Lambert: I want to build a top team

[danno]

We signed Pires because we had a horrendous injury situation, and the transfer window was closed, meaning we could only sign unattached players.

I don't really understand people getting their knickers in a twist about that. If we'd signed someone for actual money at that age and given them a contract beyond the end of the season, then maybe, but it was a pretty sensible move to be able to get another body in when we were pretty desperate.

On a personal level it was worth it for me, I saw him make his debut at Ewood think we lost (2-0), I was sat in the home stand as I was visiting my mates in Blackburn. Obviously they gave me a load of stick about it.

A few months later he ran the show twice when we beat them 3-1 in the fa cup, and 4-1 in the league.

think the fa cup midfield was a fearsome combo of Bannan, Pires and Reo Coker.  haha

and also him bleating about Mcallister disrespecting him for not giving him a run out at the Emirates was funny.
It wasn't a great signing by any means, but it still raises a wry smile when I visit Blackburn.

[not3bad]

"Aston Villa is not a club on the same level as Liverpool, let's be objective and honest.

It's a club that according to me has belonged between seventh and 12th place in the Premier League"

As Paulie says, think it by all means. But don't say it in your first press conference. Particularly when we've just finished the previous season ahead of wonderful, wonderful Liverpool.

And when all the shite we went through with Barry was still fresh in the memory.

[ROBBO]

Employing someone short term to slash wages is typically American, seen it happen over here a few times, they come in with no affinity to the business or its workers, slash and burn then leave with a pockrefull of money. Oleary,Houllier both lived in their past glory and better days and both were disrespectful to their employer and the supporters thats why we have to see it through with Lambert, without another money doesn't mean a thing to me buyer he's the best we can do.

[Risso]

Because the money wasn't owed to our owner.

You're comparing a £2m overdraft in 2002 to the financial omnishambles we have now?  In the 5 years to 2002 we made a profit, compared to the £165m loss in the same time frame under Lerner.

[paul_e]

I've said this on here in other places but it seems to get ignored so to quote someone we all know well "we'll go again".

When you look at things retrospectively the decision to allow MON to go crazy with wages and the appointments of GH and TSM are all poor decisions but when you look at the circumstances that the decision was made in I think you can see the sense in them all.

MoN - promised the board champions league football, so we budgeted for wages on the basis that he'd achieve it.  I was naive and too trustworthy, but the footballing world was telling them they had a manager who walked on water and we'd got 6th and looked like we could go on, I firmly believe he was given 1 last season to make the CL or he had to cut wages and make us more sustainable, when he couldn't convince them that he deserved another year he walked away.

Houllier - Very experienced manager who had a good pedigree for setting sides up o make the most of their youth players and had a international reputation which would've opened us up to a much broader scouting pool than we were used to.  He made a lot of ill though out remarks but the biggest problems was that he had 17 registered (i.e. had a squad number) players out injured at the same time.  From mid-october to the end of November the number varied between that 17 and 12 at best.  During that period we barely got a point.  For the rest of that season our form was enough to still be around the top 6.  The injuries were largely due to players who had been doing 1-2hours training a day being asked to do 4-5 hours, in an attempt to get them fit enough to last for a season and not be dead on their feet come March.  The problem was trying to change too much to soon, which led to...

TSM - the board had seen that taking on a manager with a very different game plan to MoN when the squad was custom built for monball was causing us problems so they found someone who would play a game suited to the squad we have.  He's a poor manager and they clearly got it wrong, but the idea behind the appointment wasn't as crazy as a lot of people suggest.  We had a squad setup to defend and counter so they got in a manager who's entire tactic was to defend (and maybe counter if it wasn't risky).

As for the lambert transfer policy, a lot of people on here are buying into the premier league's ethos that if something isn't from the premier league it's valueless.  I've seen a lot of "if you buy championship players you end up with a championship squad"  comments on here, when did buying from the lower leagues become such a terrible strategy?  I actually think buying from the lower leagues/unfashionable european leagues and bringing players through has served Villa far better in the sky era than buying established players.  We need both, that's clear, but we have enough established premier league players in the squad, the problem is they are either unfit, crap, under-performing or insane (or a combination of those).

