Things I've heard on here this season

[Irish villain]

How boring would it be if everybody sat around blandly spinning the most positive line they could? Remember when we were struggling under Houllier and the official site kept spinning these 'interviews' with various players on about how they wanted to start climbing the table etc etc?

The reason I come here for Aston Villa news is because I know everything will get teased out and debated so you will arrive at a more informed opinion having read various arguments being put forward.

After two bad seasons and a very close brush with the drop (many) villa fans might be forgiven for being apprehensive. Many of us have bought into what Lambert is trying to do and if you look at the 'favourite player' thread you will see the current squad is as well liked as any we have had this decade.

I think most fans can see what Lambert's plan and are willing to give it time. It was just that the longer we stayed down near the relegation zone the more nervy we would get and question whether a couple of more experienced players ought to be brought in to help get us out of it.

 It's great to see things click and hopefully we will be looking up the table from now on.

[Dave Cooper please]

This season for me is summed up by a (paraphrased) comment by Woodhall (not arselicking like), we are now waiting for things to go right rather than waiting for them to go wrong.

[KevinGage]

I'll be quite open and say I had my doubts about Lambert (still do, to a certain extent). 

Not McLeish-size doubts, but he is a young manager learning on the job.  Like most of our team, in fact.

It's reassuring that- for the most part- there hasn't been crazy talk of sacking him though, even when we were turning in some pretty dire performances.  But then most Villa fans tried to give McLeish a chance too, something often overlooked in J'accuse threads such as these. 

Back to PL:  He's made two massive calls this season in benching Given and Bent.  You have to get those decisions right and -thus far- he's been vindicated.  Having the courage to bring in the likes of Lowton, Westwood and Benteke is another mark in his favour.   Of all the players we signed this summer, I'd really only heard of Ron and Joe Bennett  (and Guzan, obv).  We've been crying out for that kind of awareness in the transfer market for donkeys years, and it looks like we've finally got it.

I still have concerns about some aspect of his management, but overall I'd have to say this is the most optimistic I have been as a Villa fan for a while.   We have (hopefully) turned a corner.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

I reckon we will lose the next 10 games without scoring a goal.
You will all change your tune again then !
   

[SoccerHQ]

The thing that sticks in my mind is a poster who shall remain nameless (but it isn't difficult to work out who it is) calling for Given to be reinstated in goal after we lost 5-0 to Man. City. *shakes head*

Lowton (excellent all season) and Westwood (looking like a gem) also being regularly attacked becasue they came from Sheffield and Crewe.

[pauliewalnuts]

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.

[JUAN PABLO]

I'm not keen on Bannan, hope i'm proved wrong.

I think BB looked better on Saturday as he kept doing quick short passes and it seemed to work the way we were set up other than the other way he normally plays which  sometimes frustrates me .

[john e]

i see a thread has been closed down because there is already a 'told you so thread' fair enough, but its to early to be saying i told you so yet, we still dont know how the season will pan out.

but i can guarantee one thing with 100% certainty,
if we do take a turn for the worst and end up going down, every one of the doom and gloomers will be on here taking the piss, how we all 'had 'our heads in the clouds'  'away with the faries' 'deluded into buying into Lamberts plan' and we will be in no place to defend ourselves because we will have been proved wrong, thats the way it is thats the way it should work.

but if you point that out every one of the spineless wankers will come out with  'well you got it wrong about a player 10 months ago' line, or something equaly as mundane,
 as if its the same as continualy dronning on with 'Randy's shit' 'Lamberts plan isnt working' 'we are all heading for the championship as we are run by clowns'

if you get it wrong, admit it, i have always done that, hold your hands up and move on, but the doomers just hide behind excuses, thats what really pisses me of,
 they post whatever shit they want, with no thought of any come back

( i realise it pisses me of probably more than anyone else)

[pauliewalnuts]

Honestly, John, "spineless wankers"?

People wonder why threads like this get locked, and that shows exactly why.

[Steve R]

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.

[Smoke]

I don't see this as an 'I Told you so' thread nor did I see my thread as one.

[john e]

Honestly, John, "spineless wankers"?

People wonder why threads like this get locked, and that shows exactly why.

fair enough went a bit to far there,  sorry

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

I heard someone say they listened to Pearl Jam. Couldn't believe my eyes when I read that. Who'd do such a thing???

[Astral Weeks]

Excellent post, Paulie, and pretty much sums up the way I feel too.

Last season was dire beyond belief, we must never forget that, and everyone involved at the club should be determined to see that it never happens again. The levels we sank to last season were unacceptable for this football club.

For the first time in several years, I'm not embarrassed to admit I'm a Villa supporter. I'm genuinely beginning to get excited about the path we're on now, but at the same time I'm conscious that it's very early days and there will be many reverses on the way.

My feet are on the ground.

[Chris Smith]

Having a site like this can be great but there are times when the short termism and ill thought out comments make you want to take a pick axe to the internet. You can't intelligently judge players, teams or managers over the short term, there are plenty of examples of great starts that turned out to be a flash in the pan or those who took their time to settle but ended up as important players. Forming opinions is only natural, being so certain of them with so little evidence is another thing entirely. We've seen a hint of what we might eventually become in some recent performances but we need to do it consistently over a period of months and years before we can judge it as Ken McNaught as opposed to Didier Six.

All we can say with any certainty is that there are some encouraging signs, that Lambert isn't afraid to make big decisions and that the club appears a happier place than it has for a few years.