Things I've heard on here this season

[Chris Jameson]

I'm not one of the grammar police but 'to' and 'too' isn't to (sic) difficult too (sic) grasp. Think that's what has pissed me off the most this season.

[Boz]

That's an excellent post Paulie. IF we are relegated, I would stick with Lambert too.

I wouldn't consider this season a failure either. A lot of things have been wrong at Villa for quite a while, most of those seem to be changing for the better.

It would be more a case of what Lambert and his team have brought to the table has come too late rather than being unsuccessful.

At least we bought ourselves a ticket.

I'd say that Liverpool are actually further behind in the process than us. We also have the more likely manager, staff .. and chairman ... to see it through.

Agree with Paulie's post and this one.

We look to be moving in the right direction and PL should be allowed time, certainly this season and next.

I've always thought Randy had the best interests of Villa at heart and I'd also agree we are more advanced in our development than the Red Scousers. Their squad might look a bit better quality and experience on paper than ours, but last weekend it showed we can be right up there with them by the end of the season, especially if PL can work a bit more magic in the January window.

[pauliewalnuts]

I think we're further along the way than Liverpool, but Liverpool's target of where they want to be again is higher than ours, and less realistic (competing with Man City, for example).

I like Rodgers, and he clearly has the right idea about how to play football, but that thing he said last week re second was daft. I know he was misquoted to a degree, or that what he said had some spin put on it in the press, but the basic point was that he didn't really have much to gain by saying it in the first place.

Lambert says all the right things about where we want to go, and what he is trying to do, but he's very clever in that he doesn't find himself saying things "for the sake of it" and opening himself up for criticism.

Anyway, fuck Liverpool.

[Brend'Watkins]

I wish I'd heard or seen Seattle Villain on here this season. 

I miss him so much.

[pauliewalnuts]

I wish I'd heard or seen Seattle Villain on here this season. 

I miss him so much.

last active September 4th this year, so he still logs in from time to time.

[Concrete John]

I think we're further along the way than Liverpool, but Liverpool's target of where they want to be again is higher than ours, and less realistic (competing with Man City, for example).

I like Rodgers, and he clearly has the right idea about how to play football, but that thing he said last week re second was daft. I know he was misquoted to a degree, or that what he said had some spin put on it in the press, but the basic point was that he didn't really have much to gain by saying it in the first place.

Lambert says all the right things about where we want to go, and what he is trying to do, but he's very clever in that he doesn't find himself saying things "for the sake of it" and opening himself up for criticism.

Anyway, fuck Liverpool.

The main difference between us and them is that we realised and admitted how bad things were and accepted it was going to be one step back in order to take two forward.

They still live in a world where they should be challenging for the title and can attract any player/manager they like to the club.

[PaulTheVillan]

I thought Benteke would flop. It's still early day but he's getting better with every game.

Not keen on Bannan, but he does seem to work well with Westwood.

Not been impressed with Bennett, but think I'll change my mind after he's had a good run in the side.

Very impressed with Baker.

[kippaxvilla2]

just some of things i've heard on here in the last few weeks -



Lamberts plan is not working, we are worse than last season - I'd say it's work in progress, it certainly wasn't working.

we need to find a way of playing Bent, otherwise we are definitely going down - we are 3 off relegation spots with two tough games to come, he was a 24m investment with a reputation of scoring 1 in every 2 games, I still think there is justification to this way of thinking.

the young players are not good enough, most are championship level players - factually this was correct, they aren't proven, they may get us halfway up the league and if that is the level of our ambition then I suppose your point is borne out.

i hate to say this but Mcliesh was doing a better job - Never ever did I utter those words and agree that anyone who said that needs to be incarcerated.

if Randy doesnt back Lambert heavily in Jan and bring in experience, we are doomed.  This is a long, long season, youngsters can fizzle out with the demands of it all so I still think this is a valid concern.

we need to bring back NRC to give us some grip in midfield.  Yes when Petrov got ill, not now Westwood is finding his feet.
i know that i'm posting this after a good win against Liverpool, and there is a long way to go,
but i havent made any of those points up, they are genuinly what i've been reading on here by some posters, and in my opinion are the biggest load of bollocks i have read since i joined the site seven years ago

only in my opinion obviously

[hawkeye]

the crazy thing about this is we are 3points off a relegation place with 20 games left,

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I wish I'd heard or seen Seattle Villain on here this season. 