I find Lambert incredibly frustrating and think his tactical decisions have been bizarre at times but I think him and the board have done a good job on the transfer side.  An experienced central defender in the window would've been nice but I can understand why he didn't sign one (he wants one of Clark or Baker to step up and make the place their own and I think he was worried that signing another central defender would've hurt their confidence further after the chelsea and tottenham results), I just hope the risk pays off.

[john e]

the mistakes made in the past are exactly that, the past,
 its the future that counts, and as the OP says we are undergoing a massive high risk experiment,

 if Lambert says we are following some sort of Dortmund project then that's fine by me, but lets face it we are a million miles away at the moment, but you have to start somewhere, and I believe the foundations are being laid down

when you embark on this sort of re building one which diverts from the norm of bringing in experienced more highly paid players and introduce younger players from the lower leagues and from the academy, it will always require a certain amount of belief and faith in the manager and his football philosophy

so you either buy into it or you remain sceptical,
I didn't really want Lambert, I thought he was MON light, and wanted a manager that would introduce a better style of play based on possession and passing,

I went down to West Ham to see what Lambert was all about,
 and in the first 30 minutes he had won me over,
the first half hour I saw a young Villa side pass the ball around in a way I hadn't seen for donkeys years, I thought that would do for me I was a fully paid up member of the Lambert happy clappy club and have remained so ever since, even though we lost the game, and have lost plenty since the philosophy remains the same, and it gets my vote

so I admit i'm buying into it, and believe in project
 but I can understand those who don't, they see the results they see a young team struggling, they see a manager that at times has made some confusing subs and tactics, everyone has there own opinion

what I cant accept, is those that just look at the points tally and say its no better than under TSM, if you cant see the difference if you cant see what Lambert is trying to build, and you really think Mcliesh football was as good then you are watching the wrong game, you really have no business inside a football ground.

even for those who think we are at last on the right track, we really don't know whether we will be proved right in the end, we don't know how its all going to end, if it all ends in tears, I will be the first to hold my hands up and say I got Lambert wrong,
but for now he has given me something to believe in, something I haven't seen at Villa for a long long time, football played the right way
and yes I would rather go down trying to play that way than stay in the prem with the tripe that Pullis and Allardyce produce every week,  but as always that's just my oppinion

[Chico Hamilton III]

Hope we pull it off tonight but I’m very worried. To be honest, it feels a bit “emperor’s new clothes” to me, this project we’re talking about. I haven’t seen a project developing this season, I’ve seen us struggle with formations, brittle when we concede, using players who have been completely out of their depth in some games, unable to play for 90 minutes, totally and utterly dependent on a single player, who we spent far too much time trying to lump the ball to and without whom we would certainly already have been relegated already. If that’s a project then we need to start looking again at the project manager.

There, said it. Please let me be wrong again....

Now let’s have a fucking scrap against Sunderland tonight and see who wants to stop up the most.

Come on me Villa babbies!!!

[Nev]

Hope we pull it off tonight but I’m very worried. To be honest, it feels a bit “emperor’s new clothes” to me, this project we’re talking about. I haven’t seen a project developing this season, I’ve seen us struggle with formations, brittle when we concede, using players who have been completely out of their depth in some games, unable to play for 90 minutes, totally and utterly dependent on a single player, who we spent far too much time trying to lump the ball to and without whom we would certainly already have been relegated already. If that’s a project then we need to start looking again at the project manager.

There, said it. Please let me be wrong again....

Now let’s have a fucking scrap against Sunderland tonight and see who wants to stop up the most.

Come on me Villa babbies!!!

Pretty much my feelings, I don't care what the "project" is, putting the club in danger of relegation should never be part of it.

I remain of the mind that should we go down, Lambert should pay the price with his job.

But, I shall be making all too rare visits to Villa Park tonight and for the Chelsea game and will shout myself puce in support of the manager and the team.

[jonzy85]

I am also behind Lambert and what he is trying to do. I think it is brave and ambitious, even if a little reckless and naive.

The problem I have with the "following the Dortmund model" plan is that I don't believe there are the same calibre of young players in the U.K. or Ireland to make this successful. German football overhauled how they train their youngsters over 10 years ago and clubs like Dortmund are now reaping the results, by being able to rely on these talented, well trained youngsters. Traditionally English clubs have signed their youngsters from the UK and Ireland and at the moment, the technical training is lacking.

