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

[supertom]

First third of the season- 4/10
Middle third- 2/10
Last third- 8/10

Overall I'd give him a 6.5

Optimism level is good going into next season though. 2-3 decent defenders in. Midfield and attack competition and we'll be fairly comfortable in the top half.

We should aim for a minimum of 50 points next season.

[OCD]

That's only 3 wins more than this season. Might as well aim for 60 points and if we fall short then it would still be considered a good improvement.

[supertom]

That's only 3 wins more than this season. Might as well aim for 60 points and if we fall short then it would still be considered a good improvement.

I'd rather set a target we can smash with a month to spare.

[KevinGage]

So you had no injury and form concerns over Given after the Euro's?
What Warnock and Dunne did 2 years previously is irrelevant. You had no concerns about Hutton and Warnock as fullbacks?
Zog being highly rated when we signed him is irrelevant, what he did in the 12 months he was at the club is, no conerns?
Ireland we've already covered. But i'll ask, you had no concerns?
Gabby, 8 goals in 60 games, and 6 months without a goal. Any concerns there?
Bent, injured for months, what he cost is also irrelevant. You weren't concerned how his injury may affect him?

I've never said he was a miracle worker, if he was we'd be top 8. The squad was poor with numerous question marks over it.

You'd have to ask him, i'm not Paul Lambert so don't know why he made the move. I could guess if you like?

I had/ have concerns over a number of them.

But a good manager can knit together a disparate group of players and get them firing. Some won't buy into it, that's human nature.  And some players -even if they're willing- won't fit the the managers blueprint.

But the point remains that the talent was there -with a bit of tinkering- to oversee more than another season at the arse end of the table. He didn't inherit Hull City.  You don't have to go back into the dark recesses of time to find a period when Given, Dunne, Warnock, Ireland, N'Zog, Albrighton, Gabby and Bent were in good form and amongst the better performers in the division. Of those, only Given and Dunne could be considered old, or somewhat past their prime age wise.   Fuck, even Hutton was playing well enough to get in ahead of Corluka and Walker during Tottingham's CL season.  I freely admit I couldn't wait to see the back of him and Warnock mind, that's a given.

 Even allowing for the cutbacks and change of momentum post 2010, we shouldn't be acclaiming any manager as some sort of 10/10 genius for ensuring survival. That should have been the absolute bare minimum this term -whoever was in charge.

What encourages me -like others- is our attacking intent this term, particularly the final third of the campaign.  And that PL has been able to get something approximating form out of Delph.

I realise that for many (particularly on the internet) things are black or white.  Lambert is either shite, a small time manager out of his depth.  Or he is building the next Manchester United.   I see him as a manager with promise -but a long way short of the finished article. Pretty much like his team at the moment.

[pauliewalnuts]

I realise that for many (particularly on the internet) things are black or white.  Lambert is either shite, a small time manager out of his depth.  Or he is building the next Manchester United.   I see him as a manager with promise -but a long way short of the finished article. Pretty much like his team at the moment.

I don't think even the most fervent of his admirers on here would pump him up that much.

For all the back slapping over our survival, and the admiration of our new strategy, we barely managed to scrape survival. Next season has got to build on this, we have got to move on.

There's a really thin line between investing in young and upcoming players and having the nous - on and off the pitch, because you also find yourself having to deal with stuff like persuading Weimann and Benteke to stay - to build on that and make something exciting happen (ie, your role model is Borussia Dortmund) and just turning into a side who don't pay much for their players, but sell them on for a profit, and as a result, end up bobbing around the relegation zone year after year (ie, you're really Wigan Athletic).

The young, hungry thing is fine if it is built on, but it's also a convenient excuse for cheapness and lack of ambition. The point at which people start to suspect it is more of the latter is the point at which they'll turn on Lambert.

Here's hoping that never happens.

[KevinGage]

That's my concern too Paulie. 

We all knew that there was plenty of fat to be cut from the wage bill, and that our income didn't justify having players on £40k per week + killing time on the bench (it still doesn't). 

But there is a difference between that and aiming to field a team full of players on Championship wages. 

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery an' all, but if funds are still streched (even with the new TV deal) a more realistic model to follow is Everton.  On average, they might make one big signing on decent wages per summer - not 4/5, as we have done in the past.

Traditionally, their income is lower than ours.   Yet they can afford to pay Howard, Jagielka, Baines, Heitinga, Coleman, Fellaini, Pienaar, Jelavic and co competitive salaries.

So the focus should never be make the wage bill as low as possible (that way, Herbert-style mediocrity lies). Rather, it should be making sure the right wages go to the right players.

[PeterWithesShin]

I disagree with giving 10/10 as much as I disagree he inherited a decent squad. I still don't see how you can class it as decent when you admit that you had concerns over a number of them. Still, we'll just keep round in circles on that one.

And as Paulie says, I don't think anyone is building him that much. Just that we like what he's trying to do.

[tomd2103]

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery an' all, but if funds are still streched (even with the new TV deal) a more realistic model to follow is Everton.  On average, they might make one big signing on decent wages per summer - not 4/5, as we have done in the past.