I miss him so much.

last active September 4th this year, so he still logs in from time to time.

Hang on to your cock.

[paul_e]

the crazy thing about this is we are 3points off a relegation place with 20 games left,

but given the amount of changes made in the summer, both to personnel and to style we were always likely to grow into the season.  Given this I think most fans are now, maybe only sub-conciously, confident that we will pull away from the bottom end of the table over the next few months.  As mentioned on another thread, I think we'll be around 45 points, along with 6-7 other teams, and a fair way clear of the battle in the end.

[Ian.]

There are a few things I reckon we would do well to remember. The first is just how wretched we were last season. Not just in terms of points on the board, but the way we went about things on the pitch. I can remember the last relegation season (although not the third division one), and recall how desperately poor we were that year, and am not going to say last year was "worse" - clearly, we stayed up, which is a bit of a decider, but I can't remember ever feeling as frequently embarassed as a Villa fan as last year.

We were frequently thoroughly embarassing to watch. We looked like a club going one way, and one way only.  I also don't want to start another MON ruck, but I think he had certain habits and ways of playing drummed into the players when he was here. To an extent, it obviously worked for him, but in terms of looking to the future, it is a style with next to no longevity, as were a great number of the players he bought.

Houllier tried to change it, and looked like he was getting results near the end, then fate intervened. McLeish set us back further.

All of that is not going to change inside one season. Anyone who thinks Lambert should have been under pressure for his job is welcome to their opinion, but really, I find it a bizarre opinion to have.

I doubt there is a single person on this board who hasn't vented or felt pissed off at the way the season has been so far (for the large part), but I can also think of barely anyone who hasn't been able to see green shoots of recovery in the way we've played thus far - it seems that obvious.

Personally, if I were Lerner, I would give Lambert three years and decent funding to turn this club around and get it established back on the way to where it belongs. I'd even stick with him if he were to get us relegated this season.

We need continuity, and a defining ethos / way of doing things at the club, and it has to be something forward thinking, based on modern football, and it needs to be built on a solid base of good, dependable players, and a manager who knows what he's doing. I think we have got that manager now, we need to back him.

I do, though, think we are still going to have a lot of low moments before the end of this season. We just need to be prepared for them. This is a young side, probably still far too short on experience, the acquisition of a Petrov style player in January would be the sort of thing to help (I don't mean necessarily his style of player, but that type of experienced pesonality).

When I see stuff like "ha ha, see, how WRONG were you lot!111!!!" on the basis of two decent results, I do wonder if people are starting to get carried away and are going to be disappointed that we don't carry on climbing the table, sweeping away all opposition.

That's probably not going to happen, to react like that strikes me as much a case of failing to see the bigger picture as the people who can't see any signs of improvement in the way we've played since the start of the season.

We need to get behind the team and manager, but we also need to be realistic, and understand, we've got a long, long way to go yet. It's good we've started to show more signs of being on the right route.

Reading RAWK yesterday, I was chuckling at the delusion of some of their fans, who seem to think they should be competing with Man City, oblivious to how much things have changed and how their club's aspirations have changed as a result.

There is a certain similarity between Liverpool's position and ours (something which a few journalists touched on at the weekend). Like Liverpool, the decline of this club is not going to be turned around by anybody in the space of a season, and almost certainly not two seasons, either. We're carrying out a fundamental rebuilt of the club, it will need time and support. Just as an iffy first half of the season is not reason to pack it all in and give up, a couple of decent results is not the sign of anything being resolved just yet.

Give it time.

A very good post Paulie.

[tomd2103]

There are a few things I reckon we would do well to remember. The first is just how wretched we were last season. Not just in terms of points on the board, but the way we went about things on the pitch. I can remember the last relegation season (although not the third division one), and recall how desperately poor we were that year, and am not going to say last year was "worse" - clearly, we stayed up, which is a bit of a decider, but I can't remember ever feeling as frequently embarassed as a Villa fan as last year.

We were frequently thoroughly embarassing to watch. We looked like a club going one way, and one way only.  I also don't want to start another MON ruck, but I think he had certain habits and ways of playing drummed into the players when he was here. To an extent, it obviously worked for him, but in terms of looking to the future, it is a style with next to no longevity, as were a great number of the players he bought.

Houllier tried to change it, and looked like he was getting results near the end, then fate intervened. McLeish set us back further.

