Just when you think that things couldn't get any worse....

[levico]

There's no way they'll appoint BFS at Villa Park.

Barry Fry was bad enough, sister wouldn't be any better.

Coat retrieved.

[john e]

He's better than TSM though....

i'd rather have TSM

there i said it

[pauliewalnuts]

I'd have him over Lambert any day of the week.  It's not like Lambert's football is anything to write home about in any case.

Lets be honest, you'd be calling for his head within a few weeks of his anti-football, and you'd be right to do so.

Look at the way his teams play. Think back all of one week for the latest display. All that hoofing it up field into the penalty area, hoping something comes from the knock down.

I've too much pride in Villa to accept a manager who thinks that is an acceptable way to play football.

Everything about his football is revolting, and you might suggest he's no worse than Lambert now, but I bet you what you like you'd flip within a few iffy results of Big Sam's idea of the way football should be played.

At least Lambert is trying to get us playing football, even if it doesn't work too often. Allardyce over the last few years hasn't even tried. That way West Ham and Blackburn played, that's what he does.

No, ta.

[old man villa fan]

Completely agree Pete.  I don't think he'll ever be known for his total football, but he's effective at what he does.  He got Bolton up, got them competing then slowly turned them into a decent team to watch, with the likes of Campo and Okocha.  He's got West Ham promoted and looks like keeping them up as well.  The Hammers fans might prefer to see them as a yo-yo team playing tippy-tappy stuff, but his first concern was keeping them up.  I'd have him over Lambert any day of the week.  It's not like Lambert's football is anything to write home about in any case.

Bolton having a decent side.  It was that long ago, even Liverpool were half decent in winning the Champions League.  BFS has lived off a couple of seasons success that pre-dated MON.  If getting somebody promoted and keeping them in the PL is your height of ambition, why are you so dead set against Lambert.

[KevinGage]

I can believe there may have been preliminary talks.

Let's not pretend that the results over the past few months have given Lambert job security.  Even if the club were still prepared to back him, they'd want a contingency plan.

The Villa job is one of the bigger jobs in football -and may be too big for someone like Lambert. It's rare for a modern manager to walk out on a job with the amount of money in the game now. But if he's feeling the pressure - and he's looked like a broken man at various stages since December- the club would need to be prepared.  We've had one manager bail on us in fairly recent history, so Lerner, Faulkner and co should, if they have any cop on, be able to recognise the warning signs by now.

With his contract situation at West Ham, Fat Sam would be high up the list of alternatives. There'd be less of a payoff,  for one thing (maybe the overriding concern for us, these past few years). Di Matteo would also be under consideration, and there was talk that preliminary discussions had taken place with him not so long back.   

For all we know, the converstion might have gone as far as asking his agent "What's the current situation with his West Ham deal?"   And the interest might not extend beyond that. Those kind of conversations (concerning both players and managers) would occur with a fair degree of frequency.

Just to be clear: I don't like the tired old bloater at all, would far rather that Lambert turns the thing around or we go for a more progressive manager in the summer.  But having endured MON's approach to attacking football at home for four seasons, Houllier's disjointed pish in 2010/11, McLesh's joyless dirdge last season and Lambert's lack of nous this, I don't see how we criticise his style of football, in all honesty.

I'd take functional football and decent results over rubbish football and rubbish results any day of the week.

[pauliewalnuts]

Decent results as seen at West Ham, who seem engaged on a plan of action centred around dropping into the relegation places?

I can see the argument from both sides, but honestly, I am sick to the tits of chopping and changing at Villa, let's back the manager we have and trust him to get us performing and playing good football with results to match.

There isn't a magic bullet "make everything much better NOW" option, I'm afraid, and even if there was, I am sure it wouldn't involve appointing Sam Allardyce.

[Risso]

I'd have him over Lambert any day of the week.  It's not like Lambert's football is anything to write home about in any case.

Lets be honest, you'd be calling for his head within a few weeks of his anti-football, and you'd be right to do so.

Look at the way his teams play. Think back all of one week for the latest display. All that hoofing it up field into the penalty area, hoping something comes from the knock down.

I've too much pride in Villa to accept a manager who thinks that is an acceptable way to play football.

Everything about his football is revolting, and you might suggest he's no worse than Lambert now, but I bet you what you like you'd flip within a few iffy results of Big Sam's idea of the way football should be played.

At least Lambert is trying to get us playing football, even if it doesn't work too often. Allardyce over the last few years hasn't even tried. That way West Ham and Blackburn played, that's what he does.

No, ta.

I don't agree with a word of that, and please don't try to put words in my mouth.

[pauliewalnuts]

Words into your mouth?