When you look at Everton under Moyes, their side during that time has always had a good mix of homegrown players, players bought from the lower leagues and the odd fairly expensive signing (often bought after they have sold one of their players for decent money).  It's a template we could quite easily follow over the next few years.   

[not3bad]

I'm glad we're following the Lambert model.  I don't want to follow any other, Everton included.  Yes, it meant the time up until the end of January was grim, but since then Villa have not played anything like a relegation threatened team, and next year they'll get better.

[CJ]

I think Lambert was unlucky last season and was forced to play more young/inexperienced players than he'd planned to. I think he believed he had a good spine to the team - bringing Guzan back with Given as back-up, Vlaar and Dunne (both experienced internationals) at CB, KEA (experienced in top Dutch teams and played best part of 200 games at international level) in MF, and Benteke (what a find) and Bent up top - and this spine could be supplemented by players like Lowton, Bennett, Westwood and others while they got up to speed. Unfortunately injuries to Dunne meant Clark and Baker were played more than they should have been, and KEA hasn't really delivered. Hopefully he'll address the CB and dominant MF in the summer, and I believe we'll really kick on next season.

[ozzjim]

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery an' all, but if funds are still streched (even with the new TV deal) a more realistic model to follow is Everton.  On average, they might make one big signing on decent wages per summer - not 4/5, as we have done in the past.

When you look at Everton under Moyes, their side during that time has always had a good mix of homegrown players, players bought from the lower leagues and the odd fairly expensive signing (often bought after they have sold one of their players for decent money).  It's a template we could quite easily follow over the next few years.   

The key is keeping players. Everton could have sold Baines and Fallani last 2 summers but kept them. Ditto Cahill time and again. Pienaar went when he was already probably past his best and came back quick. Jagielka has stuck it out. Considering how good some of their players have been, to have kept most of them is a testament to Moyes.

[john e]

Lambert won me over in the first match at West Ham, I hadn't been to keen before that.

I thought it might have been a difficult season in many ways, but I never expected a relegation dog fight I have to admit, comfortable mid table was what I was expecting
i still enjoyed it though, because of the way we were at least trying to play, i think this is something picked up by others in the media, last season it was just pure purgatory,

so all in all most enjoyable season since MON's first two, and more confident about the future than i have been for at least 4 seasons

[pauliewalnuts]

That's my concern too Paulie. 

We all knew that there was plenty of fat to be cut from the wage bill, and that our income didn't justify having players on £40k per week + killing time on the bench (it still doesn't). 

But there is a difference between that and aiming to field a team full of players on Championship wages. 

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery an' all, but if funds are still streched (even with the new TV deal) a more realistic model to follow is Everton.  On average, they might make one big signing on decent wages per summer - not 4/5, as we have done in the past.

Traditionally, their income is lower than ours.   Yet they can afford to pay Howard, Jagielka, Baines, Heitinga, Coleman, Fellaini, Pienaar, Jelavic and co competitive salaries.

So the focus should never be make the wage bill as low as possible (that way, Herbert-style mediocrity lies). Rather, it should be making sure the right wages go to the right players.

I don't think Everton are particularly more generous with their salaries than we are, there doesn't seem to be much evidence to suggest it, anyway, but you're right in that they pay the big money to the right people, which is something we have conspicuously failed to do for several years now.

What Everton do manage to do well is persuade their best players to stay with the club.

That's what we need to do, and it's going to be nigh on impossible if we spend much more time than we have (and this is the third season of it now) at the arse end of the table.

I don't think for a moment Lambert's plan is to just fight relegation year after year, but the whole club - not just the manager - needs to be geared towards improving ourselves.

If the plan to do that this summer is to just buy more unproven lower league players then I think we are really going to struggle again. It's true, the likes of Westwood and Lowton (although it wasn't too long ago a few people on here were slaughtering him) have shown that they can step up, but the reason we've spent the year fighting relegation is largely because it was a very large step up to expect almost a whole team to make at the same time.

The likes of Lowton and Westwood are a season more experienced now, so will be better for it next term, but sufficiently improved to become the experienced heads in the side? I don't think so.

[Tuscans]

Have to be honest but I am starting to have a love fest over Lambert and I don't know why. I just watched his brief chat on the FFS and I love everything he says ( what I can understand ), his philosophy, his pride in the shirt and a sense that he actually has a true affection for the club.

I believe in you Lambo and everything you do. Good luck next season...babe! )

[Brend'Watkins]

Have to be honest but I am starting to have a love fest over Lambert and I don't know why. I just watched his brief chat on the FFS and I love everything he says ( what I can understand ), his philosophy, his pride in the shirt and a sense that he actually has a true affection for the club.

I believe in you Lambo and everything you do. Good luck next season...babe! )

I'm with you on this.  He's almost like one of us with his ideals.

Wanting players who see playing for us not just as a job but who really want to wear the shirt, emphasis on an attacking style of play that entertains, developing younger hungrier players and make progress year on year.  I think this is what is transmitting to the fans and why we have faith in him.  Compare that with the last two years of MON, then seasons of GH and McLeish. 

I'm getting a vibe of how the club used to be in the late 70's almost. If we kick on next season and there's no reason why we cant then I think we will go on to be a force once again.