How would you feel....

[Richard]

I think bentekes last goal for us was from one of those floaty corner things but as previously stated it's not a tactic that works much...talking of corners and poor tactics it drives me mad to see us defend them with all 11 back and no outlet like gabby if we clear the ball

[SoccerHQ]

Yes our now departed friend on VT said Benteke liked the corners to come in like that. He did score a few last season against Reading and Sunderland and Newcastle this from them but really they are much more difficult to score from and easier to defend for the opposition.

[Monty]

Also, we continued to float them in when Benteke was injured, which makes no sense.

[Olof's Beard]

I suspect that because we did score a couple of goals from them last season, the team and coaching staff have decided it's definitely the way to take a corner, with no hint of variation.

[TonyD]

Yesterday was a new low and I would have been happy if he went.  The reality is that he will be staying so we need to see who arrives this month to improve the team.    Stay cool. 

[eastie]

Yes our now departed friend on VT said Benteke liked the corners to come in like that. He did score a few last season against Reading and Sunderland and Newcastle this from them but really they are much more difficult to score from and easier to defend for the opposition.

Departed? Has hairyhands hung up his gloves?

[Fergal]

Having had chance to calm down and think about things with a slightly clearer head I don't think that Lambert is a shit manager.  I think he is a manager who is unable to do the job within the constraints he is working under, the inability to get quality players in with our current wage structure is not his fault.  The fault lies with what happened to the club in the previous few seasons.
I think Lambert could succeed and be a good manager for us if he is given the tools to do the job.  He was a good manager at Norwich and didn't become a poor manager overnight.  As for his tactics and decisions I don't think it matters who you play where and because the players are just not good enough.   You can see he is a man under immense pressure and any man under that kind of stress will make mistakes.
Randy needs to give him the money to sort us out short term allowing him to build for the long term or sack him and find this mythical manager who can turn us into a decent Premiership outfit on a shoestring.
As I see it we are realistically 8 or 9 players away from having a Premiership quality squad.
Randy needs to make a decision to run us like a premier club, be happy with a decent yo yo championship team or sell up and move on to his next project.

[Pete3206]

Lambert couldn't organise a football team to beat a lowly League 1 side. For me, Sheff U had us sussed very early on in the game and that has to be a worry.

[pauliewalnuts]

even between December and March our record was

P14
W 2
D4
L8
Pts 10

Indeed, 10 points from 42 suggests a truly pisspoor run of form.

That horrible christmas wasn't just about those three games, it shattered our confidence and the run of matches in the early part of the year was desperate.

[john e]

Lambert couldn't organise a football team to beat a lowly League 1 side. For me, Sheff U had us sussed very early on in the game and that has to be a worry.

It's amazing he ever got a league one side all the way to the prem

[supertom]

Lamberts problem too has been that he wants us playing in a certain way but he's not bought in the correct players to do that. Bacuna for example is a player I like because of his workrate, but his best attributes are physical ones, like pace and stamina. In terms of technical ability his dribbling is poor and so is his touch. He's very similar to Reo-Coker, possibly without that certain arrogance that helped Coker get so far. The only difference being that Bacuna can pull off a Beckham-esque freekick every now and again.
We've signed other midfielders who don't have very good ball control either. KEA is mediocre to say the least. Westwood is a tidy player but offers very little offensively and defensively, whilst lacking in mobility and fine close control. He's a poor mans Carrick.
Tonev is bloody awful. No touch, he can't run with the ball, his delivery is wayward 9 times out of 10. He just happens to be quick and have a powerful shot (which is useless if it misses the target most times).
Luna is an attacking Spanish fullback. You'd think he'd be brilliant with a ball at his feet, but that's not the case. Defensively too, he's awful. Sylla likewise. Great athlete, poor footballer.
Delph is far and away our best midfielder, but even he's a pretty average footballer in terms of technical ability.

If we wanted to play, like Swansea for example, we're not even close to being equipped in midfield to do so. This is down to who Lamberts buying. If we're going to take cheap punts, then we should be looking at younger players who have excellent technique. If they're not physically quite up to it, that can be more easily worked on. The problem is, I'm not sure how much better some of these signings will actually get because a lot of the base skills needed at this level, just aren't there.

Defour and Hoolahan would be a marked improvement in technique for our midfield, if we could get both. Even so, Hoolahan is only average, but that is still an improvement for us.

