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

[pauliewalnuts]

Lambert could bemoan lack of money. The simple fact is though, the major problem for us this season has been how poorly organised and managed we've been on the pitch. Quality of players is one thing but at the very least, if they're well drilled and look like they've got a gameplan, then we could accept being in this position more so, and probably put the blame more on Randy's shoulders.

Bingo.

Even if he'd been given zilch to spend last summer, with the squad he inherited bottom three and losing to a Fourth Division side over two games would have been unacceptable.

He's failed to get the best out of the players already in the squad and the players he's signed himself.

He's failed to get the defence to perform - like the bloke before him, and the bloke before him, too.

[JUAN PABLO]

I wanted lambert as manager but i certainly never expected things to be as bad this season as this .

same here . I mean I wasn't cracking open the champagne when we got him but where we were at the time after the dire season we had .
 I honestly thought he would be good and was mildly happy but I did not expect him to be tatically awful and alienate one of the best goal scorers we have had in recent times . Its ok not playing a goalscorer If its working PL . but when you are going down . it looks plain stupid..

[JUAN PABLO]

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.

Vlaar , average at best

[supertom]

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.

Vlaar , average at best

Yes he is sadly. Being a Dutch international CH says little these days in truth.
I think his injury record is an even bigger problem. But yeah, we've had miles better centre-halfs over the years, even some who weren't here for long for one reason or another. Vlaar aint a patch on Laursen, Mellberg obviously. But he's yet to even come close to an over the hill Johnsen, Alpay, even Cueller or Collins at their best for us.

This is an area that Lambert should have been moving hell and high water to address in January. He didn't and that may prove to be his biggest failing of all.

[Chris Smith]

We're very quick to write people off. Vlaar wouldn't be the first to take a few months to settle into English football. His performances have been a bit up and down but he's also struggled with injuries so it's been a bit stop-start for him.

[villan from luton]

I wanted lambert as manager but i certainly never expected things to be as bad this season as this .

same here . I mean I wasn't cracking open the champagne when we got him but where we were at the time after the dire season we had .
 I honestly thought he would be good and was mildly happy but I did not expect him to be tatically awful and alienate one of the best goal scorers we have had in recent times . Its ok not playing a goalscorer If its working PL . but when you are going down . it looks plain stupid..

To be fair, Benteke and Weimann have been two of the best players this season.

[supertom]

We're very quick to write people off. Vlaar wouldn't be the first to take a few months to settle into English football. His performances have been a bit up and down but he's also struggled with injuries so it's been a bit stop-start for him.

His injury record up till moving to us was also questionable to. I think in all honesty, with Dunne's questionnable fitness, we needed to sign another CH in the summer. Someone who knew the English game already and could help Vlaar bed in too.
I figured at the very least, even if he struggled to settle, we'd at least get some idea of why he was called Concrete Ron. Thus far I'm still stumped.

[Chris Smith]

We're very quick to write people off. Vlaar wouldn't be the first to take a few months to settle into English football. His performances have been a bit up and down but he's also struggled with injuries so it's been a bit stop-start for him.

His injury record up till moving to us was also questionable to. I think in all honesty, with Dunne's questionnable fitness, we needed to sign another CH in the summer. Someone who knew the English game already and could help Vlaar bed in too.
I figured at the very least, even if he struggled to settle, we'd at least get some idea of why he was called Concrete Ron. Thus far I'm still stumped.

That would mean 5 centre backs on the books, great in theory but you can see why Lambert would shy away when he's got a limited wage budget to work with.

[PaulWinch again]

I'm still convinced Vlaar is comfortably good enough for where Villa are and probably higher, it's the lack of cover and quality around him that worries me.

[eastie]

We're very quick to write people off. Vlaar wouldn't be the first to take a few months to settle into English football. His performances have been a bit up and down but he's also struggled with injuries so it's been a bit stop-start for him.

His injury record up till moving to us was also questionable to. I think in all honesty, with Dunne's questionnable fitness, we needed to sign another CH in the summer. Someone who knew the English game already and could help Vlaar bed in too.
I figured at the very least, even if he struggled to settle, we'd at least get some idea of why he was called Concrete Ron. Thus far I'm still stumped.

That would mean 5 centre backs on the books, great in theory but you can see why Lambert would shy away when he's got a limited wage budget to work with.

Surely a new centre half in the summer would replace dunne whose contract is up?

[N'ZMAV]

I think I've done more defending that Dunne has this season.

[supertom]

I think I've done more defending that Dunne has this season.

You have. You haven't eaten as many pies though. I'm sure of that.
It's also national pie week next week. God knows what state Dunney will be in by next saturday. Those xxl's a gonna be getting quite snug.

[supertom]

We're very quick to write people off. Vlaar wouldn't be the first to take a few months to settle into English football. His performances have been a bit up and down but he's also struggled with injuries so it's been a bit stop-start for him.

His injury record up till moving to us was also questionable to. I think in all honesty, with Dunne's questionnable fitness, we needed to sign another CH in the summer. Someone who knew the English game already and could help Vlaar bed in too.
I figured at the very least, even if he struggled to settle, we'd at least get some idea of why he was called Concrete Ron. Thus far I'm still stumped.

That would mean 5 centre backs on the books, great in theory but you can see why Lambert would shy away when he's got a limited wage budget to work with.

The budget's an issue, but I think counting Clark and Baker as senior centre halfs is dangerous. More so in Baker's case because he'd really only played a handful of games. I think realistically only one of them will make the grade. Despite how poor Clark has been at times, I'd still back him because he's got more in his locker.
Personally though, if I'd have been Lambert, and I was far from alone in thinking this, I'd have put Dunne in the Collins, Hutton and Warnock category and tried to get rid asap. Maybe the injuries put paid to that in fairness. But rather than sign Bowery, maybe we could have gone for a decent defender from L1-2. Could have been another Westwood perhaps. We really didn't need another forward.

That said, it can't be denied that failing to get a CH in jan has been a massive error. Signing an unheard of winger for a side that doesn't really use wingers was a real head scratcher.

[PeterWithesShin]

I think I've done more defending that Dunne has this season.

Rumpole of the Bailey certainly has, and he's in better shape. Sign him up!

[brian green]

I am amazed at how tolerant posters have been on here to Lambert.   As I have witnessed it, first hand, in the flesh, the only quality I have been able to observe in Paul Lambert to defend his position is that he is not Alex McLeish.   The one flash of brilliance he displayed was snapping up Benteke but that is now diminished by his openly talking about that player moving on.   To all intents and purposes Benteke has been a loan signing with a fee involved and we would probably make a profit but that it the hole in the bottom of our boat - we do not keep our best players.

I think the root cause of our catastrophic decline has been due to cronyism.   The owner appointed a crony as CEO and the manager has a team of cronies who have failed singularly to assemble or discipline a squad capable of basic defending.

The game against Man City next Monday will be the first home league game for as many years as I can remember with no member of my wider family in the crowd.   Not me, or my sons or my daughter or my brothers or my nephews or my great nephews.   That would be about twenty Villa fans in total, proper staunch fans, none of whom travel less than a hundred miles to a game and if I asked them "who would you sooner have to get us out of the shit we are in and keep us in the Premiership, Lambert or McLeish? every one would reply "McLeish".   That is the state we are in in the eyes of a large proportion of the fans, myself included.