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

[not3bad]

Nursey reckons we're finally seeing a real Paul Lambert side:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-fans-finally-seeing-1709400?

[eastie]

For those who cant access the link-

There have been a lot of false dawns at Villa this season.

None more so than Villa's opening home game of course.

Boss Paul Lambert's new-look side came out on the pitch against Everton accompanied by fireworks to usher in a new era post the unpopular Alex McLeish.

And perhaps we should have sensed it would be an anti-climax of a season when Villa duly fell behind after three minutes and were 3-0 down at the break!

Then impressive away wins at Man City in the cup and Liverpool in the Premier League promised to be catalysts only to for the fickle flames of hope to be soon extinguished.

However, the vital victory over West Ham on Sunday certainly offers evidence that the club can beat the drop after all following a campaign which has been tortuous at times.

In the short-term, the win was clearly vital as it lifted Villa out of the bottom three and was their first in the League since December 15 at Anfield.

But it was the manner of the performance which has most encouraged regular watchers of Lambert's sides.

I was speaking to one of the Scot's close mates this week and he said it was the first time he had seen Villa this season look like a Lambert side.



It made me pause for thought.

And on reflection I have to totally agree.

What do we mean when we say a Paul Lambert side?

Well, based on his success at Norwich in three different divisions with two promotions, certain traits emerged.

Essentially he likes to play high tempo attacking football with a tactical set-up that always gives him a chance of victory.

Lambert generally fielded a screen of two holding midfielders which at times enabled four players to go forward.

While at the back the no-nonsense Glaswegian wants players - as he has said repeatedly recently - to put their bodies on the line for the sake of the side.

Villa's four-man defence certainly did that against West Ham where the likes of Ron Vlaar and Nathan Baker, playing left-back, were magnificent.

They trooped off bloodied and bruised at the final whistle having giving everything.

They would have kept a clean sheet but for a freak own goal by the unfortunate Ashley Westwood.

But it did not matter in the end as Charles N'Zogbia was excellent in the hole winning a penalty and scoring a sublime free-kick.

It is great to see Lambert finally getting the best out of N'Zogbia who has been slowly growing into his free role.

He has been a big disappointment to be honest since his £9.5million move from Wigan in July 2011.

But the mercurial Frenchman is now playing and talking a good game.



I spoke to him post-match and he definitely seems fired up for the campaign which is encouraging.

At Norwich, Lambert brought the best out of play-maker Wes Hoolahan playing him in a free role off the striker at the top of the diamond.

And the position appears to suit N'Zogbia perfectly who has more pace than Hoolahan and is more mobile and dangerous.

N'Zogbia now has license to unleash his creative instincts and with Christian Benteke ahead of him Villa will always score goals.

Behind them, Fabian Delph appears to be relishing his job as a midfield enforcer.

So with everyone seemingly giving everything, Villa got the result and they really did look like a committed Lambert side as the Scot likes to fire his teams up for match-day.

Lambert does not tolerate anyone who gives anything less than 100 per cent.

So perhaps it wasn't such a surprise Stephen Ireland did not make the bench against the Hammers and is now training in the reserves.

With games against Arsenal and Man City, Villa will need more committed displays of this nature.

But I believe the signs have been there in the draw at Everton and now the win over West Ham that they will survive.... just!

[Eugene Fraxby]

I like Lambert and think if he keeps us this year we'll do well next year.

Still don't quite get why he faffed around with 3/5 at the back for so long but as the article implies, we're starting to see a more settled team now playing in the manner I expected us to when he signed up.

Of course, if we go go down he's a useless **** and always was and should never set foot in Brum again.

[Concrete John]

It won't convert those that want him out, but I agree with the article and think, given time, Lambert will build a good side here.  Confidence is the key right now, but going forward we'll need to carefully pick the more expensive signings to improve us.   

[PaulWinch again]

It won't convert those that want him out, but I agree with the article and think, given time, Lambert will build a good side here.  Confidence is the key right now, but going forward we'll need to carefully pick the more expensive signings to improve us.   

Agreed, we just need to make sure we survive.

[Phil from the upper holte]

Why did he have to use the fickle word?

[Toronto Villa]

It won't convert those that want him out, but I agree with the article and think, given time, Lambert will build a good side here.  Confidence is the key right now, but going forward we'll need to carefully pick the more expensive signings to improve us.   

it's been a tough year for even the most optimistic. Most of his signings have worked out and if we do survive he simply must be backed in the summer by the board. Obviously the club still needs to rid itself of certain players to free up more salary, but at the same time we cannot stand still and hope that happens. We still need to operate as a PL football club. Lambert, I hope has learnt things and is open to doing some things differently. With a bit more experience and some key additions we should never be in this position again.

[Jockey Randall]

I like Lambert and think if he keeps us this year we'll do well next year.

Still don't quite get why he faffed around with 3/5 at the back for so long but as the article implies, we're starting to see a more settled team now playing in the manner I expected us to when he signed up.

