How would you feel....

[Isa]

and in terms of goalscoring he's largely been vindicated in that.  However losing a player who was one of the best strikers in europe to injury and/or bad form would harm pretty much any team unless someone else steps up and plays beyond expectations for a while.  The issue is Gabby and Weimann have both had niggles and struggled to have an impact as well.

I wasn't having a pop at Kozak to be clear. My point was that he was signed Kozak so we were not so reliant on Benteke and could play a similar system without him. Our atrocious football cannot simply be excused due to Benteke losing form and even if this is the reason, then it is Lambert's fault for allowing us to effectively become a one-man team.

Very simplistic, we all know that it can take players months to adapt to English football and so to expect him to step straight in and perform is unrealistic.

Injuries have killed us really, as we've had no consistency in election and new signings have had had little time to acclimatise. I know all sides have them but we have been particularly unfortunate this season.

Can injuries really be blamed for us not even being capable of stringing a couple of passes together? Didn't Lambert choose to spend his budget on a bunch of squad fillers precisely so we could cope with injuries?

[Pat McMahon]

Lambert went for the youth option, getting rid of a bunch of the older players and then intending to use the rest whilst the youngsters got up to speed.  Unfortunately those senior players let us down again and it was the kids who kept us in the league.

I think they went down that route as it's cheaper than buying proper first team players. This "young and hungry" thing is just a clever way of saying we're doing things on the cheap.

Since when was it necessary to add the word 'hungry' into the equation, its as if the young players which have been brought in are somehow hungrier than other young players who play for other clubs; its total bullsh*t.

See: Warnock, Stephen; Dunne, Richard; Collins, James; Ireland, Stephen vol. I-XX.

All of whom - except Ireland - were good for us in the season in which they signed. Subsequent managers didn't get anything out of them.

[Monty]

Lambert went for the youth option, getting rid of a bunch of the older players and then intending to use the rest whilst the youngsters got up to speed.  Unfortunately those senior players let us down again and it was the kids who kept us in the league.

I think they went down that route as it's cheaper than buying proper first team players. This "young and hungry" thing is just a clever way of saying we're doing things on the cheap.

Since when was it necessary to add the word 'hungry' into the equation, its as if the young players which have been brought in are somehow hungrier than other young players who play for other clubs; its total bullsh*t.

See: Warnock, Stephen; Dunne, Richard; Collins, James; Ireland, Stephen vol. I-XX.

All of whom - except Ireland - were good for us in the season in which they signed. Subsequent managers didn't get anything out of them.

Their form notwithstanding, it was quite clear that none of them could give a shit about the club for a good two years.

[Ads]

The club was held in contempt. Warnock hated us as supporters too, the Socuse ******.

[David_Nab]

Wigan had players like Boyce playing nice football and hardly spent alot either so certainly there is a case to say the coaching isn't up to scratch.

[PaulWinch again]

It's not just injuries at all, coaching plays a massive part in it. We don't appear to have a clue how to move off the ball and create space and I know that's been the case for a long time but it's just ridiculous.

[eastie]

It's not just injuries at all, coaching plays a massive part in it. We don't appear to have a clue how to move off the ball and create space and I know that's been the case for a long time but it's just ridiculous.

Lets be honest we have been woeful at home for months even when we had most players fit .
The injuries clearly have had an effect on our defence , but as a team we are weak in midfield and on the offensive too.

[Monty]

Wigan had players like Boyce playing nice football and hardly spent alot either so certainly there is a case to say the coaching isn't up to scratch.

This is much more my concern. Martinez, Rodgers, even Adkins and definitely Pochettino all get their teams to play passing football, and presumably that's down to a lot of obsessive training. I don't know what we do in training sessions, but I'm guessing it isn't the same as those teams.

[ez]

Lose the next two games and he wil go. 

I can't see him going if we lost the next 5 to be honest , I would dispense with his services if we did lose the next 2 home games but I really can't see randy lerner sacking him 

I want him to stay but no points from the next two games at home could bring change. 

Lets face it if that happens he should be sacked.

If he lost the next 2, even in the pro keeping him stable, with Sunderland away, Arsenal home and Liverpool away the next 3, it would be really bleak. It would also end the argument that despite performances we have improved points wise, as 4 points from those 2 home games would give us a cushion on last seasons tally to the tune of about 5.

As much as I like him, lose them both and I could totally understand the chairman pulling the trigger. It would be 5 straight defeats, 4 of which you would have expected us to compete for points in and United in their worst state for 20 years.

It's unthinkable to lose both but If we did I expect he would offer to walk. At the moment we are only one point better off than last season and falling, supposedly with a better squad than last season.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Wigan had players like Boyce playing nice football and hardly spent alot either so certainly there is a case to say the coaching isn't up to scratch.

This is much more my concern. Martinez, Rodgers, even Adkins and definitely Pochettino all get their teams to play passing football, and presumably that's down to a lot of obsessive training. I don't know what we do in training sessions, but I'm guessing it isn't the same as those teams.

