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

[DeKuip]

The problem is simple, you can't play 3 at the back. He is not in Germany any more. We have got no width to supply the strikers 4 4 2 gives the fullbacks more options to get forward and leave the midfield more balanced to do their job

Well the team that beat us today played three at the back and had plenty of options going forward. I expect once Vlaar's back we'll return to a back four but it's not the system that's been the problem, it's having to play a full back and a midfielder as centre backs due to injuries.

People talk as if Lambert hasn't realised yet that the squad isn't strong enough, just because he doesn't come out after each defeat and say so. I'm sure he knows what he needs and lets at least wait and see what happens in January.
It was always going to be a roller coaster season, we're just at the bottom of one of the dips at the moment with lots of hysterical screaming and a few yellabellies wanting to get off.
Stay with it and we'll all get off dizzy but laughing at the end of the ride.
Keep the faith.

[Greg N'Ash]

Sort out the defence for starters - its pish. any decent side or bad side for that matter sorts out the defence for starters and then builds from there - we're not manu who can let slide 3 goals and then win the game ffs. This is really basic stuff and i'm bemused lambert seems to be incapable of working it out.

He appeared to have done that with the 532 system. But injuries mostly put paid to that.

yes thats true but 15 goals in 3 games? there's div1 teams who wouldn't let that in against premier league opposition. they'd probably lose but to that extent?  Dare i say it but we wouldn't have been hammered into the ground if the TSM was still here. 2 losses and a draw at best mind. Whatever way you look at it lamberts let things go awry. Plenty of teams have shite midfields and can still get a draw.

The 8-0, although bad is on par with MON's last result there, with more experienced defenders. Tottenham were all over us and probably would have won but would it have been 4 if Baker was still on the field. Would Wigan have won today or would it have been a 0-0? What if Vlaar was back and could steady the ship? Prior to that the defence had done well for 5 matches including against Arse. The trouble is that the formation is only temporary and as also shown in the last few, midfield can be overrun quite easily against better drilled mid-fielders.

I don't know... Chelsea like most on here i took as a bloodied nose. Alarms bells went after the spurs game when it became obvious it had really hit some of the youngsters for 6 or 8. Today,I would have packed the defence given the available resources. A shit draw is better than what happened today especially with the fragile confidence. Don't help when you've got wasters like ireland  in midfield but still to me Lambert's whole approach to this game was naive in the extreme. What was bannan's role for instance?

[villan from luton]

Lets be honest, Norwich and Liverpool could and should have scored more against us. I didnt expect anything v Chelsea or Spuds, but didnt expect to be walked all over. However, today was a disgrace and we cant keep making excuses. You need some sort of tactics and although the shite early goal didnt help, we looked all over the place. I could not believe the centre midfield he put out today to be honest

[BegbieAV]

But Wigan was more productive in midfield they made us look like school kids, we need more bite, Fabian Delph should step up to the mark but he is no Stan Petrov

[villan from luton]

He couldnt pick Delph today though as was suspended, how many fecking games has he played to get 5 cards? Needed a holding player though and I know Westwood may be tired, but would have played him today and given him next two games off v Swansea and Ipswich as today was a massive game for us

[Somniloquism]

Alarms bells went after the spurs game when it became obvious it had really hit some of the youngsters for 6 or 8. Today,I would have packed the defence given the available resources. A shit draw is better than what happened today especially with the fragile confidence. Don't help when you've got wasters like ireland  in midfield but still to me Lambert's whole approach to this game was naive in the extreme. What was bannan's role for instance?

Against Spurs, when he went to 4 at the back due to Bakers injury in the second half, my opinion was if we didn't get the first goal we would be open to a hiding. For all their bossing of the first 45, they hadn't broken through but we had barely got out of our half. I believe he might have kept it the same without the injury.

Today, on the midfield he did put out, we were either going to win or lose, there was no draw involved. If Holman had scored right before HT we probably would have won it. Unfortunately, as with Spurs, we let in the killer second goal with lots of defensive mistakes when we were bossing the game and from there, the only thing we were waiting for was how bad was the loss going to be. But I don't think we would have lost today if Baker was fit, or if Vlaar was back no matter the midfield.

But I am worried that Lambert does seem to be MON lite. He should have changed it at 2-0, instead he waited until almost 10 mins after conceding a 3rd. He probably should have changed it at half time in hindsight but from about 30 mins in until their second, we were well on top.

[kippaxvilla2]

If ever there was time to get a villa man in its now. Big Ron?

