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

[eastie]

 

I just do not get it.  It is as though money is no object to some of you.  Clearly, the club does not have much money to spend, even less if we get relegated.  I have said it before, if we get relegated, Lambert should not be sacked for getting us relegated but because there are better future prospects in appointing somebody else.  To read some of the comments, it is though you want to punish Lambert if he takes us down, regardless as to whether it damages the future finances and stability of the club.

If we get relegated, yes I will be upset but I will continue to look forward, not back.

This.

Not this.  It's not a question of "punishing" Lambert, merely just getting rid of an employee who has completely underperformed.  Him relegating us will in itself, be a huge body blow to the future finances and stability of the club.

This.

[not3bad]

What I don't get about Lambert is why his touch seems to have failed (thus far) at Villa. Good record at Colchester, spanks Norwich, gets poached by them straight after and then not only gets the team promoted to the top division, but puts in a very handy performance in his debut PL season.

It's as if we've got the twin brother while he takes a break.

His record was nothing special at Colchester at all.  A club the size of Norwich should always be too big for League 1, so I'd say his real achievements were taking them up from the Championship and keeping them there.  But then a few managers have managed a couple of good seasons before disappearing from whence they came.

Spot on. I don't hear anyone asking for Paul Jewel.

I also don't remember anyone on here in the summer moaning about Lambert.

Are you surprised after Alex McLeish?

I point you towards the beginning of the Paul lambert thread, started halfway through the Alex Macleish season, where Lambert was already being touted as the ideal manager for Aston Villa.  There more to the popularity of his appointment than being better than Alex Mcleish, and if there wasn't, why wasn't there also threads and mentions of a whole host of other managers in a similar manner?

[Mister E]

What I don't get about Lambert is why his touch seems to have failed (thus far) at Villa. Good record at Colchester, spanks Norwich, gets poached by them straight after and then not only gets the team promoted to the top division, but puts in a very handy performance in his debut PL season.

It's as if we've got the twin brother while he takes a break.

His record was nothing special at Colchester at all.  A club the size of Norwich should always be too big for League 1, so I'd say his real achievements were taking them up from the Championship and keeping them there.  But then a few managers have managed a couple of good seasons before disappearing from whence they came.

Spot on. I don't hear anyone asking for Paul Jewel.

I also don't remember anyone on here in the summer moaning about Lambert.

Are you surprised after Alex McLeish?

I point you towards the beginning of the Paul lambert thread, started halfway through the Alex Macleish season, where Lambert was already being touted as the ideal manager for Aston Villa.  There more to the popularity of his appointment than being better than Alex Mcleish, and if there wasn't, why wasn't there also threads and mentions of a whole host of other managers in a similar manner?

This.

[PaulWinch again]

He says: "[Owner] Randy Lerner said it would be tough from day one. I knew the parameters but it's a brilliant challenge for me to rectify." - Lambert

It might be tough, but  it shouldn't be as tough as it has been from a funding perspective and also we should be doing much better than we are from a performance perspective.

[Risso]

He looked like a good choice in the summer, but he has performed exceedingly badly.  It happens in all walks of life, but in any competently run business he'd have been given the heave ho ages ago.

[Marlon From Bearwood]

I seem to remember (for a short time at least) that OGS was the popular choice on here, followed by Lambert..?

I wonder where we'd be now if he'd said "Yes"?

[rob_bridge]

He looked like a good choice in the summer, but he has performed exceedingly badly.  It happens in all walks of life, but in any competently run business he'd have been given the heave ho ages ago.

A competently run business would not have allowed the overrated MON ridiculous over spend especially on wages for players with little sell on value. Said business would not have hired an insensitive zombie who treated the fans with contempt and who's ideas, if they were ever any good and they were certainly never great, were 10 years out of date. Said club would not have appointed a manager with a dire style of play coupled with a history of abject effectiveness.

Has the club not done the above and Lambert been appointed in different circumstances he definitely would have been sacked. Sacking him wouldn't make any difference now - the damage was done in seasons past. Lambert has not been able to put the brakes on the decline very much and certainly not reverse it.

