Gotta admit, like a lot of fans on here, we were calling for PL's head a few months ago. He has most definitely proved us wrong - Considering the mess McLeish left him, along with the money problems caused by MON, he was up against it from the start. He has slowly shaped this team, picking up relatively unknown players from the lower leagues and Europe, and is starting to turn them into superstars. There is something immensely satisfying about watching this young team grow and develop, and I for one feel a huge sense of pride in this approach, over the money tossing approach of QPR, Man City, etc. I would hereby like to offer my wholehearted humble apologies Mr Lambert. I will never doubt you again.UTV
Quote from: Nii Lamptey on April 29, 2013, 11:55:42 PMGotta admit, like a lot of fans on here, we were calling for PL's head a few months ago. He has most definitely proved us wrong - Considering the mess McLeish left him, along with the money problems caused by MON, he was up against it from the start. He has slowly shaped this team, picking up relatively unknown players from the lower leagues and Europe, and is starting to turn them into superstars. There is something immensely satisfying about watching this young team grow and develop, and I for one feel a huge sense of pride in this approach, over the money tossing approach of QPR, Man City, etc. I would hereby like to offer my wholehearted humble apologies Mr Lambert. I will never doubt you again.UTVFor all the satisfaction, if we are following the Dortmund model, then inevitably we are going to have gut wrenching moments ahead when some of these guys we are watching grow are going to leave for silly money.
Quote from: ozzjim on April 30, 2013, 12:00:05 AMQuote from: Nii Lamptey on April 29, 2013, 11:55:42 PMGotta admit, like a lot of fans on here, we were calling for PL's head a few months ago. He has most definitely proved us wrong - Considering the mess McLeish left him, along with the money problems caused by MON, he was up against it from the start. He has slowly shaped this team, picking up relatively unknown players from the lower leagues and Europe, and is starting to turn them into superstars. There is something immensely satisfying about watching this young team grow and develop, and I for one feel a huge sense of pride in this approach, over the money tossing approach of QPR, Man City, etc. I would hereby like to offer my wholehearted humble apologies Mr Lambert. I will never doubt you again.UTVFor all the satisfaction, if we are following the Dortmund model, then inevitably we are going to have gut wrenching moments ahead when some of these guys we are watching grow are going to leave for silly money. So long as we use it well i can live with that. There are only a handful of clubs in the world for whom that doesn't apply once the money gets silly enough or the player is determined enough. Where things have gone wrong in the last 5 years is that we done a shit job of replacing players who we've sold for good profit. Replace them effectively and you can grow from it, but replacing young with nzogbia is just bad business (in hindsight).If Benteke goes for 30+ million (which is clearly the market value currently) use 5-10 on a replacement and the rest on replacing the likes of Hutton, Warnock and Dunne with quality. Get all 3 right and despite losing a genuine worldy we could be a much stronger squad for it, so long as the replacement striker gives us 80-90% of what Benteke offers.
I think if you were a talented youngster playing in the lower leagues watching last night, you would be pretty excited if you found out that Villa were interested in you this summer. Lambert has shown that he is willing to give young lads a go and it will give us the edge this summer if we have competition for a player's signature.
Quote from: jonzy85 on April 30, 2013, 02:20:19 PMI think if you were a talented youngster playing in the lower leagues watching last night, you would be pretty excited if you found out that Villa were interested in you this summer. Lambert has shown that he is willing to give young lads a go and it will give us the edge this summer if we have competition for a player's signature.This is an excellent point, and i'd like to think that eventually other teams will cotton on to the same strategy and some sanity might return to the transfer market. But if it doesn't, and we reap the benefits from doing it the long-term way, we'll have a very happy decade ahead.