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

[Chipsticks]

Things could be so much worse.

I have just been on the Forest Forum. TSM is already coming out with garbage, 'dynamic football' etc.

At least we have a progressive manager now who, if backed, can develop a coherent team at Aston Villa. We are building something with players who have the potential to improve. Last year we were led by a dinosaur with no plan, no concept of developing a way of playing as a team and who thought he could build something with overpaid journeymen like Hutton.

We gotta give Lambert time. Instability over the past three years has been a disaster for villa. We need stability and we need to embrace the change Lambert is trying to introduce.

I admire your confidence but i think we're actually worse now than we were last season. The players look out of their depth and the team is awful. When will we see this improvement you talk of?

The thrashings have knocked us all for six. I just think it is premature to write Lambert off. I have seen enough positive signs. Change is never smooth and we have had a bad run of injuries. I hope Randy has learned that we need a bigger squad and a couple of wise heads.

We have looked poor since Chelsea but remember last season? We never looked like attacking as a team, and relied on individuals remembering how to behave in opp half. We are more of a team now but still a work in progress. I'd rather be a work in progress than what we were second half of last season.

A very good point that I agree with. Last season we were a team on it's last legs, this season we're a team taking it's first steps.

[Risso]

One man's lucky is another man's resolute defending but it's not about today. The same people who say we're going down and this is the worst Vila team for 20/30/138 years are invariably the same ones who describe results against teams who are therefore better than us as lucky.

The post was certainly resolute for us today. But I'm not sure I see the controversy in seeing a poor side ride their luck to a point against a superior team and describing it as such.

I think this is the fourth time I've said this:

It's not just about today, it's about every single time we go away and get a decent result. We can never play well, we always have to be lucky.   

I think you're making things up to suit your argument.  Where did anybody say anything of the sort in the win against Liverpool, for example?

Good to hear you mention Liverpool as you've been spending the last few days telling us absolutely everything is shit.

Clearly not the case, then.

Still waiting for the suggestion re who we go after tomorrow morning after sacking Lambert tonight, btw.

Bloody hell, have you passed your log in details onto somebody else?  No, not everything is shit, but then no team in history that I can think of has lost every single game in a professional league.  Should we have stuck with McLeish because we beat Chelsea away 3-1 or put up a good performance in a draw with Arsenal?  No, of course we shouldn't, and neither should we stick with a manager who is performing even worse than TSM, which I didn't actually think was possible.  And if I had to choose somebody to see us through to the end of the season, I'd probably go for Roberto di Matteo.  Yes, he wasn't great at West Brom, but he showed he could organise Chelsea a bit, and he'd perform better than Lambert has this season.  Plus he lives in Leamington Spa, so you could pop round to give him some advice.

[villan from luton]

One man's lucky is another man's resolute defending but it's not about today. The same people who say we're going down and this is the worst Vila team for 20/30/138 years are invariably the same ones who describe results against teams who are therefore better than us as lucky.

The post was certainly resolute for us today. But I'm not sure I see the controversy in seeing a poor side ride their luck to a point against a superior team and describing it as such.

I think this is the fourth time I've said this:

It's not just about today, it's about every single time we go away and get a decent result. We can never play well, we always have to be lucky.   

I think you're making things up to suit your argument.  Where did anybody say anything of the sort in the win against Liverpool, for example?

Good to hear you mention Liverpool as you've been spending the last few days telling us absolutely everything is shit.

Clearly not the case, then.

Still waiting for the suggestion re who we go after tomorrow morning after sacking Lambert tonight, btw.

Bloody hell, have you passed your log in details onto somebody else?  No, not everything is shit, but then no team in history that I can think of has lost every single game in a professional league.  Should we have stuck with McLeish because we beat Chelsea away 3-1 or put up a good performance in a draw with Arsenal?  No, of course we shouldn't, and neither should we stick with a manager who is performing even worse than TSM, which I didn't actually think was possible.  And if I had to choose somebody to see us through to the end of the season, I'd probably go for Roberto di Matteo.  Yes, he wasn't great at West Brom, but he showed he could organise Chelsea a bit, and he'd perform better than Lambert has this season.  Plus he lives in Leamington Spa, so you could pop round to give him some advice.