All of that is not going to change inside one season. Anyone who thinks Lambert should have been under pressure for his job is welcome to their opinion, but really, I find it a bizarre opinion to have.

I doubt there is a single person on this board who hasn't vented or felt pissed off at the way the season has been so far (for the large part), but I can also think of barely anyone who hasn't been able to see green shoots of recovery in the way we've played thus far - it seems that obvious.

Personally, if I were Lerner, I would give Lambert three years and decent funding to turn this club around and get it established back on the way to where it belongs. I'd even stick with him if he were to get us relegated this season.

We need continuity, and a defining ethos / way of doing things at the club, and it has to be something forward thinking, based on modern football, and it needs to be built on a solid base of good, dependable players, and a manager who knows what he's doing. I think we have got that manager now, we need to back him.

I do, though, think we are still going to have a lot of low moments before the end of this season. We just need to be prepared for them. This is a young side, probably still far too short on experience, the acquisition of a Petrov style player in January would be the sort of thing to help (I don't mean necessarily his style of player, but that type of experienced pesonality).

When I see stuff like "ha ha, see, how WRONG were you lot!111!!!" on the basis of two decent results, I do wonder if people are starting to get carried away and are going to be disappointed that we don't carry on climbing the table, sweeping away all opposition.

That's probably not going to happen, to react like that strikes me as much a case of failing to see the bigger picture as the people who can't see any signs of improvement in the way we've played since the start of the season.

We need to get behind the team and manager, but we also need to be realistic, and understand, we've got a long, long way to go yet. It's good we've started to show more signs of being on the right route.

Reading RAWK yesterday, I was chuckling at the delusion of some of their fans, who seem to think they should be competing with Man City, oblivious to how much things have changed and how their club's aspirations have changed as a result.

There is a certain similarity between Liverpool's position and ours (something which a few journalists touched on at the weekend). Like Liverpool, the decline of this club is not going to be turned around by anybody in the space of a season, and almost certainly not two seasons, either. We're carrying out a fundamental rebuilt of the club, it will need time and support. Just as an iffy first half of the season is not reason to pack it all in and give up, a couple of decent results is not the sign of anything being resolved just yet.

Give it time.

Great post Paulie and I agree with pretty much all of it.  We have to remember just how low we reached last season (I still maintain that by those last few games we had become the worst team in the league) and that it was always going to take time to recover from that.  What has impressed me most about Lambert is that in the short space of time he has been at the club, he has put solid foundations in place both on and off the pitch which can be built upon in the next few years.  He's taken a massive risk going down the route he has chosen (relying on young unproven players as opposed to buying more established players), but it does seem as though he and his staff have a decent eye for talent and on the whole, his purchases have been successful so far. 

I have been to most of the home games this season and it is clear to see that although we are nowhere near the finished article yet, there are definite signs of recovery and that the fans are slowly but surely buying into it.  As opposed to last season, you can see that we now have a pattern of play and it is clear that the players are being sent out with belief and confidence in themselves.  Saying that though, we are still short of quality in a few key areas, but unlike a few of our previous managers, I feel that Paul Lambert will be able to identify that and address it. 

All said and done, we are still in a very precarious position though and a couple of defeats combined in an upturn fortune for a few of the clubs below us and we will be right back in the relegation zone. 

[Mazrim]

We are 3 points (+5 gd) from the relegation places, we're also 5 points from 10th or if you like, 10 points from 5th.
It's a very tight league and at this moment its all about momentum. Any kind of momentum or form shoots you up the league.
We seem to have some, hence the optimism. Plus, many of the teams in this league are hardly frightening. We can easily climb the table.

But you never know. A few key injuries here and there and you start struggling again but Lambert's team is looking strong, motivated and starting to take shape and we're heading the right way. His philospohies are just starting to bed in.
I can't see it tailing off and think we'll only improve (and strengthen in January) but who knows.

It's not time to crow about anything yet but I never thought things were that bad anyway.
I could see something taking shape.

[Concrete John]

Third game of the season was Newcastle away, where we looked very good and should have won.  I think from there you could see what he was trying to create, so due to numerous factors (age of the squad, number of new signings, short time to work with the new manager) it was only right to be patient and give them time to get it right.

That's not to say they have it right yet, as I doubt we'll play as well as we did in the last two games for the rest of the season, but it's becoming ever more clear what we are trying to get to and exactly how good that could be!