Is this what transition looks like?

[Ads]

I have a suspicion we might be hunkering down to grind our way to a position of safety come February time, before springing to life with a more expansive game. I think Lambert is desperate for the players to avoid a brush with relegation.

[not3bad]

The players realise I think, that the no. 1 target for this season is to avoid a relegation battle.  As long as they know we're mid table and on target to accomplish this, there are games they may drift through, such as happened on Saturday.  Assuming a mid table finish is achieved, then next season they need to do better in order to keep the impovement going.

For this season, I only hope they can rouse themselves to try and give us a decent cup run.  I pay to be entertained.

[Matt Collins]

I have a suspicion we might be hunkering down to grind our way to a position of safety come February time, before springing to life with a more expansive game. I think Lambert is desperate for the players to avoid a brush with relegation.

I agree with this. But i hoped that after our run of very hard fixtures we'd open up against some of the weaker sides.

[Dante Lavelli]

Once Given, Bent, Ireland and Nzogbia all leave we've got another ~£250k a week to play with which will help immensely.

Ireland = contract expires this season
How many more years have Hutton, Nzog, Given and Bent got?

The drop in wages could coincide with a Benteke sized transfer "war chest".  It'll be interest to see what and how Lambert has planned for such a spending frenzy.

[supertom]

Stan had an interview on the OS the other day. He put it far better than many of us could but he made a point that this will take time but the major thing is just how hard the players work. Because they're all in it together and working hard for the manager, there's a great foundation to build on. Our footy has been wretched at times, particularly in the last few weeks but last season we survived in some degree of style after a very difficult start. We now have a resoluteness at the back we didn't have last season and are going solidly in mid-table. We're not playing well but we're picking up points.

That for me is the major positive for me. We can work on finding the right system. We can work on improving our ball retention. The fact is we've made a lot of very basic errors and lacked composure (part youth, part tactical confusion) but these things with some work in training can improve. We've also seen that Lambert can be decisive and pro-active. But the group of players Lambert has assembled will all work themselves into the ground for him. You'd say the only one at the moment not putting the yards in is Benteke. He's our mercurial talent, every team can afford one player who doesn't quite muck in as much, but he showed last season, when in form he will also work hard. Everyone else busts a gut for Lambert. Team spirit is fantastic. I believe that is why we're in the position we're in, despite not being able to string 5 passes together. You can work on that though, whereas if you're a manager who hasn't got a grip of your dressing room, and players giving their all, it's nigh on impossible to come back from that.

I just think patience is the key, and honestly, I've had plenty of moans myself. It is bloody hard to watch at times, but the fact is, we're getting better at picking up results. We don't look like we'll struggle this year (touch wood). It would be nice to be better at home and better at keeping the ball, but at least we are sharing the goals a bit this season and losing Benteke didn't hamper us too much. There's a long way to go, but as long as Lambert keeps the same spirit and fine tunes the rest of our game, we'll be comfortably in the top half every year.

We might look at this season and think we look a little similar to McLeish's side initially (before it went downhill for him). Players did work quite hard for him compared to Houllier, but the difference was he still had a lot of overpaid players who didn't do enough. When push came to shove we ran out of fight and McLeish didn't appear to have the dressing room from Feb onward, in the same way as earlier in his season (when new manager effect was still there).
Houllier was something of a man management disaster too. Lots of O Neill cast offs who never gave 100% for him. We suffered because of it, despite his good ideas and intentions.

I don't think you can put a price on how hard Lambert's group works for him. We can also see the benefit of his approach to the squad he inherited. He very quickly identified who was going to give this club 110% and who wasn't. The outgoings so far and the bomb squad largely reflect that. In the case of Given that's more a financial thing. Again, he's past his best of course so we can't warrant the wages. Everyone that Lambert calls upon earns their money. They're paid sensibly and they work hard when they come in. As out of his depth as JB is, you can't fault his effort. If we can add more good quality to the general good attitude of our squad I think we'll be a good side in a year or two. As others have said once Bent, Ireland, Zogbia etc are gone, we then able to speculate a little more, but Lambert undoubtedly will spend any extra on players who will give everything.

[dave.woodhall]

James Nursey said it in that piece last week - "quietly confident". That's the impression I was getting even in the really bad times last season. Whether it's justified or just wishful thinking only time will tell but right this minute we look a hard team to beat and one who will never stop battling.