No, he wasnt great at West Brom , far from it actaully

[claretandbeer]

Things could be so much worse.

I have just been on the Forest Forum. TSM is already coming out with garbage, 'dynamic football' etc.

At least we have a progressive manager now who, if backed, can develop a coherent team at Aston Villa. We are building something with players who have the potential to improve. Last year we were led by a dinosaur with no plan, no concept of developing a way of playing as a team and who thought he could build something with overpaid journeymen like Hutton.

We gotta give Lambert time. Instability over the past three years has been a disaster for villa. We need stability and we need to embrace the change Lambert is trying to introduce.

Spot on. People are criticising the quality of the players that are injured .However,if you replace a player with a better player,then that's improvement. That player doesn't need to be international class,just better than the one holding the first team berth.Likewise with transfers.
Similarly,having a coherent plan,as Lambert has,is better than reacting to the vagaries of a season's fortunes .That 's how progress is eventually made and eventually is the key word.

[Risso]

One man's lucky is another man's resolute defending but it's not about today. The same people who say we're going down and this is the worst Vila team for 20/30/138 years are invariably the same ones who describe results against teams who are therefore better than us as lucky.

The post was certainly resolute for us today. But I'm not sure I see the controversy in seeing a poor side ride their luck to a point against a superior team and describing it as such.

I think this is the fourth time I've said this:

It's not just about today, it's about every single time we go away and get a decent result. We can never play well, we always have to be lucky.   

I think you're making things up to suit your argument.  Where did anybody say anything of the sort in the win against Liverpool, for example?

Good to hear you mention Liverpool as you've been spending the last few days telling us absolutely everything is shit.

Clearly not the case, then.

Still waiting for the suggestion re who we go after tomorrow morning after sacking Lambert tonight, btw.

Bloody hell, have you passed your log in details onto somebody else?  No, not everything is shit, but then no team in history that I can think of has lost every single game in a professional league.  Should we have stuck with McLeish because we beat Chelsea away 3-1 or put up a good performance in a draw with Arsenal?  No, of course we shouldn't, and neither should we stick with a manager who is performing even worse than TSM, which I didn't actually think was possible.  And if I had to choose somebody to see us through to the end of the season, I'd probably go for Roberto di Matteo.  Yes, he wasn't great at West Brom, but he showed he could organise Chelsea a bit, and he'd perform better than Lambert has this season.  Plus he lives in Leamington Spa, so you could pop round to give him some advice.

No, he wasnt great at West Brom , far from it actaully

He got them promoted and gave them their then record start to a season.  When he was sacked, they has 26 points from 24 games, which isn't great but a lot better than Lambert has managed to date.  He then won the European Cup with Chelsea, so he'd be worth a go.  And as for being far from great, Lambert hasn't even reached the heights of being as bad as McLeish yet.

[PaulMcGrathsNo5Shirt]

The only real leadership from within this club comes from Lambert, he doesn't always get it right admittedly but at least he has confidence in his, and his coaching staff's ability to improve the players currently at the club. Rightly or wrongly at least it is a strategy, more than what Lerner and Faulkner appear to have from the top of the club. Let's be honest though, if we got rid of Lambert now it would screw up the chance of bringing in any players in this transfer window such is the amount of time it would take Lerner and Faulkner to bring in a new manager. I also don't believe we could get better. The injuries haven't helped Lambert at all, but he was quick to identify our weaknesses in the summer and dealt with them efficiently, I trust he'll do the same in January.

The only thing we'll gain by getting rid of Lambert is a new manager with a different strategy and most likely relegation. 

[pauliewalnuts]

So, that's the plan? Sack Lambert and hope Di Matteo accepts the job, he last seen in the area getting the bullet at Albion? All he did at Chelsea was let the gobshite players run things. And what if he says no? On the blower to Roy Keane?

Somehow, though, whoever the new man is, he's going to come in here, hit the ground running, have a list of scouted transfer targets ready and make it all happen?

Your comparisons to McLeish are pointless. If you genuinely think we haven't shown more promise this season than we did under him, I'd have to question whether you've actually been watching our games.

