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

[Eigentor]

The biggest problem is the quality of the players: except Reading, Southampton and maybe Wigan we have the worst squad in the Premier League. The other teams around us -- QPR, Newcastle, Sunderland, Fulham -- have several players that would have walked into this side.

Adding to this problem is that Lambert doesn't seem to do organisation. He makes the players work hard -- witness the end of the second half yesterday -- allthough they sometimes seem to give up because of a lack of confidence. Any sort of defensive organisation or tactical game plan has been hard to spot under Lambert's reign.

I'm still saying that we should stick with him. There is little doubt that the constant changing of managers since MON left has contributed significantly to our decline. Lambert has performed admirably before he came here -- thus it's improbable that his management is the prime reason that we are so poor. Also with so little football knowledge on the Villa board, I don't trust them to appoint some competent.

So the most realistic way to avoid relegation is to keep Lambert and add two or three players who can walk straight into the side.

[eastie]

If they were to sack Lambert then right now is the optimum time to do it.  Half a season still to go, half a transfer window to do a few deals.  It's not in their nature though, seemingly, to act decisively or swiftly.

Why is it?

Half a transfer window is two weeks plus a few days. In that time we need to get the new man in, hope to fuck he's spent the last few months scouting rather than sitting watching SSN all day, and pray he can do some business in the few days he'll have left.

Lambert has said he's unlikely to get anybody else in, and said on the BBC that today's result doesn't change that.  We're therefore left with a decision - who's going to best organise the team to stay up; Lambert who been spectacularly shit to date, or somebody else.  If somebody is definitely going to take us down, then surely it's worth a shot on somebody else.  And there's no point in complaining that we've only two weeks of the window left, when you were arguing the same none-reasons for keeping Lambert two weeks ago when a new man would have had time to at least look at a few loans.

If randy is going to pull the trigger on lambert it must be in the next 48 hours , there is no point doing it after the window closes , two weeks is long enough to do business if the new man is available to come straight in.
It's now or never  randy.

[eastie]

Lambert on brink

Last Updated: 13th January 2013
 
PAUL LAMBERT’S future was on a knife-edge last night.
His Aston Villa side plunged into the drop zone after losing 1-0 to Southampton.

The Villa boss said: “We’re in the bottom three but we can’t panic. I couldn’t fault the second-half effort, the chances we had and the way they went about it.

“There’s a long, long way to go. There will be loads of twists and turns in this whole thing.”

The beleaguered Villa boss could do nothing to prevent his side plunging into the drop zone as Saints striker Rickie Lambert’s controversial 34th-minute penalty earned Nigel Adkins’ side a crucial away win.

The defeat left Lambo eight points WORSE off than predecessor Alex McLeish was at this stage last season, when Big Eck managed to avoid the drop by two points.

To add to Lambo’s woes, he could also face an FA disrepute charge claiming ref Mark Halsey would be “embarrassed”, when he sees a re-run of his decision to award Saints a first-half penalty.

[Nev]

The bloke is in denial and relying purely on luck and chance. The early part of the season did have twists and turns, but since Dec 23rd, the only turn has been for the worse and there seems to be no appetite to arrest it.

I know fans rely on hope, but the manager shouldn't.

[MarkM]

After today,  slightly back on his side.

We shouldn't have lost and the defending leading to the penalty was nothing he could deal with. That was worse than Sunday league standards.

Not sure how we didn't score.

However, the reason he's got me back on side a little was that he stayed on the touch line throughout and showed he cared about what was happening, something I hadn't seen so much recently.

Our defending before the 'penalty' was comical, we were slow on the counter and had it not been for there striker being a bit slow when he was through on goal (at least three times) it coud ave been 0-3 or 0-4. Lambert seamed to bing Gabby on because the crowd were asking for him, our set pieces are rubbish and our midfield absent. I was also a bit confused as to what Hollman and Wieman were doing? Weimann defending on the left and Hollman forward in the middle?

But it's ok, because Lambert was active on the touchline.

[Phil from the upper holte]

No real suggestion in that article of him bein on a knife edge really

[onje_villa]

I don't think I've ever been more embarassed of our club than i was at Spurs away last year.

That was awful, but this current run of matches is more humiliating by a factor of about a million.  I can't walk into town without meeting at least five people taking the piss out of how bad we are, and probably get about as many piss taking messages on Facebook everyday.  We're a national disgrace and laughing stock at the moment.

Really? Fuck me, you must have a different set of values to me,

I can think of loads of runs of matches when we've got shit results and I've put up with piss taking when it has gone badly, but that surrender at White Hart Lane was truly humiliating. It was us clearly not even trying.

At least now we're trying. I can't believe you think the current run is worse, let alone "a million times worse".

Paulie, I almost always agree with what you say and while I hated McLeish's anti-football, you can't say that losing 0-8, 0-4, 0-3 and having broken all sorts of negative records in the same season is anything other than embarrassing.

[OzVilla]

Losing is one thing, seen more than enough of those.  Surrendering before kick off against fucking Spurzzz of all people was unforgivable.

