The Paul Lambert thread - poll reset after our capitulation to Hull

[pauliewalnuts]

So, basically, because one team known for possession football which is currently doing marginally worse than us (three whole points) and have sacked their manager, that's a good indication that the way we're doing it is the right way?

What about the presence of another team who spend most of their time lumping the ball at a big man up front in the bottom three?

[olaftab]

I'm pleased about it. I may be in the minority, but I am.

There's more of us than you think.

ooough ooough ...over here

[taylorsworkrate]

So, basically, because one team known for possession football which is currently doing marginally worse than us (three whole points) and have sacked their manager, that's a good indication that the way we're doing it is the right way?

What about the presence of another team who spend most of their time lumping the ball at a big man up front in the bottom three?

You raise a good point. For all those that say we're midtable, well that's true but a bit misleading as to our still quite precarious position.

We are only 5 points away from the relegation zone and by no means in a comfortable position (not that I think we'll go down). It therefore seems odd that Lambert could be offered a lengthy new contract when we could be playing in the championship next season, and be in a position where we could not afford to sack him.

[German James]

Where does the "throw around" come into it?   In any business you have to be adequately capitalized, it is a no brainer.  We are inadequately capitalized.   That we do not have money because it has been wasted is not in question.   

Fair enough, "throw around" wasn't the right thing to say. I just fail to see where anyone thinks we're going to get the sort of investment that's going to catapult us up into the Champions League. That ship sailed when O'Neill was found out, fucked off and dropped us in it.

Lerner's quite rightly been more cautious in his spending since then - although admittedly there's cheap, then there's cheap and nasty, and then there's TSM.

Lerner could sell, but to whom? The business model he seems to be following is very different to the nouveau riche wankers at the top of the pile, but for those of us who don't think a football club should be built on a massive bubble of debt and laundered money - any more than a country should - it's a more prudent one.

It could be argued that we are already adequately capitalised, for the moment at least: there is improvement in results and occasionally in play, too. The test for me will be whether the progress (slow and sometimes painful as it is to watch) can be sustained.

[JUAN PABLO]

strange they will do this before they start selling season tickets

[brian green]

You are correct James.   It is the being so up front about our pennilessness which annoys me.   We are like a poker player who goes to the table and all the others stack up their chips and we produce from our pockets a length of used dental floss a bus ticket and four Aldis trolley tokens.   Our owner is a billionaire for goodness sake.   Just a bit of strut and swagger in our dealings would keep me happy but the haggling over £750k with bloody Norwich (or worse still the story that we were haggling over that sum even if it was not true) just makes us look like turd skinners.

[KevinGage]

Where does the "throw around" come into it?   In any business you have to be adequately capitalized, it is a no brainer.  We are inadequately capitalized.   That we do not have money because it has been wasted is not in question.   

Quite. 

The aim to be a self sustaining football club has one wee drawback at present.  Revenues weren't grown substantially enough during our (relative) time of plenty to make us competitive if we choose to go that route. 

[Toronto Villa]

Frankly it's utterly stupid that they have fired Laudrup. How are they ever going to achieve consistency or stability if at the first hint of things not going as planned they sack the manager. Like I said, Lambert has plenty of room to grow and improve, and every so often we signs that he's doing that. I'm also now even more glad that despite not everything being rosy in the garden we are looking to retain him. Laudrup won a cup and got them into european competition and he's been sacked. Madness.

[old man villa fan]

We need some quality players to come in the summer.  If we are not going to extend Lambert's contract, we may as well sack him.  With limited funds the manager has to plan for who he is going to bring in.  Without an extension to his contract, Lambert will not have the motivation to think long term.

I believe the key is to extend his contract but not tie ourselves to a long term commitment that costs a fortune.  That is providing things do not go tits up before the end of the season.  We should know by the end of next month which way it is going and that is the time to firm up on the negotiations.

[German James]

You are correct James.   It is the being so up front about our pennilessness which annoys me.   We are like a poker player who goes to the table and all the others stack up their chips and we produce from our pockets a length of used dental floss a bus ticket and four Aldis trolley tokens.   Our owner is a billionaire for goodness sake.   Just a bit of strut and swagger in our dealings would keep me happy but the haggling over £750k with bloody Norwich (or worse still the story that we were haggling over that sum even if it was not true) just makes us look like turd skinners.