[ozzjim]

This time last season:

Aston Villa   14   3   4   7   11   22   -11   13 Position 17th

Right now...
 
Aston Villa   14   5   4   5   16   16   0   19 Position 10th

Scored 5 more, conceded 5 less, 6 points better off and Benteke has been injured and out of form since the 5th game of the season, and many of the players have struggled for form.

I would say given the wage and finance, Lambert is doing a pretty good job this season so far.

[supertom]

Obviously it may not happen like this, but if players start hitting form, particularly Benteke, we could get even better. A lot depends on Vlaar though. I think he's been our key man this season and the big difference from last term. His form has been a hell of a lot better and he's also helped bring the best out of Clark. I hope he's not out too long, and furthermore, hopefully he can stay injury free beyond that. I'd seriously be considering an experienced center back in January to give us another option. Baker worries me a lot. Clark and Baker together, minus a chaperone is frightening. As much as Clark has been brilliant, if he's the senior man in the backline and is the one having to worry about what the other 3 are doing, I'm not sure he can do that and remain as concentrated in his own game as he has been. I might be wrong, but we may start seeing the Clark of last season.

Playing badly and picking up results is good though. As Soton showed too. Possession and nice passing means nothing without penetration. We won a game with less than 30% possession.

[pauliewalnuts]

James Nursey said it in that piece last week - "quietly confident". That's the impression I was getting even in the really bad times last season. Whether it's justified or just wishful thinking only time will tell but right this minute we look a hard team to beat and one who will never stop battling.

We had a prolonged, very poor spell last season.

It's hard to look at recent performances - not results, performances - and not conclude that we're not playing well currently. I know the argument about only one statistic counting (with ref to the Soton game) and it's true, but the fact is, if we continue to pass that badly (less than 50% of our passes completed last night - the lowest of any team in any match in the five major European leagues this season), then we are going to struggle to produce our best form.

Having said that, though, if this really is a bad patch, we seem to be picking up plenty of points.

If we go on to improve this season, I'd rather we launched that from our current berth of 10th than from 17th or wherever we were prior to improving last year.

We've clearly improved considerably in areas where we were weak last year - we defend better, we are far more resilient, we don't let our heads drop if we concede. To counterbalance that, our passing is significantly worse, as is our ball retention and we look blunter up front.

If we can improve those areas where we have struggled in this current spell (and there's no reason why we shouldn't - look at some of our early season performances) then I think we could have a very decent second half of the season.

[OCD]

I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong but I don't think we've dropped any points whenever we've taken the lead. This can be cantered by the number of slow starts we've had and we've had to chase the game to get any points. Either way, the team spirit to come back or the ability to hold onto what we have are very good building blocks to future success.

[not3bad]

The latest from James Nursey:

Paul Lambert's quiet revolution at Aston Villa is built on investing in individuals and giving them a chance

A stunning 3-2 away win at Southampton means Aston Villa fans and neutrals are starting to wake up to Paul Lambert's quiet revolution. I wrote last week how I have been impressed with Villa's steady - if unspectacular - progress under the Scot despite not spending big. He has assembled a competitive, promising side on the cheap with a good future ahead of them collectively and individually.

But it is only when you get an impressive win that the majority of people probably start to acknowledge Villa's progress. Victory on the South Coast does not mean Villa are now going to definitely qualify for Europe after five games unbeaten. But they have clearly improved significantly from last season's relegation battle and various embarrassing thumpings. They currently stand 10th and have 19 points from 14 games which is a decent haul given they came 15th last term with 41.

I am enjoying watching the likes of Ashley Westwood, Fabian Delph, Leandro Bacuna, Karim El Ahmadi, Ron Vlaar and Co improve from week to week. Their steps - or strides in the case of Brad Guzan and Christian Benteke last season - gives Villa genuine hope for the future. The players deserve respect for their efforts but Lambert is the key to encouraging them to flourish.

Lambert recently gave a rare glimpse behind the mask as to what really makes him tick. The usually deadpan manager usually tries to give as little away as possible in his dry press conferences on camera.
He certainly never reveals his methods. He even went to watch a club train abroad recently in the international break but refused to name who it was despite being repeatedly asked!

Yet last week he was talking up Westwood to the press (probably to deliberately boost the midfielder's belief and confidence) and in a lengthy discussion he casually mentioned: "I get great enjoyment seeing players each do well for themselves, not just Westy.

