Stoke City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[eastie]

While I wish al Aston Villa fans a Merry Merry Christmas, as you are not one of us Lambert I hope yours stinks

A dreadful comment. Paul Lambert deserves a very good Christmas just like  the rest of us. It's only football FFS.

Yes , things are not good but that's over the top .

[villan from luton]

As I said no offence intended , but your comment that you thought we'd survive still made me think maybe thats ok at the Albion but  we are hoping for a bit more than that - sorry if it came across as being arrogant .

I noticed you didn't pop on here after our win at southampton a fortnight ago  by the way .

I mentioned the surviving part because it's something I've seen from a number of Villa fans who think relegation is a concern when it isn't.

I was on here when you beat Southampton but I didn't feel the need to post - what that has to do with it I don't know.

We fluked the win at Southampton, think your comments were balanced and certainly not intended to offend anyone

[olaftab]

If relegation is part of being a work in progress I'd rather not get real, thanks.

OK what's your plan in that case?
We are 6 points above relegation zone even having lost 3 games on the trot so I again suggest get real.

[Des Little]

Let's not get carried away. It's not great but it could be much worse. If we turn the new year having not got at least 5 points from the 9 on offer then we have cause to be concerned. Until then, keep the faith.

[PeterWithesShin]

Crap result. No idea how we played as haven't seen or heard anything apart from the score.

[supertom]

Guzan
Vlaar
Okore
Delph
Gabby
Benteke

Those for me are good enough to be in a Prem first 11 every week (some more so than others) in the Prem League. And currently we're missing 4 from injury, while only Guzan from that lot are currently in some sort of form. Even Delph has been well off the boil in recent weeks.

Clark, Albrighton, perhaps Lowton, Kozak and Weimann, good enough for a Prem bench/rotation role.

Everyone else I think are the worst selection we've had in my 23 years as a fan, by a long, long way. I don't really rate any of the others at this level. Not by a long shot. They're not ready now, and in some cases, I don't think they ever will be.

We need decent signings. We need to give some of the youth players like Johnson, Robinson, Grealish etc a go too.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

There's pretty much no escaping the fact that if you fill a squad with underwhelming players, you end up with an underwhelming team.

Why is it that so many lower league teams are able to freely pass the ball around, build and play as a team, defend as a unit, create goalscoring opportunities at will though they're filled with "underwelming players"?

I'll say it again, I don't think our problem is a squad filled with "underwelming players", there's plenty of talent there as we've seen from all of them at some stage. The problem is finding somebody that can develop that potential and get them playing together as a team.

[eastie]

If relegation is part of being a work in progress I'd rather not get real, thanks.

OK what's your plan in that case?
We are 6 points above relegation zone even having lost 3 games on the trot so I again suggest get real.

I hope those words don't bite you on the bum in the next week or so aftab.

[Ian.]

Looking at what we pay for players and what we pay them I think our position in the league flatters us.

I think for a manager to find 2 or 3 diamonds from the lower leagues is borderline genius. We are expecting him to do this as well as gel them into a team which is generally made up from our academy which makes it near on impossible.

And we're asking him to play more exciting football than we have done for a decade. And, for a few months either side of the season break, he actually succeeded. There are a lot of problems with us at the moment, but it's not been all bad.

Not at all, but its on a lull now and I really hope it does not hit the heights of the lull last season. It's so frustrating because there is or was a good team being developed there at one point.

[SoccerHQ]

Haven't read through the previous 18 pages yet so will add my comments without being influenced by other opinions:

I didn't actually think we were that bad today, we've certainly played worse up at Stoke in recent years and for a team obviously lacking in confidence in the final third and in defence it was a decent effort.

Just depressing that a) we've decided to go on a shite run again over xmas and b) as soon as we equalised Stoke stepped it up and scored what for them is a free flowing move. The top teams do that, not a bog standard mid table team.

What's the general view on the Wilson challenge? I was up the other end but he looked last man to me, that would've changed things.

Really we missed the core players today, maybe not Benteke as Kozak had his best game for us today and is coming on well but Gabby and Vlaar were huge misses. When we have a limited squad we can't really afford to have more than one key player missing at a time.

Highlight of my game was blowing my nose during the second half and a gust of wind took the handkerchief  away from my hand. It eventually landed 2 feet from Lambert in the technical area.

Finally it's a waste of time us getting these shock results isn't it? Beat Arsenal first game, everyone gets excited and what happened....we lost the next three. We beat Man. City and didn't score for 4 games and an unexpected win at Southampton has again lead to 3 defeats.

We simply need to beat Palace otherwise Lambert will start to get a bit of stick I feel from the terraces. Certainly now we're losing away we need to pick up at home otherwise we'll be plummeting down the table.

[curlytailavfc]

50 years ive been going to villa park i see one real problem the feckin owner tight fisted yankee twat came here with great intentions but words mean jack

[eastie]

Crap result. No idea how we played as haven't seen or heard anything apart from the score.

A wise man indeed.

[TheTimVilla]

If we sack Lambert, we bring in somebody who will change the squad, start again, etc.

We've got to stick with him, but please would someone tell him that 4-3-3 is bollocks.

Palace lost three nil today, they're playing us next, to quote David Coleman, 'what happened next?'. We're gonna fucking balls it up again. Zero points from three games is simply not good enough.

In Lerner terms, we're stuck with Lambert, so I just hope it works out...

[olaftab]

I hope those words don't bite you on the bum in the next week or so aftab.

I am closing my eyes and sticking plugs in my ears. Everything will be OK

[Liam_Baggies]

I don't think this is the time, Liam, to be honest.

Why?

I'm actually defending Paul Lambert and your players here!

Is it the results or the lack of entertainment which is a problem for some of you? I know my mate feels there is very little entertainment value.

Having seen some of your games recently, I think you're crying out for an experienced player in the middle of the park. A person for those younger players in the side to turn too when the chips are down as well as being able to use the ball effectively - Sylla and Delph, from what I've seen are forever playing in first gear - there comes a time when a side needs a steady eddie and an old head.