Aston Villa v Everton Post-Match Thread

[pauliewalnuts]

But didn't Lambert suit the definition "ambitious manager" perfectly?

So how do you explain the fact he came?

Is he all that though? One season in the Prem doesn't prove he's that good. Prem league history is littered with one season wonders, and perhaps he thought he'd never get another chance at a club as big as Villa again?
It's all guesswork though.

Whether he's a good manager or not is neither here nor there, though, the question was whether an ambitious manager would have come here in the financial circumstances, not whether they're actually any good.

If you look at Lambert's profile when he came here - young manager, did very well at Colchester, did very well indeed at Norwich, got them from League One to the PL and kept them there.

That's a textbook definition of "ambitious manager" to me.

[saunders_heroes]

And I'm pretty certain when we sounded him out he asked us what sort of money he'd be working with. Obviously a polite "thanks but no thanks" would be the reply.

I doubt it got that far. He certainly wouldn't have been told how much money there would be to spend without interviewing for the job.

Like I said, Everton went years without spending money on a single player, Kenwright is far tighter with his money than Lerner.

Everton appointed him when he'd just got Wigan relegated, but had won the FA Cup for them. If we had approached him for our job a year later than we did, I think the reply would have been different.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one then because I'm convinced Villa are still a big draw for ambitious managers, but ambitious managers need realistic budgets. Something Randy Lerner is simply not providing these days.

It's well documented that Lambert stated that there was more money available than he had actually spent.It's Lamberts belief that he can build a team with young, hungry  players and not experienced ones it's the only way he knows, and no amount of Lerner bashing is going to change that I'm afraid. It's my belief that this is mostly Lamberts philosophy which Lerner is backing rightly or wrongly

I never fell for the "young and hungry" nonsense. We're in for these players because they're relatively cheap. Lukaku is young and hungry and Lambert wanted him on loan, but we couldn't afford his wages. That tells you the story.

[Irish villain]

I had planned to write a big long post tonight but I won't.

The most depressing thing for me is just how far ahead of us, clubs we always competed with, are these days.

We bitch and moan about 'sky four' 'the modern game', 'the emergence of Man City' etc but Everton and Spurs have faced the same problems and have adapted accordingly. In fact, Spurs are now among the genuine title contenders whether we like it or not. It has also happened during what was supposed to be the bright new dawn for Aston Villa, the 'Lerner era'.

Clubs like ourselves, Everton and Spurs always had poor seasons/runs of seasons and would always bounce back stronger. There was a discernible 'cycle' to things.

I just don't see that with us now. Too many things are wrong at the club and have been for some time: home form, the boardroom, the pitch.  The fundamentals aren't working. With home form like ours a team will always be looking over its shoulder at the trap door. With such a disjointed approach to manager selection/recruitment (Houllier to McLeish) you are more or less giving yourself a few lost years.

I'm rambling. The point is, where are we heading? What's the 'bounce back strategy'? What's been done to address our home form? Do we want to compete or happy to slog it out with the Fulhams of the league?

[pauliewalnuts]

I believe lambert should certainly be given more time but I get angry when people talk about randy not backing him - he has spent plenty in the 18 months he has been here and the team hasn't really improved much .

In relative terms he spent absolute peanuts on fees, and more importantly - wages.

I would say he's spent close on £40m in his 18months here - how much have swansea spent?
I think its wrong for Lerner to carry the can when the manager has bought poorly at times , lerner has backed him .

If the problem is the wage bill - which is what we have been told for years now - then it is not so much about the fact you go out and spend 40m, it is more about the fact that you're working within a strictly defined wage structure.

[Legion]

Goals

[eastie]

But didn't Lambert suit the definition "ambitious manager" perfectly?

So how do you explain the fact he came?

Is he all that though? One season in the Prem doesn't prove he's that good. Prem league history is littered with one season wonders, and perhaps he thought he'd never get another chance at a club as big as Villa again?
It's all guesswork though.

Whether he's a good manager or not is neither here nor there, though, the question was whether an ambitious manager would have come here in the financial circumstances, not whether they're actually any good.

If you look at Lambert's profile when he came here - young manager, did very well at Colchester, did very well indeed at Norwich, got them from League One to the PL and kept them there.

That's a textbook definition of "ambitious manager" to me.

Agreed , lambert fitted the bill and quit a team that had had great success under him to come here - he saw villa as a huge stepping stone and rightly so.

[Legion]

I think we've turned into a pebble.

