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

[Greg N'Ash]

mebbe. Still think we'll struggle to offload any of them because of the wages bar Bannan. Bent looks like he'll go but i can't see us getting 8m for him. More likely 5m with the rest offsetting his wages. Sad fact is the clubs after our cast-offs aren't going to pay 50k+ wages. We've lost 50m worth of players for no fees in the last 3 years

No way would i sell bent for £5m - I would hope for closer to £10m.

to whom? He's hardly played so he's hardly the first name on the list of clubs who could afford him. The rest are similar to us or worse off, and looking for a Benteke rather than a Bent.

Still a natural finisher though Greg and there will be takers - would do a job at the likes of newcastle or west ham or even everton .

Dunno. you've got a guy who's supposedly on way above 50k , so they'll gonna pay 10m and his wages. He's also 29 so you're looking at a minimum of 17m over three years with no resale value. Can't see it myself.

The thing with bent is that if you play to his strengths he is virtually certain to bag you 20 goals a season - not many players available like that at that price - I'm sure there will be interest in him .

I knows his strengths and id rather we kept him personally but its still a risk for those clubs - it hasn't worked out for him here for a start.. Everton buy VFM so i'd rule them out. Newcastle maybe  but still if he's on the rumoured 80-90k a week i don't think they would  pay 10m for him, especially as he's done nothing for getting on for 2 years

[Mister E]

I don't know. Last summer was almost entirely funded by the Young and Downing money bought in the season before. If Lerner follows the same breakeven pattern then this season there won't be much unless we sell someone.

Bizarre.
Lerner has put in a ton of money and it would be surprising if he stumps up a load more. And -yes - he's made some weird decisions over the time (like, backing MON to the hilt and bringing in TSM).

Nontheless, the only model that'll work - other than finding an oligarch (and even this option is not particularly favoured, I suspect) - is to buy and sell effectively. This means buying players very well and turning over the ones that are both dispensable and / or valued out there in the market.

For us this summer, this means offloading Bent and the remaining dross for whatever we can get (and possibly funding some wages for a while) and then buying judiciously using the extra Premiership money and the freed-up wages from releasing the highly-paid dross.

Simples.

[oldhill_avfc]

10/10 for the manager from me.

I think he's done a fantastic job, he's rolled three season's worth of work out in one.

That I don't see.

He inherited a decent squad (albeit one with significant gaps) and had £23 million to spend on top of that - more than the likes of Everton, Newcastle and Sunderland spent. And clearly more than the Olbiyun, Swansea and Naarwich.

Yet for all that we are one place higher than last year, and -like last season- were only assured of staying up with one game to spare.

7/10 for me (for entertainment value, as much as anything else in the last third of the campaign).   10/10 would have been European qualification or a cup win, ie exceeding most reasonable pre season expectations.  Has he really done that this campaign?

I'm not sure many would agree with you that he inherited a decent squad and certainly the evidence of results in second half of last season point to a squad that was possibly the worst in the league.  Added to that he lost Dunne for the whole season.

You only had to see the first game vs Everton to see the trouble he was in with the inherited players.

So I think great credit must go to Lambert for not only turning around an inexorable decline but also vastly improving the style of play.

Yes it took a long time to settle on the right formula and there's certainly an argument to be made that we might have made a pragmatic signing or two to shore up the defence.   But I think despite the low points tally and more than a whiff of relegation fear, we've more cause to be optimistic about the forthcoming season than for many years

[Mister E]

PS - I'm not suggesting Bent is dross. I do think that he has some market value to teams like Fulham, Cardiff, Norwich and possibly Blunderland.

[Mister E]

10/10 for the manager from me.

I think he's done a fantastic job, he's rolled three season's worth of work out in one.

That I don't see.

He inherited a decent squad (albeit one with significant gaps) and had £23 million to spend on top of that - more than the likes of Everton, Newcastle and Sunderland spent. And clearly more than the Olbiyun, Swansea and Naarwich.

Yet for all that we are one place higher than last year, and -like last season- were only assured of staying up with one game to spare.

7/10 for me (for entertainment value, as much as anything else in the last third of the campaign).   10/10 would have been European qualification or a cup win, ie exceeding most reasonable pre season expectations.  Has he really done that this campaign?

I'm not sure many would agree with you that he inherited a decent squad and certainly the evidence of results in second half of last season point to a squad that was possibly the worst in the league.  Added to that he lost Dunne for the whole season.

You only had to see the first game vs Everton to see the trouble he was in with the inherited players.