For Lambert to succeed long term, he needs to be getting talented players from a very young age into the "Villa system", but if the players aren't technically accomplished enough, he may be on a hiding to nothing.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

At times this season we've been good and played some very good football.

OK, a lot of the time it's been poo, but I seem to have enjoyed this season more than last (and perhaps before that as well).

When we play well and pass and move the ball we look a very good team. I'd keep Lambert whatever and leave in charge for a number of years. He's shown in his career that he's a good manager so let's give him a chance.

[villan1975]

Hope we pull it off tonight but I’m very worried. To be honest, it feels a bit “emperor’s new clothes” to me, this project we’re talking about. I haven’t seen a project developing this season, I’ve seen us struggle with formations, brittle when we concede, using players who have been completely out of their depth in some games, unable to play for 90 minutes, totally and utterly dependent on a single player, who we spent far too much time trying to lump the ball to and without whom we would certainly already have been relegated already. If that’s a project then we need to start looking again at the project manager.

There, said it. Please let me be wrong again....

Now let’s have a fucking scrap against Sunderland tonight and see who wants to stop up the most.

Come on me Villa babbies!!!

Totally agree.

My residing negative memory of this season was not the Chelsea or Bradford debacles but the Wigan game at home. We were completely and utterly carved apart and could quite easily of ended up with an 8-0 thrashing off one of our relegation rivals.

[rob_bridge]

We signed Pires because we had a horrendous injury situation, and the transfer window was closed, meaning we could only sign unattached players.

I don't really understand people getting their knickers in a twist about that. If we'd signed someone for actual money at that age and given them a contract beyond the end of the season, then maybe, but it was a pretty sensible move to be able to get another body in when we were pretty desperate.

Did he play for free? I certainly don't recall that - therefore he DID cost money.. I believe he was hanging around the mighty Crawley Town prior to having an additional 6 month pension top up at Villa.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Hope we pull it off tonight but I’m very worried. To be honest, it feels a bit “emperor’s new clothes” to me, this project we’re talking about. I haven’t seen a project developing this season, I’ve seen us struggle with formations, brittle when we concede, using players who have been completely out of their depth in some games, unable to play for 90 minutes, totally and utterly dependent on a single player, who we spent far too much time trying to lump the ball to and without whom we would certainly already have been relegated already. If that’s a project then we need to start looking again at the project manager.

There, said it. Please let me be wrong again....

Now let’s have a fucking scrap against Sunderland tonight and see who wants to stop up the most.

Come on me Villa babbies!!!

Totally agree.

My residing negative memory of this season was not the Chelsea or Bradford debacles but the Wigan game at home. We were completely and utterly carved apart and could quite easily of ended up with an 8-0 thrashing off one of our relegation rivals.

All of the above ...

[Merv]

 if Lambert says we are following some sort of Dortmund project then that's fine by me, but lets face it we are a million miles away at the moment, but you have to start somewhere, and I believe the foundations are being laid down

You're right. Rebuilding like Dortmund appears a long, long way right now but that's because we've just seen Dortmund rip Real Madrid apart and are on the verge on the CL final. Rewind back a few years, when they were 24 hrs from going under, had just missed relegation from the Bundesliga, and you'll see where they started from. They've gone through some very difficult times. Everyone is hailing Jurgen Klopp as a coaching genius - actually, that's worthy praise - but when Dortmund hired him, all he'd done was take Mainz to promotion and been overlooked by one or two other Bundesliga clubs after an interview process. Once apparently, because he turned up for interview in a tracksuit, not a suit (brilliant). I've read when he started at Dortmund, his salary was lower than he was earning at Mainz.

Dortmund are committed to their structure, too - so they'll still lose their best players to higher bidders (Gotze) but will continue to rebuild within their means. They've realised the hard way that spending recklessly wasn't getting them anyway, and this is a better way. Villa are trying to do the same, this process is painful to watch, but we may (hopefully) come out stronger the other side eventually.

[paul_e]

1 more point, I'm fed up of seeing people type that we're 'relying on other teams to stay up' - no we're not, if we win the next 4 there is absolutely no chance we can go down, the same, technically, is true of Wigan as they have to play us, so as things stand there is no side in the race that is relying on other teams results at this point.