Lambert can have us play like that. He did last season I fondly remember the "We are Aston Villa, we are passing the ball!" chant at West Ham.

He is a very changeable manager, I expect us to go through a phase of playing a possession style game again this season.

[Monty]

Wigan had players like Boyce playing nice football and hardly spent alot either so certainly there is a case to say the coaching isn't up to scratch.

This is much more my concern. Martinez, Rodgers, even Adkins and definitely Pochettino all get their teams to play passing football, and presumably that's down to a lot of obsessive training. I don't know what we do in training sessions, but I'm guessing it isn't the same as those teams.

Lambert can have us play like that. He did last season I fondly remember the "We are Aston Villa, we are passing the ball!" chant at West Ham.

He is a very changeable manager, I expect us to go through a phase of playing a possession style game again this season.

That changeability is a kind of worry though. This kind of football has to be reinforced by constant practice, like any skill at its top level. Lambert's versatility is a weakness here - being so reactive often makes us look as though, when we have to be proactive and force the issue, we don't have a plan at all. It looks aimless.

[glasses]

We pass the ball to feet in areas of the pitch where it doesn't really matter ever so well.

What we don't do is pass the ball into space, or even make runs into space for the ball to be passed into in the important areas of the pitch. We don't have (enough) players who move forward with the ball to attack, or even move with it at all in some cases.

I am not of the opinion that Lambert has had us playing good football this season at all. If it's his coaching methods, or coaching team, either he needs to change something in his approach, or i feel he will be changed fairly soon.

[supertom]

You cannot excuse a player, playing professionally, whether 17 or 40, consistently fucking up 5-10 yard passes, which our players regularly do. It's not that they're bad players, but they're lacking composure. Composure can come from experience, and it can also come from confidence, which in itself can come from having a clear game plan, and being well drilled, which often, we are not. We're getting by on pure effort alone at the moment, and no small amount of fortune, which in the last 3 games appears to have run out.

Lambert isn't getting on top of these glaring, basic errors. We gift the opposition the ball and attacking momentum far too easily. In possession the off the ball movement of our players is utterly woeful. The player in possession often has no option but to take a hopeful punt long.

Likewise we're particularly weak in midfield and attack in terms of technical ability. This doesn't help us either. I don't think we have anyone in midfield or attack (bar Benteke on form, and possibly Helenius) who has a really good first touch. Some of them are shockingly poor. Likewise running with the ball is a skill. Delph is okay, as is Albrighton, but the rest aren't great. Bacuna looks like he's playing with a live grenade, and Tonevs touch and close dribbling are some of the worst I've ever seen at this level in a Villa shirt.
That comes down to the managers purchases right there. He claims he wants us to play good football, but for that you need a midfield with some technical ability. Players who can control it, dribble comfortably with it, have an eye for a pass and the ability to find pockets of space. Currently we're desperately lacking.

Sorting our midfield (which we've been saying since Lambert took over) will go along way to also improving our attack and tightening our defense. We need more balance and more quality. A couple of players in Jan would be good. A good deep lying player and a good number 10.
And a wideman.
And a couple of decent fullbacks.
And a center half (a loan from Jan-May would do).

So not too much required!  But sort most of that out in the next 2 windows and we'll be a lot better. If you consider Bent, Hutton, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Delfouneso and Given will likely all be gone, that's 6 players out. 4-5 good quality additions in place and we look a more solid squad. We need first 11 quality though.

[Matt Collins]

It's not just injuries at all, coaching plays a massive part in it. We don't appear to have a clue how to move off the ball and create space and I know that's been the case for a long time but it's just ridiculous.

But don't you think there were spells at the back end of last season where - for the first time since God knows when, possibly O'Leary's first season - we actually did start to pass the ball properly, and move off it, and play in triangles, and actually look like pleasing on the eye when in possession (rather than when breaking)?

That's my most disappointing thing this season. I know we're not going to be anywhere near the top eight, but I thought I'd enjoy watching us this season. I really haven't.

I read an apposite comment recently that even when we've won this season, it's almost happened by accident. It certainly felt like that against Southampton and Citeh.

[PaulWinch again]

It's not just injuries at all, coaching plays a massive part in it. We don't appear to have a clue how to move off the ball and create space and I know that's been the case for a long time but it's just ridiculous.

But don't you think there were spells at the back end of last season where - for the first time since God knows when, possibly O'Leary's first season - we actually did start to pass the ball properly, and move off it, and play in triangles, and actually look like pleasing on the eye when in possession (rather than when breaking)?

That's my most disappointing thing this season. I know we're not going to be anywhere near the top eight, but I thought I'd enjoy watching us this season. I really haven't.

I read an apposite comment recently that even when we've won this season, it's almost happened by accident. It certainly felt like that against Southampton and Citeh.

I completely agree, I don't know what's happened. One of the redeeming aspects of last season was we scored some lovely goals.