Sacking Lambert would mean Faulkner picks another manager - Faulkner who unlike a broken clock isn't even right twice a day.

[PaulWinch again]

I still think OGS just seemed to feel like the 'right' choice. Obviously I've no clue how it would have worked out, but it would have had a bit of an X-factor.

[Irish villain]

I still trust Lambert to get it right for us next year. We do need stability, we haven't had it in so long.

If we stay up this season, I believe the thing that might relegate us next year would be another change of manager. We can't go through it all again. A new man coming in with new ideas, the players having to adapt to a new approach yet again and most importantly of all the players having to be assessed yet again. Part of the reason why we have struggled to shift dead-wood and high earners has been the constant change and needing to 'give everybody a clean slate'.

Let Lambert work on the squad in the summer. He has signed good players and quickly let him get rid of the players sucking the life out of the club. We have to stick with this.

[Jockey Randall]

I still trust Lambert to get it right for us next year. We do need stability, we haven't had it in so long.

If we stay up this season, I believe the thing that might relegate us next year would be another change of manager. We can't go through it all again. A new man coming in with new ideas, the players having to adapt to a new approach yet again and most importantly of all the players having to be assessed yet again. Part of the reason why we have struggled to shift dead-wood and high earners has been the constant change and needing to 'give everybody a clean slate'.

Let Lambert work on the squad in the summer. He has signed good players and quickly let him get rid of the players sucking the life out of the club. We have to stick with this.

Spot on imo.

[Nev]

I still trust Lambert to get it right for us next year. We do need stability, we haven't had it in so long.

If we stay up this season, I believe the thing that might relegate us next year would be another change of manager. We can't go through it all again. A new man coming in with new ideas, the players having to adapt to a new approach yet again and most importantly of all the players having to be assessed yet again. Part of the reason why we have struggled to shift dead-wood and high earners has been the constant change and needing to 'give everybody a clean slate'.

Let Lambert work on the squad in the summer. He has signed good players and quickly let him get rid of the players sucking the life out of the club. We have to stick with this.

If, for example, we are struggling at the bottom of the league (PL or champ) next January and we need a relatively inexpensive, short term, but possibly effective solution like, for a example, a bit of experience in midfield or defence will he address this? He didn't this season so why let him make the same mistakes again?

[Nev]

Furthermore, a change can be positive. That has been proved before, we hoped that this would be the case this season but it has proved to be the opposite and that is down to a combination of factors, one of which is the manager.

It would be foolhardy for the club not to replace manager who is not doing the job, just because they had to do the same thing last summer.

You can keep sacking bad managers, if fact I'd go as far as to say that it is essential if you crave success.

As for Faulkners (and others) ability to select a decent manager, that is another story altogether but you can't retain underperforming managers because you're frightened of change.

[AVH87]

I'd keep with him.

I do think he's been reasonable in the transfer market; when I look at Lowton, Vlaar, Westwood and of course Benteke. That's 3/4 of the budget spent well right there.

We did need more experience, but with the wage budget as it is - I'd estimate Lambert didn't sign anyone on more than around 20/25k a week, what else could he have done?

Performances and results do need to improve, I'm hoping it's quickly before it's too late.

[Marlon From Bearwood]

Furthermore, a change can be positive. That has been proved before, we hoped that this would be the case this season but it has proved to be the opposite and that is down to a combination of factors, one of which is the manager.

It would be foolhardy for the club not to replace manager who is not doing the job, just because they had to do the same thing last summer.

You can keep sacking bad managers, if fact I'd go as far as to say that it is essential if you crave success.

As for Faulkners (and others) ability to select a decent manager, that is another story altogether but you can't retain underperforming managers because you're frightened of change.

Well put. This is my view too.

[PaulWinch again]

I just wish he had addressed the obvious, we're fine going forward but very very weak in defence. Everyone can see that and it should have been dealt with.