"I get great enjoyment seeing the lads make a name for themselves and trying to achieve something." It occurred to me this is surely the principle of Lambert's management. Because by putting the emphasis on individuals to better themselves and improve, the net result is the whole team therefore improves too.

That is what we saw at Norwich where he guided the Canaries from League One into the Premier League - and kept them there. As a result dedicated pros like Russell Martin are now well-paid top-flight players and internationals, who otherwise might have been languishing in the lower leagues had they not got a break. It also helps explain why Lambert takes players whether from abroad or lower down the leagues and gives them a platform to better themselves.

The consequence is then usually a win/win scenario with the player improving, earning more, playing high up the leagues and Lambert's side improving too. I believe that is what we are witnessing at Villa this season where Lambert's collection of "humble" players - a quality he likes to emphasise - are continuing to grow. Their resulting loyalty and hunger also means they have a strong stomach for a fight as underlined recently at the likes of West Brom and Saints.

I am not getting carried away as creditable top-flight finish of somewhere between eighth and 12th remains what is realistic and what I always expected this term. There is still work to be done of course to rectify the home form. And Benteke has gone off the boil but I am sure he will come good again for Villa and in the meantime other players are starting to make a name for themselves too as Lambert helps progress their careers and in turn the club - on a much cheaper, sustainable financial model.


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[PaulWinch again]

James Nursey said it in that piece last week - "quietly confident". That's the impression I was getting even in the really bad times last season. Whether it's justified or just wishful thinking only time will tell but right this minute we look a hard team to beat and one who will never stop battling.

We had a prolonged, very poor spell last season.

It's hard to look at recent performances - not results, performances - and not conclude that we're not playing well currently. I know the argument about only one statistic counting (with ref to the Soton game) and it's true, but the fact is, if we continue to pass that badly (less than 50% of our passes completed last night - the lowest of any team in any match in the five major European leagues this season), then we are going to struggle to produce our best form.

Having said that, though, if this really is a bad patch, we seem to be picking up plenty of points.

If we go on to improve this season, I'd rather we launched that from our current berth of 10th than from 17th or wherever we were prior to improving last year.

We've clearly improved considerably in areas where we were weak last year - we defend better, we are far more resilient, we don't let our heads drop if we concede. To counterbalance that, our passing is significantly worse, as is our ball retention and we look blunter up front.

If we can improve those areas where we have struggled in this current spell (and there's no reason why we shouldn't - look at some of our early season performances) then I think we could have a very decent second half of the season.

I'd say that's a pretty fair and accurate assessment. Last night was a good result, but the performance and particularly the passing weren't up to much. We showed a lot of character, but we need to start showing more than that to get sustained good results.

[supertom]

I think our passing should improve. We've seen previously that the players are capable of keeping the ball better than they have done. It's all very basic errors. 5 yard passes going astray. We just need to calm it down a bit sometimes and just show some composure. Part of our problem has been Westwoods erratic form. He was such a calming influence between feb-may. Always available, always in space and always calm on the ball and rarely wasted it. I've seen more aggression and more running from him this season, which has been good (aside from a patch earlier when he seemed intent on getting sent off), but we need him back to his composed best. He is however, starting to improve. Westwood earlier this season seemed to be hiding a bit. He's now getting a bit more confidence back and making himself available again. Hopefully with that his passing and our passing will improve.

KEA frustrates the hell out of me. He's got some quality. He's shown at times some nous and makes good runs in the box. If we pick him out more, he could perhaps score half a dozen goals this season. He's also good a bit of quality in the final third, as his cross showed. But he's got to stop going missing in games. You'd barely know he was playing for 90% of the last couple of games.

[SoccerHQ]

I have to say it's great we're in the top 10 despite our front trio largely misfiring since August. Shows there are more strings to our bow than just Benteke winning us games every week as seemed the case for the last 3 months of last season.

Defensively we're I think 7th in the league and that's from having a tough run although it could all go wrong if Ron's out for a while.

Really this team is maturing and is beginning to develop some good mental strength, I thought we held out in injury time reasonably comfortably last night which has been a major issue previously.

Just need a bit more flair in there now.

[PaulWinch again]

I think my biggest concern is that we haven't played well for a while now. We have managed to get some results, but we've not played anywhere near the standard we reached at times last year. Lambert needs to address this or results like today won't be an isolated incident.