Lambert in or out? Poll reset with majority 'in', 7th May

[claretandbeer]

How did Lambert attract Norwich's attention. Like taking his side,Colchester,to Carrow Road and  humiliating them 7-1. In January,he then takes Norwich back to his old club,Colchester,and thrashes them 5-0. Turning a 7-1 home defeat into a 5-0 away win against the same opposition.
Then achieve 2 successive promotions and safety in the PL with a solid side built on a meagre budget.
To think of sacking a manager with that ability is sheer lunacy.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

How did Lambert attract Norwich's attention. Like taking his side,Colchester,to Carrow Road and  humiliating them 7-1. In January,he then takes Norwich back to his old club,Colchester,and thrashes them 5-0. Turning a 7-1 home defeat into a 5-0 away win against the same opposition.
Then achieve 2 successive promotions and safety in the PL with a solid side built on a meagre budget.
To think of sacking a manager with that ability is sheer lunacy.

As i've said, the main problem lies with Lerner, but this rabid obsession with (inadequate) youth has to stop.

[claretandbeer]

Inadequate players are the problem.Their age is immaterial.

[sirlordbaltimore]

To think of sacking a manager with that ability is sheer lunacy.

If we ever finish top half of the Premiership with him i'll buy you a pint. Relegated, almost certain

[john2710]

There is no focus point in the link between the midfield and attack.

We need somebody with pace qnd a bit of flair qho can get beyond the frontmen or put in a good delivery.

Its a spot where we have to buy a youthful player, unless we want to spend mega money. Get Vlaar fit, get somebody of quality alongside him, give Westwood a bruiser for a partner, sign the link-man and we have a chance.

Spot on & take away the reliance on home grown players, who are plainly not good enough.

[JJ-AV]

What I took from it was that he was more willing to gamble on a hungry player. Whether that means young, is something we've all inferred.

If the right old boy is available, I think he'd do it.

May sound odd but I wonder if he is one of those managers who are uncomfortable handling big name players, he hasn't exactly done well with bent, given, nzogbia or Ireland and seems more comfortable with lesser known names.

Bent maybe, especially the dropping, but Nzog and Ireland (and some extent Given) have all been played and all not done the business as senior players.

But isn't it his job to get the best out of his senior players?

Well he is the 2nd one we have who hasn't got anything out of Nzog and the 3rd one (4th including Pardew) who hasn't got anything out of Ireland. At a certain point the players needs to be looked at and not the manager.

Exactly. Part of the problem is that we're lacking in leadership/experience, although Lambert chose inexperience in the Summer at that time the squad still possessed it.

For whatever reason (and some of these reasons are Lambert's own choice) the likes of Given, Dunne, Warnock, Hutton, N'Zogbia an Bent are not contributing.

That's half a team of internationals earning top 6 wages who possess the experience we miss. And that's why we resemble a reserve side at the minute.

[Tom_Mc9?]

The club is shit from top to bottom, sadly. Sacking Lambert would be pointless for two reasons. Firstly, he's trying to do the right things. Secondly, as everything else is so crap, it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever at the moment.

[olaftab]

The most worrying thing for me was that Lambert appeared flat and mumbling during his questioning by Pat Murphy. He needs to be more clear, concise, upbeat  and decisive. Otherwise there is no chance that he will be able to motivate players  and young ones at that, out of this current horrible spell.
I saw our players  "die" today after their second goal and it was only Wigan's lack of killer instinct and the introduction of 3 subs that kept the score down.
I think he should have introduced subs straight after their 2nd goal to make a bigger impact however he delayed that which  points to indecisiveness. Coaches like Fergie and Murinho would have not waited a second.
However I am still behind him. He needs to fix this.

[old man villa fan]

OK, possibly the least surprising post ever from me, but I've had enough.  I accept that he was the most obvious and preferred choice in the summer, but it isn't working and he's going to get us relegated.  Our worst start to a season, the worst goal difference in the league, two goals a game conceded, our record top flight defeat, and now three humiliating defeats in a row that have destroyed the lest remnants of any confidence the team once had.  Getting battered at home by a team like Wigan who had one point in their previous however many games was the last straw.  Yes, we all wanted him, but it just isn't working, and it was Lambert's choice to spend 20m on a team full of lower league kids, and players like Bennett, KEA, Bowery and Westwood just aren't good enough for a Premier League team, especially given how poor the rest of our team is.


I also realise that it wouldn't be the the best time to ditch him, but how can you retain somebody who is performing so poorly?  The football isn't even any improvement on last year, and the results are far, far worse.  So at present, I'd have him on a par with McNeill for paucity of performance.


As for who we'd get in, a short term fixer to try and keep us up.  Di Matteo maybe?  Or somebody like Roy Keane to give everybody a kick up the arse, as one thing Lambert clearly can't do is motivate anybody.


