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

[mrfuse]

I'm still backing Lambert and buying good youth players is surely the way forward.

Whether we have bought quality youth is yet to be decided, but what we have done is buy too much too soon. We currently have no partnerships that have played together before in any areas of the pitch and a captain that is still learning his position himself never mind leading others.

Personally I would rather go down trying to play the right way with the right setup than stay in the League with a manager like McLeish. I may be naive in thinking that way and there is a chance that it could go disastrously wrong but teams like WBA and Newcastle have also shown it can go right.

Of course I'd rather we scrape it and stay up, but this looks like a long term plan and many things will go wrong before they go right.

Any long term plan could not include a possible risk that we might drop so low. On what evidence does it look like a long term plan?'

Does anyone really think PL would survive a relegation ? The fans certainly wouldn't and the board would have to listen.  Any manager that relegates my club doesn't deserve a second chance.

You are probably right the fans would not stand for it, but I'm not sure I agree about having a second chance.

If were looking for a longer term fix than rather a quick solution than you have to look past one season as being 1 chance.So if were not planning on buying big then we either do what teams like stoke and West ham are doing or look to a longer term plan like swansea, Wigan, and WBA have done.

If were convinced we have the right manager that wants to play good football then we have to back him for at least 3 seasons. Unless we have the right setup behind the scenes then chopping and changing managers at the first sign of trouble gives the club no stability.

[barrysleftfoot]

  I understand his long term plan, and in fact support it.But putting faith in youth and ability has its flaws and fragilities.At the moment we look too weak mentally and physically, the players we currently have are not up to the task, and that includes the "senior " players.These players haven't performed for 3 seasons.So in that respect i agree with PL, and support him.

 But with us being in such a precarious position, i think it needs to be a long term plan that is implemented in 1 month.Next season every Prem Lge team gets another £20m, we need to spend that now, on the right players granted, and probably more.Some will be  a gamble, and some won't work, but if we don't get in 4/5 players in this transfer window, to go straight into the 1st team , then i don't think we will be in the Prem next season.

[OzVilla]

i also agree that investment in youth could've been the way to go but it has to be implemented properly, that is not the cold turkey on experience that we've suffered over the last 2 years.  We've sold so many experienced players and replaced them with novices.

Well meaning as this plan might have been it's also shockingly naive. This is not Lambert's fault, was happening way before he arrived and was imo a cost cutting exercise from a board that wanted their money back.

I have to believe this is the case as the other alternative, that RL and PF honestly thought this was the best way to bring us success is too laughable to comprehend.

[Drummond]

All these players need is some belief. They won't get that unless they start winning games or get someone in alongside them who knows how it's done.

Lambert signings to me seem good, there is plenty of potential there (I'm not sure about El Ahmadi mind to be developed.

Relegation wouldn't be good, can it ever? However, were we to drop, the standard would give the team the chance to win, develop as a team, and gain the winning mentality.

It's worked for a lot of teams recently and the old yo-yo effect of the same clubs up and down year after year has stopped.

Do I want us to go down? No. Do I think it uld do us good? Possibly but the risks involved are great.

Lambert is the right man for the job, he knows what it takes to win, he's got a plan and for once we need to stick with it.

[OzVilla]

Relegation wouldn't be good, can it ever? However, were we to drop, the standard would give the team the chance to win, develop as a team, and gain the winning mentality.

It's worked for a lot of teams recently and the old yo-yo effect of the same clubs up and down year after year has stopped.

Do I want us to go down? No. Do I think it uld do us good? Possibly but the risks involved are great.

I also agree, i don't think relegation would be the end of the world.  I thoroughly enjoyed our last visit to the 2nd tier.  I don't want it find out particularly but it'd be nice to see us winning a few games rather than the misery of the last 3 seasons.

[mrfuse]

All these players need is some belief. They won't get that unless they start winning games or get someone in alongside them who knows how it's done.

Lambert signings to me seem good, there is plenty of potential there (I'm not sure about El Ahmadi mind to be developed.