TSM and Houllier before him surrendering matches did the club a huge amount of damage imo.  We didn't just look 2nd rate, we acted like it too.

[onje_villa]

So he deserves the sack but thats not the right course of action? I'm trying to follow you paulie but what is the right course of action? Just roll over and get relegated or do you think with no money he's gonna turn us around? How can someone else do worse than being relegated?

Because I am not convinced he will get us relegated - if he gets the support he needs from the board.

If the financial support isn't there, then we're fucked, it doesn't matter who is in charge. Pep Guardiola couldn't keep this squad up as it stands today.

There's no money coming. At least not for lambert. An experienced manager could maybe get us out of the shit by organsing us to the extent where a clean sheet wasn't an impossibility. We certainly wouldn't be the worse side thats ever stayed up

If there's no money, full stop, then we are fucked, end of. It's that simple.

If he's holding back money because he doesn't trust Lambert, yet not sacking him, then he's a fucking moron.

You have got to back him, or you sack him.

I have to disagree again. Far worse teams than ours have stayed up. When you actually look at our squad, there's some decent players in there.

Guzan
Vlaar
Lowton
Baker
Bannan
Westwood
Weimann
Benteke
Gabby
Bent

A lot of these are his players (I think he has an excellent eye for talent) and some have been injured but there's no way you can look at that squad and say it's hopeless, no-one could keep them up.

Get these lot organised, in a proper formation and get them motivated and they'd be well clear of relegation. Look at the strikers alone, there's quality there.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I don't think GH surrendered he was just trying to get the squad to do things they weren't capable of doing and they didn't like him. Mcleish will always be a bastard

[onje_villa]

So he deserves the sack but thats not the right course of action? I'm trying to follow you paulie but what is the right course of action? Just roll over and get relegated or do you think with no money he's gonna turn us around? How can someone else do worse than being relegated?

Because I am not convinced he will get us relegated - if he gets the support he needs from the board.

If the financial support isn't there, then we're fucked, it doesn't matter who is in charge. Pep Guardiola couldn't keep this squad up as it stands today.

There's no money coming. At least not for lambert. An experienced manager could maybe get us out of the shit by organsing us to the extent where a clean sheet wasn't an impossibility. We certainly wouldn't be the worse side thats ever stayed up

If there's no money, full stop, then we are fucked, end of. It's that simple.

If he's holding back money because he doesn't trust Lambert, yet not sacking him, then he's a fucking moron.

You have got to back him, or you sack him.

I think a decent bit of organisation and motivation would at least allow us to compete on even terms.  Lambert isn't providing that, a new man might.

How would a manager organise this squad any differently?

Not play 4-2-4?

Get them to do some basic positional work in defence?

[onje_villa]

After today,  slightly back on his side.

We shouldn't have lost and the defending leading to the penalty was nothing he could deal with. That was worse than Sunday league standards.

Not sure how we didn't score.

However, the reason he's got me back on side a little was that he stayed on the touch line throughout and showed he cared about what was happening, something I hadn't seen so much recently.

I noticed that too, it was good to see, he was kicking every ball with us out there today.

[rutski]

So he deserves the sack but thats not the right course of action? I'm trying to follow you paulie but what is the right course of action? Just roll over and get relegated or do you think with no money he's gonna turn us around? How can someone else do worse than being relegated?

Because I am not convinced he will get us relegated - if he gets the support he needs from the board.

If the financial support isn't there, then we're fucked, it doesn't matter who is in charge. Pep Guardiola couldn't keep this squad up as it stands today.

There's no money coming. At least not for lambert. An experienced manager could maybe get us out of the shit by organsing us to the extent where a clean sheet wasn't an impossibility. We certainly wouldn't be the worse side thats ever stayed up

If there's no money, full stop, then we are fucked, end of. It's that simple.

If he's holding back money because he doesn't trust Lambert, yet not sacking him, then he's a fucking moron.

You have got to back him, or you sack him.

I think a decent bit of organisation and motivation would at least allow us to compete on even terms.  Lambert isn't providing that, a new man might.

How would a manager organise this squad any differently?

Not play 4-2-4?

Get them to do some basic positional work in defence?

we need the same as what we have needed since the start of this bad run and that is 2 players, one centre half and one centre midfielder, both experienced.
agree with paulie, he needs to be backed! randy needs to find the money. as to who those two players are, i havent a frigging clue, but if we get 2 you might as well go the whole hog and get real quality!

[rob_bridge]

I don't think GH surrendered he was just trying to get the squad to do things they weren't capable of doing and they didn't like him. Mcleish will always be a bastard

Phil I give you Man City away x 2 and dont even get me started on the olive branch to his beloved Liverpool. Even TSM didn't manage to lose to Wolves at home.

[OzVilla]

I don't think GH surrendered he was just trying to get the squad to do things they weren't capable of doing and they didn't like him. Mcleish will always be a bastard

GH routinely surrendered and admitted as much.