Right, where's me tin hat?

Do you really want to get rid of the manager or is this just a round about way of having a go at Lerner.

You have also said that you would rather have McLeish than Lambert.  By this I assume you mean McLeish's methods rather than Lambert's.  Alright, let's start with transfers.  McLeish spent £15-20m on Given, Hutton and N'Zogbia.  Lambert spent about the same on Benteke, Vlaar, Westwood, Bennett, Lowton and KEA and brought back Guzan.  Which set of players gives you greater hope for the future.

I could go on but why bother, you have made your mind up and have for a long time.

[barrysleftfoot]

  To be fair, for the last 2 or 3 poor seasons, i have been saying get rid of the over paid dross that we have, and lets have a look at the kids.Well we have, collectively, and i have to say we are desperately in need of some experienced players.I am all in favour of buying young up and coming players, the skill is to integrate them into the team at the right time.Lets hope PL has that ability.

[richsvilla]

How did Lambert attract Norwich's attention. Like taking his side,Colchester,to Carrow Road and  humiliating them 7-1. In January,he then takes Norwich back to his old club,Colchester,and thrashes them 5-0. Turning a 7-1 home defeat into a 5-0 away win against the same opposition.
Then achieve 2 successive promotions and safety in the PL with a solid side built on a meagre budget.
To think of sacking a manager with that ability is sheer lunacy.

Exactly how I feel. Norwich squad was together longer than ours tho when they made it to the premier league so they were more stable than our squad it seems to me

Like I said in a previous post he has assembled a championship quality side but the problem comes from the top and he has worked with funds/wages given to him by lerner. But did we expect much else considering its been this way for a few seasons now with cutting back etc? It all seems like people are shocked by this.

Lerner needs to invest in jan and thats the bottom line for me. If he does lambert will guide us out of danger. If lerner doesnt invest we will be in trouble.

[old man villa fan]

  To be fair, for the last 2 or 3 poor seasons, i have been saying get rid of the over paid dross that we have, and lets have a look at the kids.Well we have, collectively, and i have to say we are desperately in need of some experienced players.I am all in favour of buying young up and coming players, the skill is to integrate them into the team at the right time.Lets hope PL has that ability.

My view as well.  It is not either/or regarding young or experienced players, it is a combination of the two.  The key is having experienced players with the right attitude.  I am afraid some of our dross did not/do not.  I was/am fed up with players believing football owes them a living.

[eastie]

Some interesting debate on here tonight as always and lots to think about- I can only hope the new year brings new hope , things Can't get much worse than this.

[Rigadon]

If Lambert were Spurs manager, or Everton, or Newcastle, Liverpool....  Would he still be in a job? 

I hate putting the boot into managers so it's not nice to say, but after today he appears incapable of preparing a team fit for purpose (staying in this league).   I'd have to seriously question his decision of going with the same shape as the previous two defeats for todays game. 

[eastie]

Paul Lambert will meet Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner for crisis talks today after the Christmas holiday from hell.

The Villa boss sat stunned as his young side collapsed 3-0 against Wigan yesterday.

Read Sunday Mirror match report - Claret and oh so blue: Villa drop closer to relegation zone with abject display against Wigan

They have now let in 15 goals ­in three games over seven days.

And the home fans, who have until now stuck behind the former ­Norwich manager, showed the first signs of rebellion.

There were boos around Villa Park at the final whistle and many other fans had got up and walked out as early as the 55th minute when Wigan’s third goal went in.

Lambert admitted: “The last three results have really hurt us. ­Everybody was very positive after the Liverpool game.

“I understand the reaction of the fans. I can see that, I just have to keep the belief that Aston Villa will be fine.

“I will discuss it with the chairman, but what I have to say will remain private.

“We have got to put a stop to this. I just have to keep the spirits of the players up, keep them believing that they are good enough. That’s what you try to do.”

Lambert controversially left ­Norwich last summer to succeed Alex McLeish in the Villa Park hot-seat. So far, he has failed to halt the decline that had set in at the club.

 

Lambert went on: “This football club has been in a struggle for the last couple of seasons. I knew the job was massive when I took it.

“But it is an amazing club that has a great tradition. I’ve got no regrets about taking over, none whatsoever.

“This game was a chance for us to try to climb the table, especially at home, and that is the disappointment.

“The defeats against ­Chelsea and Spurs, well, they are top sides.

“But when you are ­competing with clubs around about you in the table and you get beaten 3-0 at home, well, it ­certainly hurts you.”

Lambert has set his managerial store around a policy of buying young players – he spent £27m in the summer on seven new players, none of whom had been in the Premier League before.

But their lack of experience began to show as Wigan scored goals from Ivan Ramis, Emmerson Boyce and Arouna Kone to climb out of the relegation zone.