[Matt Collins]

We've now got a run of much easier games, in principle

I'll reserve judgment till Xmas

Sounds like we should have been two up against a very good Everton side. So we must be doing something right in the creative sense

Sky sports were raving over Delph when compared to Barkley

[eastie]

We can spend all night arguing who is or isn't to blame but ultimately we must turn the corner and fast - the system at home is not working , gabby and andi are not effective out wide and we are too open to attack at home - lets hope this is addressed sooner rather than later .

Good evening all.

[supertom]

Right well after digesting that...

Absolute shite to be honest. Another pretty limp attacking display. The intent was there. We created a few decent openings but not nearly enough all told. Certainly not enough for a game at home against a decent but not great opposition. 3 shots on target isn't good enough for a home game at all.

Once again Delph is the water carrier in midfield. Westwood was found wanting again. Delph as much as I love the guy though, needs more composure when it comes to a final pass or shot. I mean the whole team just have no middle ground. It's 0-100mph when we attack. There's nothing in between. There's nothing measured, nothing considered. It's blaze at the opposition and hope that a passing move comes off but more often than not because we've only got one player with anything close to being reasonable ball control (Benteke- was off the pace today- not fit enough IMO) it peters out.

I thought our centerbacks did okay for most of the game until the final third when Everton ripped us apart.

Tonev looked lively but his delivery is all over the pace. Occasionally a decent ball comes in but it's few and far.

Weimann continues to get a large quota of our better chances in each game, and fluff his lines. In all honesty, all that fuss over the summer about him potentially leaving and his payrise. I'm not sure he's as good as some think. I think he's a pretty average player to be honest.

The amount of times we ballsed up simple five yard passes??? Shocking.

The score line might be harsh but if you don't make chances and hit the target, you get what you deserve. Evertons midfield was far, far better. Players who can pass a ball, control a ball. They had an option like Osman on the bench. He's not great, but he's a very good player. He's been around and done it and is reliable.
We're largely a team that aren't good enough to be anything else other than lower-mid table. And if you remain in that area you run the risk of being sucked into a relegation battle.

We need new players. Probably 2-3 new midfielders. Delph aside and potentially Sylla, I think the rest are gash to be honest. Not prem class and it shows.

[Steve kirk]

The home form is very worrying but I will reserve judgment on that until after the next 4 home fixtures when on paper we have more winnable matches, the lack of goals through the team is a big concern, we have a non scoring midfield unit and with 1 league goal between Gabby and Wiemann after 9 matches it puts everything onto Benteke's shoulders, I am trying not to be too despondent but it's not much fun these days, god knows how season ticket holders must be feeling.

[saunders_heroes]

But didn't Lambert suit the definition "ambitious manager" perfectly?

So how do you explain the fact he came?

Is he all that though? One season in the Prem doesn't prove he's that good. Prem league history is littered with one season wonders, and perhaps he thought he'd never get another chance at a club as big as Villa again?
It's all guesswork though.

Whether he's a good manager or not is neither here nor there, though, the question was whether an ambitious manager would have come here in the financial circumstances, not whether they're actually any good.

If you look at Lambert's profile when he came here - young manager, did very well at Colchester, did very well indeed at Norwich, got them from League One to the PL and kept them there.

That's a textbook definition of "ambitious manager" to me.

Perhaps you're right, but I don't think Lambert was our first choice. Others turned us down because of the tight budget offered by Lerner. If anything Lambert was probably brave or even daft to take the job with such restrictions.

[London Villan]

Got to say what a clever and inventive corner that was for their goal, caught us totally flat footed.

[Matt Collins]

Have we gone backwards in form since our good spell last year? Maybe in some senses.

But even in that good spell, what were our results against anyone in the top 5? Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, arsenal and citeh

L L L L L

this season we've got 6 points from the same games with Man U yet to play.

I'll say it till I'm blue in the face. Our season will go a long way to being defined by November and December, just look at our fixtures:

West ham, Cardiff, west brom, Sunderland, Southampton, Fulham, Man U, stoke, palace, Swansea

I could easily see something like 19 points from those ten games. We'd be practically safe already

We've had the hardest opening fixture list I can ever remember. It's been absolutely ridiculous.
Now we've got a great run of games, and a practically fully fit squad.

We need to improve. We need to stop shipping so many bad goals. And our fwds need to start firing. We don't know that's going to happen but there's a decent chance. And it'd be foolish to write this season off until we've seen.

[Irish villain]

Oh, and the stench of paralysis around the club these past few years has been horrific. Whole club needs a good kick up the arse.