Where? By suggesting you'd be calling for his head pretty sharpish? It's almost as if there's a precedent to go on.

You gave Lambert next to no time, so why would you be any different with Allardyce's mediocre record and shit football?

[ez]

I don't think Randy thinks that far ahead.

[pauliewalnuts]

I don't think Randy thinks that far ahead.

Well, we know he's not a fan of spending money, and Allardyce likes to travel with an enormous back room staff who would be expensive to liberate and employ, so there is at least that to pin our hopes on.

[Risso]

Words into your mouth?

Where? By suggesting you'd be calling for his head pretty sharpish? It's almost as if there's a precedent to go on.

You gave Lambert next to no time, so why would you be any different with Allardyce's mediocre record and shit football?

Lambert was dismal from the word go.  He started badly, and got steadily worse.  He's the worst Villa manager I've seen in my Villa supporting life time; worse than O'Leary, worse than McNeill and Turner.  Allardyce would be better.  Lambert's football is shit, and the results have been humiliating.  He's given us our worst ever start to a season, our worst ever result, and our Premier League place is in hanging in the balance.  A terrible, terrible manager.  Mediocre football would be a huge improvement to be honest.

[KevinGage]

Stylish attacking football, fullbacks who overlap and bomb forward, trequartista's and all the other facets of the modern game that are synonymous with the better sides would be great.

But at present, I think I'd be reasonably content to see a Villa side defend corners with some degree of professionalism. Or to know that if we go a goal up, we might have a better than average chance of holding on to the lead.  That would actually be progess, based on the past few years.

Naturally, I'd hope we'd be able to find a manager who could give us all that and play a decent style of football (and smaller clubs than us with less than half our budget have been able to deliver that).   But if the latter isn't possible, I'll take the former.

[pauliewalnuts]

Words into your mouth?

Where? By suggesting you'd be calling for his head pretty sharpish? It's almost as if there's a precedent to go on.

You gave Lambert next to no time, so why would you be any different with Allardyce's mediocre record and shit football?

Lambert was dismal from the word go.  He started badly, and got steadily worse.  He's the worst Villa manager I've seen in my Villa supporting life time; worse than O'Leary, worse than McNeill and Turner.  Allardyce would be better.  Lambert's football is shit, and the results have been humiliating.  He's given us our worst ever start to a season, our worst ever result, and our Premier League place is in hanging in the balance.  A terrible, terrible manager.

What? Worse than Graham Turner? Worse than Billy McNeill? Really? If you genuinely mean that, you can't have been paying that much attention to those two at the time.

That's not the point, though. The point is, you're suggesting Allardyce is a better bet.

On the basis of what? His record of playing revolting anti-football bollocks that keeps pointless small clubs up?

It's one thing to mention the humiliation of some of Lambert's results, but you'd need to get used to it to want Allardyce running our club.

I can understand why anyone would want Lambert sacked - I'd disagree with them, for reasons already much discussed, but it's not difficult to see the reasons they'd want him out.

What i have a problem with is the suggestion that Sam Allardyce would be a better option. What would be the point of that? What kind of club is he going to build? I'll tell you. A club which resorts to snide gamesmanship only bettered by Stoke City, a club which spends most matches whacking the ball at a big man up front, a club which twats the ball up field and out of touch if need be, to gain some some of percentages advantage.

The sacking Lambert bit, I understand, but to replace him with Allardyce? Really?

If we're going to replace the manager, how about doing it with someone who could build something significantly better?

Isn't there a question when you say the Lambert is the worst Villa manager you've ever seen, but then recommend another bloke on the basis that "he's better than Lambert"?

Isn't "better than Lambert" - by your own definition - a pretty empty way to promote the values of a manager?

[pauliewalnuts]

Stylish attacking football, fullbacks who overlap and bomb forward, trequartista's and all the other facets of the modern game that are synonymous with the better sides would be great.

But at present, I think I'd be reasonably content to see a Villa side defend corners with some degree of professionalism. Or to know that if we go a goal up, we might have a better than average chance of holding on to the lead.  That would actually be progess, based on the past few years.

Naturally, I'd hope we'd be able to find a manager who could give us all that and play a decent style of football (and smaller clubs than us with less than half our budget have been able to deliver that).   But if the latter isn't possible, I'll take the former.

I'd rather take my chances and go down, if it were unavoidable, than cling to survival and commit ourselves to several years under a manager who doesnt even try to play football?

If that's the extent of our ambitions, we might as well have stuck with McLeish.

[Risso]

Bolton played far better football under Allardyce than we do under Lambert, much better in fact.  As I said before, he's a pragmatist.  Build a solid base using the players at your disposal, then gradually improve things.