed sale.

[Witton Warrior]

It sounds like we are playing at 75% in all departments - not terribly but without skill and urgency.
Are we now looking at winning half a dozen home matches (which 6 teams are we better than for a start?) this season to see us safe?
If so then we truly are in trouble - again...

[PaulWinch again]

1 win in 18 league games, that is unbelievably bad.

[ktvillan]

I'm starting to have doubts about Lambert's approach.   What I assumed was rotation based on using the whole squad and to suit the opposition is starting look suspiciously like he doesn't really know a combination that works.   

I'm a fan of Bent, and he will guarantee us goals if serviced properly, but this no wingers approach makes him pretty much redundant.  The play it through the middle tactic clearly isn't working and we are just not getting the ball into the box often enough.   We look pretty clueless in the final third and it is difficult to see where the goals will come from unless we start to play to Bent's (and probably Benteke's) strengths by getting it out wide and putting some decent crosses in.  If we want to play it through the middle, I think Weimann is the best bet up front.

We need to spend some money in January or we will be in serious trouble.