Randy Lerner

[KevinGage]

I'm still of the opinion that he needs to be backed this window.

But if we get into February with the same amount of league wins on the board, it'll be harder to make excuses for him.   

It's not just the losses recently, our goals for and against throughout the season has been poor.  The 15 goals conceded in that mental 3 games grabs the headlines, but 4 shots on target from us throughout that period and the possession stats were/are a major concern. 

The stats against Swansea weren't too hot either.

We can talk about long term plans/ style of play and all the rest of it.  Those things are important.

But he needs to get results in the short-term too, to give him breathing space to bring about those longer term aims.

[hawkeye]

KEA was arguably our best player for the first month or two and is still adjusting to this league/.country/culture etc. Yes he's having a slump but I don't agree that he's woeful.

Sorry I am in the, he is not very good, dont see how you could say he was arguably our best player, I havent seen anything from him that sugests he is anything above mediocre at best.

[Risso]

KEA was arguably our best player for the first month or two and is still adjusting to this league/.country/culture etc. Yes he's having a slump but I don't agree that he's woeful.

Was he heck.  When he and Delph played together, it was possibly the worst midfield pairing I've seen since Kinsella and Leonhardsen.

[Mazrim]

I recall him being one of the few positives in the early season. He certainly wasn't woeful.

[pestria]

He inherited a squad that even McLeish kept up, and then had £25m to spend on it.  He hasn't been able to get the best out of Ireland, N'Zogbia, Gabby or Bent, when even McLeish got 9 goals out of Bent in 20 league appearances.

That's slightly disingenuous. How many of the squad from last season are actually available to him? Some left before he arrived, others have been injured and the captain is ill. It's a scratch team at he moment.

The following players were those from last season with more than 15 appearances:

Given
Bent
Collins
DunneO
Gabby
Hutton
Warnock
N'Zogbia
Petrov
Cuellar
Albrighton
Herd
Ireland

Of those, it was Lambert's decision to sell Collins, and to ditch Warnock and Hutton without giving them a chance to redeem themselves.  Just about everybody else has been available to him except Petrov, who was never going to play this season of course, and was replaced by the woeful KEA.

Breaking down your list a little in defence of Lambert I'd argue that:-

Given, Warnock and Hutton have been replaced by better players.
Collins was trouble (and possibly already on his way, along with Cueller).
Petrol, Dunne, N'zog and Gabby have been injured for significant periods.
Herd has played, as has the basket case that is Ireland.
There's no clamour for Albrighton.....

All of which leaves Bent, who is admittedly limited, but offers enough to walk into virtually every other team in the league outside the top six.   

[Ghost of Pongo Waring]

He inherited a squad that even McLeish kept up, and then had £25m to spend on it.  He hasn't been able to get the best out of Ireland, N'Zogbia, Gabby or Bent, when even McLeish got 9 goals out of Bent in 20 league appearances.

That's slightly disingenuous. How many of the squad from last season are actually available to him? Some left before he arrived, others have been injured and the captain is ill. It's a scratch team at he moment.

The following players were those from last season with more than 15 appearances:

Given
Bent
Collins
DunneO
Gabby
Hutton
Warnock
N'Zogbia
Petrov
Cuellar
Albrighton
Herd
Ireland

Of those, it was Lambert's decision to sell Collins, and to ditch Warnock and Hutton without giving them a chance to redeem themselves.  Just about everybody else has been available to him except Petrov, who was never going to play this season of course, and was replaced by the woeful KEA.

Breaking down your list a little in defence of Lambert I'd argue that:-

Given, Warnock and Hutton have been replaced by better players.
Collins was trouble (and possibly already on his way, along with Cueller).
Petrol, Dunne, N'zog and Gabby have been injured for significant periods.
Herd has played, as has the basket case that is Ireland.
There's no clamour for Albrighton.....

All of which leaves Bent, who is admittedly limited, but offers enough to walk into virtually every other team in the league outside the top six.