So I think great credit must go to Lambert for not only turning around an inexorable decline but also vastly improving the style of play.

Yes it took a long time to settle on the right formula and there's certainly an argument to be made that we might have made a pragmatic signing or two to shore up the defence.   But I think despite the low points tally and more than a whiff of relegation fear, we've more cause to be optimistic about the forthcoming season than for many years

Agreed - he was dealt a shit hand and I suspect he expected alot more from the experienced players than he actually got.

[PeterWithesShin]

Very generous to call the squad he inherited decent. I'd lean more towards crap and massively overpaid with a few decent players in there as well as some promising youngsters.

[not3bad]

I thought the "decent squad" claim was stretching it a bit.

[Greg N'Ash]

To be fair GH and the TSM got loads of stick for not doing much with a "decent squad". The reality was it was over the hill by the time MON left and taking away Milner, Young and Petrov showed how poor it really was. I certainly don't think it was miles worse last summer than the one TSM inherited the summer before, more the penny finally dropped last summer.

[Eigentor]

To be fair GH and the TSM got loads of stick for not doing much with a "decent squad". The reality was it was over the hill by the time MON left and taking away Milner, Young and Petrov showed how poor it really was. I certainly don't think it was miles worse last summer than the one TSM inherited the summer before, more the penny finally dropped last summer.

Actually kind of agrees with this. The squad MON left behind was ageing and uneven. The best players left, and some of the decent ones (Dunne, Warnock and Carew) lost form. The problem was of course that most of the additions -- Ireland, N'Zogbia, Hutton, Makoun and Given -- weren't exactly great value for money. Even with Bent's price tag looks steep unless you claim that he's the reason we stayed up in the GH season.

[OCD]

The sign of a good manager is that when they leave, the club still have solid foundations from which to build. O'Neill's sides always struggle for years and require massive overhauls to put right again.

[ozzjim]

To be fair GH and the TSM got loads of stick for not doing much with a "decent squad". The reality was it was over the hill by the time MON left and taking away Milner, Young and Petrov showed how poor it really was. I certainly don't think it was miles worse last summer than the one TSM inherited the summer before, more the penny finally dropped last summer.

Actually kind of agrees with this. The squad MON left behind was ageing and uneven. The best players left, and some of the decent ones (Dunne, Warnock and Carew) lost form. The problem was of course that most of the additions -- Ireland, N'Zogbia, Hutton, Makoun and Given -- weren't exactly great value for money. Even with Bent's price tag looks steep unless you claim that he's the reason we stayed up in the GH season.

9 in 13. Without them we would have dropped. The confidence he gave the side was vital, although Petrov coming back into the side with NRC was a big part of the turnaround too.

[pauliewalnuts]

The sign of a good manager is that when they leave, the club still have solid foundations from which to build. O'Neill's sides always struggle for years and require massive overhauls to put right again.

The best managers are also judged on their legacy, and O'Neill's legacy at Villa was absolute chaos as he flounced out, and a lop sided squad costing far more than it should have done.

[Eigentor]

To be fair GH and the TSM got loads of stick for not doing much with a "decent squad". The reality was it was over the hill by the time MON left and taking away Milner, Young and Petrov showed how poor it really was. I certainly don't think it was miles worse last summer than the one TSM inherited the summer before, more the penny finally dropped last summer.

Actually kind of agrees with this. The squad MON left behind was ageing and uneven. The best players left, and some of the decent ones (Dunne, Warnock and Carew) lost form. The problem was of course that most of the additions -- Ireland, N'Zogbia, Hutton, Makoun and Given -- weren't exactly great value for money. Even with Bent's price tag looks steep unless you claim that he's the reason we stayed up in the GH season.

9 in 13. Without them we would have dropped. The confidence he gave the side was vital, although Petrov coming back into the side with NRC was a big part of the turnaround too.

So, let's say Bent was a good signing. Still, that's one in six from MON resigned till Lambert arrived. (Not counting Kyle Walker or Robbie Keane.)

[not3bad]

So, let's say Bent was a good signing. Still, that's one in six from MON resigned till Lambert arrived. (Not counting Kyle Walker or Robbie Keane.)

It could be argued that Given was as important to us staying up last season as Bent was the season before.

[ozzjim]

So, let's say Bent was a good signing. Still, that's one in six from MON resigned till Lambert arrived. (Not counting Kyle Walker or Robbie Keane.)

It could be argued that Given was as important to us staying up last season as Bent was the season before.

It could also be argued Guzan was ready, and deserved to stay in the side after keeping a clean sheet at Stoke last season when Given was out.