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

[Yossarian]

Worries me a little. They were down with him staying. Not sure who's around mind. Crazy De Canio?

My money would be on Di Matteo. New owner wants to show ambition.

[Steve R]

We tried to change too much too soon, but Lambert had to put with damage of previous 3 seasons

I would keep him, i think we seen things turning last 5-6 weeks, just hope its enough

I'd say it was more a case of allowing ourselves to sink into a position where we had to change too much too late.

We'd had three summer windows under O'Neill, Nobody and then McLeish that had seen player movement and lack of it deplete a squad that had already been built on foundations of sand.

If anything, player acquisitions overall had made things worse rather than better.

I didn't see any alternative but to do what Lambert tried at the beginning of the summer. We certainly didn't need a 'I can get more out of what we have' merchant drafting a few more deadbeats whose motivation at getting a contract wouldn't have lasted until September.

If he keeps us up it will be something of an achievement. If we go down it will be more a case of not being as successful as we needed to be.

He may or may not be the best man for the job, but he is the current holder and it would do more damage changing whether we stay up or go down.

[eastie]

Worries me a little. They were down with him staying. Not sure who's around mind. Crazy De Canio?

My money would be on Di Matteo. New owner wants to show ambition.

My advice would be to bang your money on this quick-

@indykaila: Paolo Di Canio was at the the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.  http://t.co/KxXCIDheUb

[paul_e]

The problem is always going to be that there is no way to know for sure if failing to pickup an experienced midfielder at the start of January was the right thing to do.  In the summer I understand the choice, the medical team thought Dunne would be back by early October and he had a lot of business to do anyway so it made sense.  After that dunne has clearly shown himself to be on his last legs with no return date imminent.  Nothing I've heard suggests that he didn't have the cash to get someone on a short deal so I think it's fairly clear that it was a football decision not a finance one.  His faith in Clark and Baker is laudable but I think it would Do both of them some good to have a game off every now and then.

Aside from that I can't get the pathetic 2nd half vs Bradford too far from my thoughts when I think about Lambert, I think he's done a lot of things that I'm happy with but I just can't get past that game.  We played 2 legs against a side I'd have thought our reserves could beat over the tie and we never looked like winning it.  As much as you can fault players at times the tactical decisions involved in those games are what you'd expect from a sunday morning team full of guys who are still half pissed from the night before.

My vote is still set at Out mainly because I think he's only still here because of the "at least he's not McLeish" element, which i'm not sure qualifies as a good reason to keep a manager.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Elvis Costello was at the the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.  http://t.co/KxXCIDheUb

[ozzjim]

It is going to take a lot for Reading to stay up with their run in.

[PaulWinch again]

Well let's hope they're one of three teams other than Villa who fail to stay up.

[German James]

Elvis Costello was at the the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.  http://t.co/KxXCIDheUb

Only because he didn't want to go to Chelsea.

[atticus snood]

Accidents will happen Nathan

[KevinGage]

If we can get any kind of positive run going in the remaining games it will be a good sign going into next season. But it's absolutely vital he learns from his errors and sorts out our weakness in defence and our lack of reliable experience.

If we struggle through and just about hang on by the skin of our teeth I'd still be tempted to turf him in all honesty though. There's been some positive aspects lately but at the same time, I want to see that Lambert has learnt from these and can keep them going. I want to see that the defence keeps improving (slightly).

If he's in charge next season, in the Prem and things start as they have this season, we should act swiftly. If we're still scrapping around the bottom 3 in November he has to go. We need enough time to get a new man and leave him time to identify tarets for the Jan window. 

Pretty much where I'm at. 

There is definitely an argument to pot him if we just about scrape by and stay up.   This season has been horrid - and a large part of that is down to him and his choices, vis a vis transfers and tactics. 

But for the sake of continuity, I think we need to exhaust every opportunity in making the thing work.  Give him as long as possible - but not carte blanche to deliver the same shite indefinitely.  If -somehow- we stay up, but our play is littered with the same basic errors and lack of organization next Aug- Oct, I don't see any reason to continue with him.

[atticus snood]

He will be success for us. It would be folly to get rid of him in the near future.

[supertom]

In any case I can't see Randy forking out more cash on sacking a manager. Unless Lambert walked of his own accord, I think he'll be here at least another year. If we're staring at League 1 this time next year, then Randy will probably have to take some action but I don't think it'll come to that.

I would also not want to see us sack Lambert unless we had someone lined up, ready to come in. We can't be in that situation again where there's no one available and willing to come and end up with a Houllier again (granted that was down to O Neill's timing of fucking off) or McLeish. Randy got it majorly wrong. Time will tell whether he's dropped a bollock with Lambert. Personally given that I wanted Lambert in the summer, I'd hope to be proven right as many others here will too. No one wanted McLeish and everyone knew what was coming.

[eastie]

Where has the glorious gnasher gone? Not seen him on here for a few days , regarding lambert i agree the last few games since settling on a formation that suits have been better , lets see how things pan out in the next few weeks .

[atticus snood]

Even if Lambert fails his appointment cannot be seen as an error by the club management. He was the man most of us wanted, and there was no reason to suggest he couldn't do a job for us. If he fails it will be just one of those things.

[danlanza]

He will be success for us. It would be folly to get rid of him in the near future.

Totally agree with you snood. Continuity is what we need. If by Christmas next season we are still scrapping then get rid. Keep him for now and lets see what happens.