If he wants us playing better football, he needs to buy better footballers.
If he wants us to have a side that runs around a lot for 90 minutes, then he can carry on as he is, but that's not doing much for us.

The thing is, if you want a player who's physically able to compete at this level, WITH some footballing quality to boot, short of a lot of luck, you'll be paying a fair wedge.
But thus far, predominantly, Lambert has opted for runners over footballers and that's a large part of why we're struggling to keep the ball well, even before you factor in tactical ineptitude.

[brontebilly]

Having had chance to calm down and think about things with a slightly clearer head I don't think that Lambert is a shit manager.  I think he is a manager who is unable to do the job within the constraints he is working under, the inability to get quality players in with our current wage structure is not his fault.  The fault lies with what happened to the club in the previous few seasons.
I think Lambert could succeed and be a good manager for us if he is given the tools to do the job.  He was a good manager at Norwich and didn't become a poor manager overnight.  As for his tactics and decisions I don't think it matters who you play where and because the players are just not good enough.   You can see he is a man under immense pressure and any man under that kind of stress will make mistakes.
Randy needs to give him the money to sort us out short term allowing him to build for the long term or sack him and find this mythical manager who can turn us into a decent Premiership outfit on a shoestring.
As I see it we are realistically 8 or 9 players away from having a Premiership quality squad.
Randy needs to make a decision to run us like a premier club, be happy with a decent yo yo championship team or sell up and move on to his next project.

agreed on lerner but the side looks incredibly badly coached too.

throw ins are the cause celebres at the moment but corners, everything really is just pathetic.

lambert is having a nightmare this season imo and it all started with his antics in the summer.

[eastie]

Lambert couldn't organise a football team to beat a lowly League 1 side. For me, Sheff U had us sussed very early on in the game and that has to be a worry.

It's amazing he ever got a league one side all the way to the prem

Norwich were a big club in league one and you'd expect them to get promotion - there have been several managers who have won promotion and then slipped down the divisions - phil brown, Owen coyle, paul Jewell, billy Davies, Ian dowie, to name a few - I thought lambert might be the right man for villa but I have seen more than enough to admit I was wrong - he will never get a club as big as villa again .

[supertom]

Lambert couldn't organise a football team to beat a lowly League 1 side. For me, Sheff U had us sussed very early on in the game and that has to be a worry.

It's amazing he ever got a league one side all the way to the prem

Norwich were a big club in league one and you'd expect them to get promotion - there have been several managers who have won promotion and then slipped down the divisions - phil brown, Owen coyle, paul Jewell, billy Davies, Ian dowie, to name a few - I thought lambert might be the right man for villa but I have seen more than enough to admit I was wrong - he will never get a club as big as villa again .

Honestly, I see him as someone very similar to Paul Jewell. He's punching above his weight at the moment, but eventually he'll slip down. Jewell could possibly claim to have a little more about him in terms of tactical nous too.
In 2-3 years time I don't think there's a cat in hells chance Lambert will be a Premier League manager.

[levico]

Having had chance to calm down and think about things with a slightly clearer head I don't think that Lambert is a shit manager.  I think he is a manager who is unable to do the job within the constraints he is working under, the inability to get quality players in with our current wage structure is not his fault.  The fault lies with what happened to the club in the previous few seasons.
I think Lambert could succeed and be a good manager for us if he is given the tools to do the job.  He was a good manager at Norwich and didn't become a poor manager overnight.  As for his tactics and decisions I don't think it matters who you play where and because the players are just not good enough.   You can see he is a man under immense pressure and any man under that kind of stress will make mistakes.
Randy needs to give him the money to sort us out short term allowing him to build for the long term or sack him and find this mythical manager who can turn us into a decent Premiership outfit on a shoestring.
As I see it we are realistically 8 or 9 players away from having a Premiership quality squad.
Randy needs to make a decision to run us like a premier club, be happy with a decent yo yo championship team or sell up and move on to his next project.

agreed on lerner but the side looks incredibly badly coached too.

throw ins are the cause celebres at the moment but corners, everything really is just pathetic.

lambert is having a nightmare this season imo and it all started with his antics in the summer.

Agreed. Randy has already given Lambert money and he's largely wasted it. A more astute owner would look for another manager before further investment.