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

[Risso]

You know what? I'd just leave him in. I still firmly believe he's a decent, and probably better than that, coach, who will turn things around. I really do think the players are letting him down, and I'm beginning to realise that too many of this squad are just not up to it.

He bought a lot of those players though.

[mr underhill]

Lambert's a busted flush after tonight. I want to be proved totally wrong but it wouldn't suprise me at all  now if no money other than  that generated by sales is going to be made available in january.

[pauliewalnuts]

You know what? I'd just leave him in. I still firmly believe he's a decent, and probably better than that, coach, who will turn things around. I really do think the players are letting him down, and I'm beginning to realise that too many of this squad are just not up to it.

He bought a lot of those players though.

Not really, if you look at it.

Westwood and Lowton look decent, KEA is questionable (no, I don't go with your 'he's shite' argument just yet), Vlaar has looked good, as has Benteke (the one we were all telling the world how brilliant he is the other week, him).

The problem isn't in the players he's brought in necessarily, it is that the balance of the squad is all over the shop. Too many youngsters, too much expected of them too soon, too many of them who patently aren't good enough, and they're all getting thrown in together at the moment.

Ciaran Clark is a decent player, Nathan Baker is a highly promising player. Does that mean I'd want them playing along side each other at CB? Err, no.

That's our problem.

[pauliewalnuts]

Lambert's a busted flush after tonight. I want to be proved totally wrong but it wouldn't suprise me at all  now if no money other than  that generated by sales is going to be made available in january.

If that's the case, then we're fucked whoever our manager.

[SW9-VILLA]

If Lambo is sacked, who to replace him? RDM is maybe most obvious and he did rejuvinate Chelsea last season.

Look at the team Chelsea had ffs! Not hard to do well with that team is it? His showing at Baggies was hardly eye-catching.

True but they'd just lost 3-1 at Napoli and had been held to a 1-1 draw at home to SHA in the cup so not beyond the realms if AVB had stayed, they'd have been out of both cups. Didn't do too badly in the end.

It didn't take a genius to work out where AVB's 'revolution' was going wrong. DiMatteo just played their best players. Even Avram Grant managed to get them to within a gnat's pube of winning the Champions League.

[pauliewalnuts]

Di Matteo and Grant picked their best players and both largely let the core of high profile, long serving players run things.

[hawkeye]

You know what? I'd just leave him in. I still firmly believe he's a decent, and probably better than that, coach, who will turn things around. I really do think the players are letting him down, and I'm beginning to realise that too many of this squad are just not up to it.

He bought a lot of those players though.

and without doubt he has bought in players and played players that are not good enough, what I do not know is to what extent his ability to bring in players has beeen constrained

[Rancid custard]

You know what? I'd just leave him in. I still firmly believe he's a decent, and probably better than that, coach, who will turn things around. I really do think the players are letting him down, and I'm beginning to realise that too many of this squad are just not up to it.

What you said.

[Somniloquism]

I'm sorry, but Lambert is a small club manager in a similar style to Owen Coyle, who should have stayed where he was comfortable and left the big job to somebody else. 

Yep, just as you predicted in July Riss-bert

[Merv]

Yeah, I know: I wish I could say I'm 100% confident in him. I am having doubts. But overall, I think he's been working with some very ordinary footballers, and I think we have to allow him to effectively rebuild us, which is going to take a while and be painful in the short-mid term. To be fair to his signings, I think they've been our better players this season:

Vlaar (badly miss him)
Lowton
Westwood
Benteke

His decision to bring Guzan back was good, too.

Bennett looks promising but is struggling; KEA started well but has lost his way. Not entirely given up on either player yet.

[pauliewalnuts]

I'm sorry, but Lambert is a small club manager in a similar style to Owen Coyle, who should have stayed where he was comfortable and left the big job to somebody else. 

Yep, just as you predicted in July Riss-bert

Quite, I understand Risso's annoyance, but that last post is somewhat at odds with how he took it when Lambert got the job.

[Risso]

We were conceding an average of 1.75 goals a game when Vlaar was playing, so not sure where the idea that he's some bedrock which we sorely miss has come from.

[claretandbeer]

What's the point in sacking Lambert?

a) We'd be back to square one and further destabilise an already fragile unit b) We then spunk more money paying off Lambert and his staff (which could be spent on transfers) c) Who else is available? Bring in a Bruce/Warnock type to try and stave off relegation? No thanks.

Being a supporter means you have to rally through thick and thin. The Premier League has turned some footy fans into swivel-eyed nutters frothing about how the team 'aren't fit to wear the shirt' when things aren't going to plan. They demand more millions of good money to be thrown after bad when most of these people have never managed a budget bigger than their monthly wages.

I'm hurting and am sick of having my mood darkened every weekend by another ridiculous result, but knee-jerking isn't the answer.

PS Experienced heads in the window please.

Totally,totally right.

[pauliewalnuts]

We were conceding an average of 1.75 goals a game when Vlaar was playing, so not sure where the idea that he's some bedrock which we sorely miss has come from.

Why do you have to take it to such an extreme?

Nobody is saying he's the new McGrath, just that he was doing a decent job and looking a decent signing.

[saunders_heroes]

Lambert's a busted flush after tonight. I want to be proved totally wrong but it wouldn't suprise me at all  now if no money other than  that generated by sales is going to be made available in january.

If that's the case, then we're fucked whoever our manager.

If that's the case it'll be relegation in my opinion. If we don't strengthen the defence we're going down. 3 years of constant cutbacks has caused this. I really don't understand what Lerner's doing. If we go down he'll lose more cash than he ever would by continuing to spend big wages on PL standard players.