Of course, if we go go down he's a useless **** and always was and should never set foot in Brum again.

I think the 3/5 at the back was a case of getting as many bodies back as possible when we didn't have the ball as we didn't have any experience at the back due to Vlaar being out. To be fair it did work at Liverpool but ultimately our downfall during that period was I believe, down to the fact we had far too many young players playing in a position where experience counts for so much at this level.

[Concrete John]

I like Lambert and think if he keeps us this year we'll do well next year.

Still don't quite get why he faffed around with 3/5 at the back for so long but as the article implies, we're starting to see a more settled team now playing in the manner I expected us to when he signed up.

Of course, if we go go down he's a useless **** and always was and should never set foot in Brum again.

I think the 3/5 at the back was a case of getting as many bodies back as possible when we didn't have the ball as we didn't have any experience at the back due to Vlaar being out. To be fair it did work at Liverpool but ultimately our downfall during that period was I believe, down to the fact we had far too many young players playing in a position where experience counts for so much at this level.

The formation requires the fullbacks to push right up and almost be wide midfielders.  Whe done right, it's basically a 3-4-1-2 formation.  Due to lack of confidence, ours didn't, and that left our poor midfield badly outnumbered.

[Eugene Fraxby]

I like Lambert and think if he keeps us this year we'll do well next year.

Still don't quite get why he faffed around with 3/5 at the back for so long but as the article implies, we're starting to see a more settled team now playing in the manner I expected us to when he signed up.

Of course, if we go go down he's a useless **** and always was and should never set foot in Brum again.

I think the 3/5 at the back was a case of getting as many bodies back as possible when we didn't have the ball as we didn't have any experience at the back due to Vlaar being out. To be fair it did work at Liverpool but ultimately our downfall during that period was I believe, down to the fact we had far too many young players playing in a position where experience counts for so much at this level.

I'm sure you're right but there were a couple of instances where we played decently with a back four, only to switch to 3 centre-backs only to be awful again.

Secondly, our full-backs have struggled to deal with the full-back job at times so asking them to patrol the entire flank seemed optimistic at best.

I don't think we'll see that formation again though.

[SoccerHQ]

Was just thinking about this now....

Just after we go back to 1-1 yesterday, a few PL's claret and blue army chants popped up around me, I stayed mute.

Am I right or wrong? My thought was the bloke's going to have to do a lot more than attempting to get a plucky draw at Arsenal after presiding over some of our worst league results in recent times and not even beating a league 2 team over two legs to get my support of him again. That and maybe relegating us.

[levico]

Was just thinking about this now....

Just after we go back to 1-1 yesterday, a few PL's claret and blue army chants popped up around me, I stayed mute.

Am I right or wrong? My thought was the bloke's going to have to do a lot more than attempting to get a plucky draw at Arsenal after presiding over some of our worst league results in recent times and not even beating a league 2 team over two legs to get my support of him again. That and maybe relegating us.

I think you were right to stay mute, as did I (frankly I knew what was coming in any event). I sincerely believe that PL will go down in history as the worst Villa manager ever. Given that Lerner has disengaged I think he will continue to employ Lambert at least until the end of his contract whatever happens on the pitch and in the league. Successive relegations is a distinct possibility.

[Ron Manager]

Theres something about a bloke in a tracksuit and wearing glasses that looks wrong.

Lambert justs looks scruffy on the bench.

What he should do is adopt the Sir Alex hard man style. The black coat, the zip up black jumper. The coat no doubt contains a rubber cosh for intimidating the fourth official....not that he needs that of course...the Gorbals verbals will do nicely.

But Lambert just looks nervous and worried throughout each match.

He needs to exude an air of authority.

[curiousorange]

Theres something about a bloke in a tracksuit and wearing glasses that looks wrong.

Lambert justs looks scruffy on the bench.

What he should do is adopt the Sir Alex hard man style. The black coat, the zip up black jumper. The coat no doubt contains a rubber cosh for intimidating the fourth official....not that he needs that of course...the Gorbals verbals will do nicely.

But Lambert just looks nervous and worried throughout each match.

He needs to exude an air of authority.

For me, it's a case of either him not having the players to fit his preferred system or his preferred system not being flexible enough for the players he picks. If it starts to come good I think it'll be a case of dumb luck rather than sound judgement, because Lambert certainly doesn't have it in him to change his tactics or his players to get the right results. That we're seeing the best of N'Zogbia now is a case in point - it must have been obvious to everyone at the club that a free role was best for him, based on the Manchester City cup-tie. It took Lambert half a season to remember.

I hate saying this, because I'm sick of Villa not having managerial stability, but I just can't see it working for Lambert at Villa.

[pauliewalnuts]

Successive relegations is a distinct possibility.

Crikey, talk about hyperbole.

We haven't even had the first one yet, and you're already predicting the one after?