Stoke City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[eastie]

Tonev - 2. The rest were playing football, what were you doing?

Are you sure they were?

[pauliewalnuts]

uld have made given the spending limitations.

I don't think he's doing a very good job and has had a lot of tolerance from the supporters.  But changing him out wouldn't work in my opinion as someone else comes through the revolving door with the same constraints.

If whoever we replaced him with is going to have to work to that same wage structure and budget, then there's really no point ever getting rid of him, because it won't ever get better.

In fact, what will happen is we'll bob along - like a larger version of Wigan - for a few years, clinging on and then get relegated, because, whoever the manager is, we are going to have to start to buy players from a level better than those we have at the moment, and pretty quickly, too.

[Legion]

Reaction to a Tonev shot:

[mr underhill]

we've created the perfect storm here. no real investment, no real direction, no real ambition, no real players and no real manager. What is it going to take to break the cycle of non reality? My guess is that even relegation wouldn't result in a  managerial change

[eastie]

uld have made given the spending limitations.

I don't think he's doing a very good job and has had a lot of tolerance from the supporters.  But changing him out wouldn't work in my opinion as someone else comes through the revolving door with the same constraints.

If whoever we replaced him with is going to have to work to that same wage structure and budget, then there's really no point ever getting rid of him, because it won't ever get better.

In fact, what will happen is we'll bob along - like a larger version of Wigan - for a few years, clinging on and then get relegated, because, whoever the manager is, we are going to have to start to buy players from a level better than those we have at the moment, and pretty quickly, too.

But we may have better organisation , style of play and quality of football - I'd take malky mackay or glenn hoddle over lambert and his dreadful style of play.

[ChicagoLion]

My match ratings.

Guzan - 6. Points deducted for not having the guts to walk off in disgust.-sorry should have been better for both goals.
Lowton, Herd & Clark- 2. (For putting their shorts on the right way round) too generous, Lambert did it for them
Baker - 1. A lamp-post wearing football boots. Never a footballer in a million years.a lamp post has better positional sense
Delph - 4. Brainless booking yet again. Thinks he's hard, you're kidding no-one son.back too his previous seasons form
Tonev - 2. The rest were playing football, what were you doing?running and shooting wide and giving the ball away
Westwood - 3. Invisible, points awarded for last season's goal here.
Weimman - 3. Motormouth, full of running but so's a steeplechaser, as threatening as a water pistol.could not trap a bag of cement, cant pass the ball 5 yards
Kozak - 5. Scored, didn't hide, meh.beginning to like this fella at least he is trying
Albrighton -6. A reasonable display standing out as better than it was because it was surrounded by pap.

I despair. The Villa could make a grown man weep these days. Happy Christmas.

[Jon Crofts]

uld have made given the spending limitations.

I don't think he's doing a very good job and has had a lot of tolerance from the supporters.  But changing him out wouldn't work in my opinion as someone else comes through the revolving door with the same constraints.

If whoever we replaced him with is going to have to work to that same wage structure and budget, then there's really no point ever getting rid of him, because it won't ever get better.

In fact, what will happen is we'll bob along - like a larger version of Wigan - for a few years, clinging on and then get relegated, because, whoever the manager is, we are going to have to start to buy players from a level better than those we have at the moment, and pretty quickly, too.

But we may have better organisation , style of play and quality of football - I'd take malky mackay or glenn hoddle over lambert and his dreadful style of play.

Behave yourself, as bad as it is, mentioning those two as potential Villa managers?  Please.

[john2710]

Stoke were no better than us & we might just get through the season. A couple of wins & everything looks brighter again but in truth that's not good enough for Aston Villa. How the fuck did Lerner allow us to get into the position where we have a squad full championship quality players.

Danger is that, the end of season form looks about as good as it gets & the risk is Lerner / Lambert thinks we can repeat last seasons run in & fails to invest in quality.  Benteke & Gabby got us to safety & there's no way we can count on a repeat.

The last few seasons are slowly killing my love for this once proud club.

[saunders_heroes]

Reaction to a Tonev shot:

Ha!

[edgysatsuma89]

I don't get why when it's mentioned that this is worse than McBallbag, people then say 'but Lambert's not happy with playing this way, he was'. What? That makes it any better? That he can see we're shit but can't change it? If anything it makes him worse. Really baffles me, I don't give a flying fuck if Lambert's shaking his head.

[Monty]

I don't get why when it's mentioned that this is worse than McBallbag, people then say 'but Lambert's not happy with playing this way, he was'. What? That makes it any better? That he can see we're shit but can't change it? If anything it makes him worse. Really baffles me, I don't give a flying fuck if Lambert's shaking his head.

It's about hope. It has been much better under Lambert, and he at least wants it to get better than it is now. McLeish was fine with the level we were playing. If you don't see that difference then you don't see that difference, but you don't appear to 'give a flying fuck' about that.

[edgysatsuma89]

Reaction to a Tonev shot:

On a lighter note, I'm on a iphone currently, what's the easiest way for me to get this gif so I can message it? Love that gif.

[pbavfckuwait]

This is the question do we stop with the shit we have now, because no one could do anything better, maybe a manager coming in and trying to make us play football, or if the players we have are not capable playing a style we can go with, but this is just not working, the style now is no style as someone said earlier we look like a team that turns up like I use to on a Sunday morning and just wing it.

[edgysatsuma89]

I don't get why when it's mentioned that this is worse than McBallbag, people then say 'but Lambert's not happy with playing this way, he was'. What? That makes it any better? That he can see we're shit but can't change it? If anything it makes him worse. Really baffles me, I don't give a flying fuck if Lambert's shaking his head.

It's about hope. It has been much better under Lambert, and he at least wants it to get better than it is now. McLeish was fine with the level we were playing. If you don't see that difference then you don't see that difference, but you don't appear to 'give a flying fuck' about that.

I really don't see the difference personally when the football on the pitch is just as bad. 'Flying duck' comment was bit strong as I'm narked. But what does it matter what is going on in either managers head, when the performances we see are so poor? Do people think McBallbag would not want to improve? Or any manager not getting results? Of course he would, he was on the best wage he will ever get!

[Ad@m]

But this is the thing I do not understand 2 players of class, 60k a week, 6 players of crap 20k a week same outgoing, problem is with the Villa at the moment is we lack leadership on the field, leadership from the Manager and no leadership from the top echelons, in other words we are going nowhere but into a downward spiral very very quickly, pay for monkeys and you get monkeys.

The trouble with wages for footballers is that they're outside the realms of common sense so footballers judge their own salary by reference to other footballers.

During MONs reign it got to the stage where very average squad players were getting £40k a week and that's how it became unsustainable. So the club had to reset the base level and you can't do that while you still have very high earners on the payroll. Like it or not, with the likes of Given, Ireland, NZogbia, etc still in the squad (I know two of those are on loan but we'll still be paying a big chunk of their wages) we won't be able to bring decent players in on a sensible salary.

Once we've cleared the decks of the bomb squad I think you'll see a different transfer strategy. The current strategy isn't sustainable long term.

I heard today that Crouch is on £60k a week. When the bomb squad has gone our highest earner will be Benteke on £40k. Even Lerner must realise that we shouldn't be paying our highest earner 2/3rds of Stoke's highest earner in the long term.