Added to that the fact that Albrighton has also been out injured, as has Bent, the defence has had to be changed in-game frequently due to injuries, (something like six games running), so theres been little chance of solid defensive partnerships forming.

[hawkeye]

He has now taken this club to a level where we are embaressed by a 4th division outfit having been horse whipped in the Premier League 3 times in a row.

[PaulWinch again]

To be fair he could give Lambert £30 million, but if he spends it on kids who some clearly aren't good enough then we're doomed anyway. Lerner has fucked up massively, but it's not 100% his responsibility.

[Fergal]

To be fair he could give Lambert £30 million, but if he spends it on kids who some clearly aren't good enough then we're doomed anyway. Lerner has fucked up massively, but it's not 100% his responsibility.

It is, he should at least have the bollocks to say something to us.  He allowed MoN so spunk millions on shit, then sold our best players, then fucked up the managerial situation,
Fuck it he needs to sell up and fuck off....

[DB]

He has to give him the funds, otherwise we are fucked. Would a decent new manager (if we can get one) have time to get players in and get them playing better?

Bottom line, whoever the manager is, we need better players.

[PaulWinch again]

Sell up to who though? it's easy saying that, I doubt we're a massively attractive option to purchase.

[Irish villain]

To be fair he could give Lambert £30 million, but if he spends it on kids who some clearly aren't good enough then we're doomed anyway. Lerner has fucked up massively, but it's not 100% his responsibility.

Maybe just maybe Lambert got that money on condition he brought in players who'd demand less than 'x' amount of wages each week?

That's my reading of it.

his is Lerner's mess. Ok, so Lambert may turn out to be a bad appointment but who appointed him and who appointed TSM before him? Who has presided over an absolute mess whether MON(no long-term strategy just trust the manager with crazy money on journeymen looking for a pay day)/GH/TSM or Lambert was the manager?

We (mostly) loved the ride with MON but the chickens have come home to roost. I know Lerner's defenders will point out that I am criticising him for both spending too much and now for not spending enough. All I'm pointing out is that there is one common denominator. Managers have come and gone and Villa have slid rapidly because of poor leadership.

We wouldn't need to be cutting back so much now if we had shown a more balanced approach to our fiancnes all along. It's all a mess.

[pauliewalnuts]

It doesn't matter how much he gives Lambert if he's insisting on trimming the wage bill even more, because it's going to mean more lower league players, and that's no fucking use whatsoever.

Say what you like about Lerner, but as it stands, his stewardship is taking us down in the championship. To spend that much money and end up where we are now takes a special kind of cluelessness.

The bloke is fucking useless.

[DB]

To be fair he could give Lambert £30 million, but if he spends it on kids who some clearly aren't good enough then we're doomed anyway. Lerner has fucked up massively, but it's not 100% his responsibility.

Maybe just maybe Lambert got that money on condition he brought in players who'd demand less than 'x' amount of wages each week?

That's my reading of it.

his is Lerner's mess. Ok, so Lambert may turn out to be a bad appointment but who appointed him and who appointed TSM before him? Who has presided over an absolute mess whether MON(no long-term strategy just trust the manager with crazy money on journeymen looking for a pay day)/GH/TSM or Lambert was the manager?

We (mostly) loved the ride with MON but the chickens have come home to roost. I know Lerner's defenders will point out that I am criticising him for both spending too much and now for not spending enough. All I'm pointing out is that there is one common denominator. Managers have come and gone and Villa have slid rapidly because of poor leadership.

We wouldn't need to be cutting back so much now if we had shown a more balanced approach to our fiancnes all along. It's all a mess.

Spot on. Just hope he has some money to spend.

[saunders_heroes]

I wonder what it will take to prove to Lerner that his experiment with lower league players has failed miserably? Relegation? That's where we're heading with this squad.
He has to spend this month or we're gone.