I'm with you there! One of the recurring themes on here - in fact THE recurring theme - about Lerner has been his incredible inability/unwillingness to communicate with the media and the fans. I reckon a lot of potential discontent could be headed off by him coming out with the odd statement, other than those "State of the Villa" addresses every so often.

He's obviously not going to go into the details of a potential transfer deal, but rumours start because of the slightly weird communication vaccuum surrounding him. I love the sheer audacity of some of the conjecture on here, but it must undermine support if no-one's quite sure about anything.

[Ad@m]

You are correct James.   It is the being so up front about our pennilessness which annoys me.   We are like a poker player who goes to the table and all the others stack up their chips and we produce from our pockets a length of used dental floss a bus ticket and four Aldis trolley tokens.   Our owner is a billionaire for goodness sake.   Just a bit of strut and swagger in our dealings would keep me happy but the haggling over £750k with bloody Norwich (or worse still the story that we were haggling over that sum even if it was not true) just makes us look like turd skinners.

I'm with you there! One of the recurring themes on here - in fact THE recurring theme - about Lerner has been his incredible inability/unwillingness to communicate with the media and the fans. I reckon a lot of potential discontent could be headed off by him coming out with the odd statement, other than those "State of the Villa" addresses every so often.

He's obviously not going to go into the details of a potential transfer deal, but rumours start because of the slightly weird communication vaccuum surrounding him. I love the sheer audacity of some of the conjecture on here, but it must undermine support if no-one's quite sure about anything.

But how many owners do spout off in the press?  You've got a small handful who love the limelight and then there's the vast majority who are no different to Lerner.  I think some Villa fans think it's more unusual because Herbert was one of those who loved seeing his face on TV and/or name in the papers.

[achilles]

Lambert will not change, this is as good as it gets!
So potentially Villa fans have another four years of Lambert's project, thats good as its been going so well over the last 18-24 months!

[Shrek]

We now have a squad, not on stupid wages.

If we continue to spend £20 million a season, but on quality instead of quantity, we are in a good position, I'd give him a new contract.

[LTA]

Whats happened at Swansea shows the danger of trying to mimic clubs who have one season where they fly.  Two years ago, everyone was saying Newcastle were the team to copy as they'd nearly got in the CL - yet last season they almost went down.  Last year, Swansea were the "in" team, yet they've struggled to maintain that level this season - co-incidentally both sides have had the added distraction of Europe too.

As for us, we've had four years nearly of chopping and changing managers and styles of play.  We need to be stable and stick to a plan in order for it to have any chance of it flourishing.  Yes, its frustrating at the moment, but I don't see us going down.  I know the likes of WM seem insistent on spreading doom and gloom about our prospects, but there are teams in this league who are worse than us.  We also have a run of favourable games coming up, which we need to take advantage of.  We should be aiming for wins against West Ham, Cardiff and Norwich, plus a result at Newcastle (my target would be a minimum of of 8-10 points).  Get something like that, and we will have some breathing space.

More importantly, Lambert needs to try and cut out all the tinkering he does with the formation and tactics - it doesn't help when you confuse players whose confidence is brittle.

[German James]

You are correct James.   It is the being so up front about our pennilessness which annoys me.   We are like a poker player who goes to the table and all the others stack up their chips and we produce from our pockets a length of used dental floss a bus ticket and four Aldis trolley tokens.   Our owner is a billionaire for goodness sake.   Just a bit of strut and swagger in our dealings would keep me happy but the haggling over £750k with bloody Norwich (or worse still the story that we were haggling over that sum even if it was not true) just makes us look like turd skinners.

I'm with you there! One of the recurring themes on here - in fact THE recurring theme - about Lerner has been his incredible inability/unwillingness to communicate with the media and the fans. I reckon a lot of potential discontent could be headed off by him coming out with the odd statement, other than those "State of the Villa" addresses every so often.

He's obviously not going to go into the details of a potential transfer deal, but rumours start because of the slightly weird communication vaccuum surrounding him. I love the sheer audacity of some of the conjecture on here, but it must undermine support if no-one's quite sure about anything.

But how many owners do spout off in the press?  You've got a small handful who love the limelight and then there's the vast majority who are no different to Lerner.  I think some Villa fans think it's more unusual because Herbert was one of those who loved seeing his face on TV and/or name in the papers.

You're probably right... but Doug's been gone a good while now, so I'm not sure that still explains the desire for some sort of sign from the man himself.