Not Big Ron, maybe Peter Withe though to steady the ship, someone who has rights over the 'proud history' mantra.

[kippaxvilla2]

Lambert has fielded a freakishly poor team 3 times on the bounce.  Yes, some of that is down to circumstance,  but some of it is down to naivety or ineptitude.  A successful team relies on confidence,  in the style of play and in it's leader.  That's why I'm doubting ours. 

Then again, who should he have fielded that he didn't?

I appreciate there were other options, but they were hardly stellar, were they?

I really respect you Paulie, you know this, but it isn't as if he was picking all the senior players before this so called injury crisis.  Bent couldn't get a game in the league, Ireland was still in and out, Nzogbia pre knee injury was nowhere to be seen, Hutton punted out on loan, Warnock the same, I mean come on, they can't all be shit enough to be played out of th side by the likes of what we have seen today?

[Somniloquism]

If ever there was time to get a villa man in its now. Big Ron?

Not Big Ron, maybe Peter Withe though to steady the ship, someone who has rights over the 'proud history' mantra.

Peter Withe = Alan Shearer at Newcastle. He might talk the talk but has never walked the walk at any meaningful level.

If we were ever to go down that route, then it would be Sid anyway as he is already on the staff so no more wages to spend or compo payouts to other teams.

[Somniloquism]

I really respect you Paulie, you know this, but it isn't as if he was picking all the senior players before this so called injury crisis.  Bent couldn't get a game in the league, Ireland was still in and out, Nzogbia pre knee injury was nowhere to be seen, Hutton punted out on loan, Warnock the same, I mean come on, they can't all be shit enough to be played out of th side by the likes of what we have seen today?

And what was your opinion on all of those players last year when the performances were not any better but they did not have the lack of experience as a fall back option.

This year, N'Zog has appeared 11 times, albeit as sub mostly but hasn't shown in those appearances any reason to start him ahead of others before the last three matches. Ireland has been on the pitch for 12 of the 15 goals conceded. Bent is the only one he deliberately dropped, but as others have mentioned, without the injury at Norwich, he probably would have been in the side in at least two of the last three matches. As for Hutton and Warnock, I doubt they would have been any better then Ireland has been. We already have Herd giving away stupid free kicks around the box, why have two other players doing the same.

[villan from luton]

BFR or Peter Withe, why not get that twat Nigel Kennedy to take charge. Get a bloody grip

[Somniloquism]

BFR or Peter Withe, why not get that twat Nigel Kennedy to take charge. Get a bloody grip

I don't know what Nigel has done to upset you, but he is a Villa supporter who goes out of his way to help other supporters all the time.

[JD]

What is the point of changing manager yet again? We wanted Lambert and got him. He justy needs to understand that we are at crisis point and ensure Lerner opens his wallet so that he can sign the players to get us out of this mess. 

[David_Nab]

Lets be honest, Norwich and Liverpool could and should have scored more against us. I didnt expect anything v Chelsea or Spuds, but didnt expect to be walked all over. However, today was a disgrace and we cant keep making excuses. You need some sort of tactics and although the shite early goal didnt help, we looked all over the place. I could not believe the centre midfield he put out today to be honest

Agreed first 20 mins at Liverpool they dominated and it was a combination of their poor final ball and some great last ditch defending that kept us in it.But we scored first and went on from there ,against Norwich we equalized quickly and against went from there.The team is mentally weak when we go a goal down we go hell for leather to get back into the game and get caught again.

Also the team work hard however they all close down players in packs then get picked apart.This was happening as far back as Everton and Southampton.The 2nd half at United once they scored was the same.Swindon we almost threw away too.Norwich at home again we were pretty awful but going down to 10 men perhaps papered over that.

We can point to injuries and a changing back line but in reality for the majority of the season we have looked less than solid at the back.The lack of any kind of DM has not helped.It's weird he has stated that Clark is most certainly not a midfielder when I'd argue he performed better there than CB and Herd he see's as a back up CB who again is better in CM.

[old man villa fan]

What is it with football fans and the internet.  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.  Whether it be, there must be a better manager than the current one but people then struggle to name one or, there is always a better team that can be put out than the one selected on any given Saturday.

I get very frustrated that people say change, change, change but cannot come up with realistic alternatives.

We all make it sound so easy to run a football club or manage the team.

When will people realise that we have very limited options.  We have 4 very important PL matches next month that we must get a reasonable return from.  We cannot afford to wait for injuries to clear up.  We must bring players in, at least in the short term.