Relegation wouldn't be good, can it ever? However, were we to drop, the standard would give the team the chance to win, develop as a team, and gain the winning mentality.

It's worked for a lot of teams recently and the old yo-yo effect of the same clubs up and down year after year has stopped.

Do I want us to go down? No. Do I think it uld do us good? Possibly but the risks involved are great.

Lambert is the right man for the job, he knows what it takes to win, he's got a plan and for once we need to stick with it.

I agree, the players confidence is shot to pieces everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. The one thing Lambert would have not wanted yesterday was to loose an early goal. We need to have something to grasp onto to give us some rest bite but when your down their this is what happens.

 I'm not sure were or how it will come about but a freak or lucky goal might swing it back for us, at the minute you just cant see anything but a loss in the next fixture.

[Witton Warrior]

I want to see what Lambert can do with a settled and balanced squad before I make any judgement. For my part I think he will prove to be a competent but not great manager.

Currently we are in a perfect storm of personel and style changes, injuries, lack of experience, lack of skill (but that is endemic in the Premiership in my opinion), relegation pressure and rock-bottom confidence.

This is not what we all expected/wanted when TSM was replaced so it has come as a real blow - sacking PL now is madness.

[ozzjim]

All these players need is some belief. They won't get that unless they start winning games or get someone in alongside them who knows how it's done.

Lambert signings to me seem good, there is plenty of potential there (I'm not sure about El Ahmadi mind to be developed.

Relegation wouldn't be good, can it ever? However, were we to drop, the standard would give the team the chance to win, develop as a team, and gain the winning mentality.

It's worked for a lot of teams recently and the old yo-yo effect of the same clubs up and down year after year has stopped.

Do I want us to go down? No. Do I think it uld do us good? Possibly but the risks involved are great.

Lambert is the right man for the job, he knows what it takes to win, he's got a plan and for once we need to stick with it.

With you all the way Drummond.

[achilles]

I just can't understand people embracing the possibility of relegation as a positive! You definitely need experienced pros to get out of the championship, allied to hard work exactly what we haven't got. If we went down I could see us languishing in that league for years to come and we might even go lower!
This just reminds me of the Billy McNeill era when all hope was extinguished! Yes, I know we came back but its certainly a hell of a lot harder now then it has ever been. 

[hilts_coolerking]

Relegation would be a disaster, no two ways about it.  Would it be the end of the club?  Of course not but anyone who thinks we would have a divine right to win games in the Championship is kidding themselves with the squad we've got.  Lots of clubs have gone down with that mentality and not resurfaced.

[claretandbeer]

All these players need is some belief. They won't get that unless they start winning games or get someone in alongside them who knows how it's done.

Lambert signings to me seem good, there is plenty of potential there (I'm not sure about El Ahmadi mind to be developed.

Relegation wouldn't be good, can it ever? However, were we to drop, the standard would give the team the chance to win, develop as a team, and gain the winning mentality.

It's worked for a lot of teams recently and the old yo-yo effect of the same clubs up and down year after year has stopped.

Do I want us to go down? No. Do I think it uld do us good? Possibly but the risks involved are great.

Lambert is the right man for the job, he knows what it takes to win, he's got a plan and for once we need to stick with it.

Exactly my feelings.

[Mortimer's Bear]

If he can guide us through these difficult times, keep us up and keep those young lads motivated and believing in themselves, I believe he could go on to become one of our greatest ever managers.

[Dave Clark Five]

I am for sticking with Paul Lambert. When I questioned 'the plan', I wasn't criticising his plan. He has a dwindling, already poor, pool of resources. We have all been guilty of it at some time but kicking a man when he is down will not resolve this.

[ez]

I think the job is now Lamberts for at least 3 years, relegation or not. Randy's must of had enough of playing 'find the manager' for the forseable future.

[Jimbo]

Perhaps this thread needs a poll, to show at a glance that the vast majorityof us - me included - are behind Lambert. Sure, he's made mistakes but changing the manager now would be disastrous. Who on earth do people think Lerner and Faulkner would get in? It doesn't bear thinking about.