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

[neo_Villan]

I got the drift of his article as soon as he said Lambert's transfer policy was as much hit as miss.

[Matt Collins]

I actually think about 80% of the article - the commentary on the season - is pretty fair.

What it underplays is the genuine cause for optimism based on performances and results towards the end of the season. We actually look a good passing side and it feels like we're building something. I think the quality of our attacking play had often been better than it was when we were a top 6 side. Certainly our passing is far better. It's just that our defending is still pathetic.

And particularly gives almost no credit for lambert's transfer market activity: benteke, Guzan, lowton, Westwood in particular. They all demonstrate an eye for talent that I've never seen from a villa manager - at least perhaps not since SGT.

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Ultimately we have a squad far more inexperienced and on paper at least, weaker than last season, when you consider the names of Given, Hutton, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, N’Zogbia, Petrov, Ireland and Bent were regular starters.

Yet we have accumulated 3 more wins and thus far two more points than last season and it may be four and five come Sunday evening.

That would give us six wins out of the last ten. We have gone through some of the worst results in the clubs history in the mid-winter after a very limp start. It did not look good. While under McLiesh, relegation crept up on us in March.

Compare though the way we decided to get out of it this time. We have played some of the best attacking football I have seen down the Villa in a very long time. We still cannot defend, however, we have looked much better than our league position suggests.

It is in total contrast to the brutal, nihilist football that we settled into to bore draw our way to safety last term.

Its been just as hairy since February and our nerves have all been frayed, but (and I hate this kind of phraseology) at least we have done it the right way.

My hat goes off to you Lambert. You need to improve us in the summer and we can go again.

[dekko]

I think Lambert is a good manager, and could well turn out to be a great one.  He's shown that he has a great eye for players, he's got us playing exciting, attacking football and the way he picked up the players after the battering around christmas and got them to win all of the must-win games (in some style)  is pretty close to miraculous.  The total shift in atmosphere from one of negativity and gloom a year ago to the excitement and optimism we have today is really refreshing, and mostly down to him.

That said, we have to remember that he is incredibly ambitious.  I hate to sound negative, but the minute a job offer comes in from a top 4 or good German club, or as soon as he feels he can't take Villa any further he'll be off.  He did it at Wycombe, Colchester and Norwich.  Given time he could end up being our Moyes (or even our Ferguson!), but unless we start winning things or consistently start getting european football I reckon he wont be here much longer than his current 3 year contract.

[LeeB]

I think Lambert is a good manager, and could well turn out to be a great one.  He's shown that he has a great eye for players, he's got us playing exciting, attacking football and the way he picked up the players after the battering around christmas and got them to win all of the must-win games (in some style)  is pretty close to miraculous.  The total shift in atmosphere from one of negativity and gloom a year ago to the excitement and optimism we have today is really refreshing, and mostly down to him.

That said, we have to remember that he is incredibly ambitious.  I hate to sound negative, but the minute a job offer comes in from a top 4 or good German club, or as soon as he feels he can't take Villa any further he'll be off.  He did it at Wycombe, Colchester and Norwich.  Given time he could end up being our Moyes (or even our Ferguson!), but unless we start winning things or consistently start getting european football I reckon he wont be here much longer than his current 3 year contract.

Maybe so, but maybe the fact that the club and the fans stuck with him when the pressure was really on around the new year might just make him think twice if he's coveted in the future.

[neo_Villan]

That said, we have to remember that he is incredibly ambitious.  I hate to sound negative, but the minute a job offer comes in from a top 4 or good German club, or as soon as he feels he can't take Villa any further he'll be off.  He did it at Wycombe, Colchester and Norwich.  Given time he could end up being our Moyes (or even our Ferguson!), but unless we start winning things or consistently start getting european football I reckon he wont be here much longer than his current 3 year contract.

As I said at the time of his appointment when Norwich fans kept saying the same thing, I for one won't be complaining if he leaves us for a bigger club in a few years. That would mean he would've done a good job and left us in a better position then he found us.

[dave.woodhall]

How many jobs in England are bigger than Villa, and how much success would he need to be offered and accept one of them? Not many, and quite a bit.

[cdbearsfan]

Pretty much agree. However, I assume he speaks German which means he has more options than most British managers. If some club eventually tempts Klopp away, and Villa are doing well, I wouldn't be amazed to see him head back to Dortmund.

[neo_Villan]

How many jobs in England are bigger than Villa, and how much success would he need to be offered and accept one of them? Not many, and quite a bit.

I meant bigger as in a Champions League team. Either here or abroad. And yes, he would need quite a bit of success to warrent their interest which was pretty much my point.

[dave.woodhall]

How many jobs in England are bigger than Villa, and how much success would he need to be offered and accept one of them? Not many, and quite a bit.

I meant bigger as in a Champions League team. Either here or abroad. And yes, he would need quite a bit of success to warrent their interest which was pretty much my point.

Is there any Briton managing abroad?

[curiousorange]

I kind of get where Moxley is coming from, but it doesn't half sound bitter, like he put a big bet on us to go down and lost the lot following Wigan's result. Yes, we all agree we ought to be well above survival at a club like Villa, but the fact is that from a position of near-complete desolation, Lambert has managed to not only create a team that can stand up and be counted, but one that has us very optimistic about what they can do with a full season in front of them. I'm not complaining about the idea of grounding our current form in the overall context of the season, but to lay the credit almost completely at the benevolence of Randy Lerner is wrong.

The club's fiscal policy is clear for all to see, but Lerner must have stated there were limited funds available when offering Lambert the job. If there had been a policy of 'make do' before Lambert accepted the role, then he would have had to work within those constraints, but Lerner opted to give him some money for transfers in. Moxley seems to be particularly snippy that Lambert used this money.

The focus on the Bradford debacle gives the piece an overall tone that suggests the upturn in form was down to luck rather than hard work by the squad. None of us will ever forget the humiliation of it, but the fine results we had did not arrive due to the poor form of others alone: the togetherness of the squad was a massive factor in getting over the psychological blows of the Chelsea and Bradford games. I note he doesn't point to the shoddy luck we've also had to endure: two phantom penalties, questionable offsides, captain sidelined for weeks.

Aston Villa have been a country mile away from perfect this season, but Moxley delivers any credit through gritted teeth, and I can't help thinking that something must have changed in his relationship to the club, because of all the pundits commenting on us this season, he's usually been one of the most balanced, whereas this is largely bilge.

[LeeB]

Well I'm just putting it down to a nose whose seen his season's hopes go up in smoke.

[neo_Villan]

How many jobs in England are bigger than Villa, and how much success would he need to be offered and accept one of them? Not many, and quite a bit.

I meant bigger as in a Champions League team. Either here or abroad. And yes, he would need quite a bit of success to warrent their interest which was pretty much my point.

Is there any Briton managing abroad?

If you mean abroad as in Europe, then no. I don't think British managers are as attractive as they once were (nor our players by the looks of it) in continental Europe. I don't think they have been since the 90's really when the likes of Venables, Robson and Souness managed there. But this might change with the new generation of British managers coming through who seem to embrace the European philosophies more. Lambert is one of those and I assume he can speak some German, so I think he will manage in Germany one day.

[Monty]

Lambert could manage abroad. One of the main reasons there aren't many British managers abroad is the same as why there aren't many in the Premier League: because the last generation especially were retrograde and utterly, utterly crap. We do seem to have a new few, however, who are at least with the curve internationally, and Lambert is one of those who could make the step.

[Matt C]

How many Villa managers have left and gone onto better things? Or to put it another way, how many have gone on to achieve better in their careers since leaving?