I can't believe how utterly nuts you've gone on this subject. And you reckon someone has stolen *my* login?

You just sound like you're frothing at the mouth with anger, dying to get someone sacked, with a total unwillingness to face facts regarding where we are, the point in the season we're at, and the realistic options we have.

What's more, if we sacked Lambert and appointed Di Matteo or Keane or Allardyce or whoever you rate this week, it'd take a few shit results and you'd be the first on their back, too.

Give the bloke a chance, why not. Changing managers every season has got us nowhere and costs a fortune.

There isn't a magic, convenient answer to all this, so man the fuck up FFS and get behind the team.

[Risso]

Then why did we sack McLeish?  Why not give him a chance?  I couldn't give two fucks that he managed SHA, yet he performed much better than Lambert has to date.

[Somniloquism]

And if I had to choose somebody to see us through to the end of the season, I'd probably go for Roberto di Matteo.  Yes, he wasn't great at West Brom, but he showed he could organise Chelsea a bit, and he'd perform better than Lambert has this season.  Plus he lives in Leamington Spa, so you could pop round to give him some advice.

No, he wasnt great at West Brom , far from it actaully

Which is more of tell on his managerial competency for coming to us rather then Chelsea where he just had to ensure he kept Lampard, Terry, Cole and Drogba happy by letting them decide how to manage the team. There was one match where you could see Terry telling RDM which sub to make.

[PaulWinch again]

Did he Risso? we weren't much higher up the league and I don't remember him reaching a cup semi final. I'm not saying we're perfect at all and Lambert has made some errors. However we've shown some promise at times and Lambert should have the opportunity to improve the squad in January, particularly as several of his signings look excellent.

[PeterWithesShin]

When Albion sacked him his last 18 games were W3 D2 L13. And according to a couple of Albion fans I know their ITK was that he was hawking himself to other clubs during that run which was the main reason he was dumped regardless of whether the run they were on would have seen him go.

What he did there is of far more relevance to us than what he did at a Chelsea side where as Somniloquism says a lot of talk is that he let the players run things. Not exactly the strong leader we need at the moment.

[claretandbeer]

Lambert and his staff seem to operate on the principle of we think this guy is talented,we'll play him ,like Bannan whom I don't rate,or we'll buy him ,like Lowton,who the Sheffield Utd fans surprisingly didn't seem to rate.We can't get Dale Stephens for a reasonable fee,so we'll find this absolute gem,Westwood.
It's a meritocracy,it doesn't matter where they come from,Belgium,Holland,Crewe,Sheffield United or the reserve team,they're given a chance. Falcao and MON ? It's such a refreshing change and an enlightened one.

[hilts_coolerking]

Give the bloke a chance, why not. Changing managers every season has got us nowhere and costs a fortune.

I think that's the point.  Most people are behind Lambert not because he appears to have a plan or because he appears to know what he's doing or because we're playing good football but simply because the alternative - sacking him and waiting in terrified anticipation of Lerner's next fuck up - is so unpalatable.

[Greg N'Ash]

This whole arguement is like groundhog day to me, and frankly either side of the arguement has as much merit as when we had this discussion about Houllier and TSM. Sooner or later you can't keep blaming the manager whatever their actual ability. I said Houllier had an awful squad and i stand by that, likewise TSM- neither of them helped themselves by some of their signings of course. Lambert's just the lastest mug and there's no doubt in my mind for all the promise of the youngsters and some of his signings this is by far a weaker and smaller squad than the one MON inherited which at the time was considered by many to be heading for the championship.

It needs money spent on it - then we can judge the manager properly - if not then he's at the mercy of inconsistent youngsters and overpaid wasters like the previous appointments. If he stops the goals against column spinning ever upwards then he's got a chance of keeping his job and creating something longterm but really there's only so much a manager can do without backing from his chairman.

[olaftab]

It is good to have alternative view here. So I admire the posters who are anti Lambert. They are keeping everyone honest and stopping a sort of tendency that allows dictators to take charge of masses and lead them to ruins.
On the face of it these poster appears to be absolute kamikaze pilots however they provide a valid examination by questioning our correct belief that Lambert is there to stay come rain or shine.