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

[danlanza]

Before the Liverpool game, after I had parked up and heard the team, I thought to myself that we are well in with a chance here given the line up Rodgers had picked. We of course still had to play well and we did.

That is what I cannot understand, at all. We have some some very good away performances, at perhaps two of the hardest places to go in Stamford Bridge and Anfield. It ended up yielding only one point, when five more was the least we deserved. But the performances were excellent; pressing, decisive forward passing, stretching the opposition and looking pretty decent. Arsenal wasn't too bad either.

Everything about the way we play at home and have set up in other games away from home is deliberate. There is no such thing as luck. We're not hitting the percentage ball out of chance. I don't think anybody expects us to be able to continue with the Liverpool away form game in and game out. Most people think that a mid-table finish this season will do and that as with all mid-table sides, we will be in and out.

But why do we set up so deliberately, to play as poorly as we do, when we know that the manager can set us up to play infinitely better? At home we will have 15 minutes in every game where we look ok. It may be at the start or it may be when we are trying to fight our way back into a game, but by and large, that's all we get.

I really don't understand Lambert's logic here.

Lambert and logic in the same sentence Ads ? He has no logic from what we have seen since he has been with us.
It is very confusing to say the least.

[Ron Manager]

You have made one very obvious point brontebilly. One that is so obvious many tend to miss it. Lambert was a midfielder at both Celtic and Dortmond. Yet he doesnt seem to have learnt from his years in that position.

Why not? Could it be he is not very intelligent?

It appears this is the case.

Another point. The last two sets of coaching staff must be the worst  Aston Villa FC have ever employed.

[aj2k77]

You rarely find a poor manager has a decent coaching team. It's normally the old boys club and he takes with him his pals from earlier in his career, very little thought seems to go into coaching staff.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

But the performances were excellent; pressing, decisive forward passing, stretching the opposition and looking pretty decent. Arsenal wasn't too bad either.

 I don't think anybody expects us to be able to continue with the Liverpool away form game in and game out. Most people think that a mid-table finish this season will do and that as with all mid-table sides, we will be in and out.

But why do we set up so deliberately, to play as poorly as we do, when we know that the manager can set us up to play infinitely better?

I really don't understand Lambert's logic here.

Good post Ads but I just want to comment on these points:

Too much is made of the poor squad, "the players are rubbish from the lower leagues and French League II" but we've seen these players perform fantastically to know they have more than potential, they can deliver.

You say nobody "expects us to be able to continue with the Liverpool away form game in and game out" and you're right, we probably aren't able to continue with that form but wouldn't it be great if we at least tried. If the plan is to build AND develop a team, why not go for a system that can work and is worth progressing with. I'm sure the fans like last season would give Lambert support and encouragement if we actually looked like we were trying to build something special. Unfortunately that is not the case.

As to why we set up so poorly despite the manager being able to "set us up to play infinitely better" I really can't answer, other than agree with you, there's absolutely no logic to it. It's as though we don't do any training at Bodymoor Heath other than fitness.

[adrenachrome]

You have made one very obvious point brontebilly. One that is so obvious many tend to miss it. Lambert was a midfielder at both Celtic and Dortmond. Yet he doesnt seem to have learnt from his years in that position.

Why not? Could it be he is not very intelligent?

It appears this is the case.

Another point. The last two sets of coaching staff must be the worst  Aston Villa FC have ever employed.

Au contraire, if we are to believe this chappie.


Metro

Keep it simple, stupid: Paul Lambert needs to emulate John Gregory to stabilise Aston Villa


Andrew Raeburn

Momentum can be massive in football. Aston Villa just can’t seem to find it right now.

Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to West Ham was yet another example of our inconsistency.

The fact we dropped points to one of our relegation rivals, having beaten another in West Brom just 10 days previously, was bad enough.

But I hadn’t reckoned on two of our better performers being at fault – to varying degrees – for the goals.

Ryan Bertrand was outsmarted by Stewart Downing for the first – although Kevin Nolan’s finish required a deflection to defeat Brad Guzan – and then our player-of-the-year-in-waiting Fabian Delph messed about and the game was effectively gone.

Inevitably, we produced our best football only after falling behind, as we have done against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and West Brom (twice).

There’s a consistent pattern of inconsistency, even within games. It’s incredibly frustrating.

But should we really be surprised?

This is a young, naive side which, virtually to a man, doesn’t have the maturity to shrug off their mistakes – so they’re frightened of making them.

In turn, this leads to the indecisive, ponderous play we so often see at Villa Park.

But on the flip side, when the pressure is off – such as when we’re behind in a game or away from home when the onus is on the opposition – they tend to be more relaxed.

Which is why Paul Lambert needs to take a leaf out of one of his predecessors’ book.

For all his later faults, Gregory’s back-to-basics approach transformed a struggling side into European regulars and FA Cup finalists in a couple of years.

By contrast, Lambert has used more formations this season than the Red Arrows.

But when you look at the occasions when we’ve truly deserved the results we picked up (Manchester City at home and Southampton away don’t count in that respect, in my view), the same tactical approaches crop up.

At Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and in the second half of the West Brom away game, we used a high-energy pressing game and a counter-attacking 4-3-3 shape.

Our better performances at home have come with a more traditional approach, giving Christian Benteke (and Libor Kozak) more support.

In the latter stages of the Cardiff home game, the switch to a 4-4-2 reaped almost instant rewards. We used a variant, 4-3-1-2, to great effect against West Brom.

I’m all for tactical flexibility and creating plans to exploit the opposition’s weaknesses.

But this constant tinkering with personnel and tactics means our players are jacks of all trades but masters of none.

Lambert is an intelligent man, a clear football thinker.

As a player, his sharp mind, more so than his technical ability, helped him to the very top of European football – but his brain is light years ahead of the squad he’s built at Villa.

Sometimes, it’s best to keep it simple, stupid.

[rob_bridge]

You have made one very obvious point brontebilly. One that is so obvious many tend to miss it. Lambert was a midfielder at both Celtic and Dortmond. Yet he doesnt seem to have learnt from his years in that position.

Why not? Could it be he is not very intelligent?

It appears this is the case.

Another point. The last two sets of coaching staff must be the worst  Aston Villa FC have ever employed.

Two sets?

I'd go so far as saying there are aspects of the last 4 sets that were dire.

Robertson, Walford, McAllister, McLeish, Culverhouse.

Garbage all of them.

[eastie]

You have made one very obvious point brontebilly. One that is so obvious many tend to miss it. Lambert was a midfielder at both Celtic and Dortmond. Yet he doesnt seem to have learnt from his years in that position.

Why not? Could it be he is not very intelligent?

It appears this is the case.

Another point. The last two sets of coaching staff must be the worst  Aston Villa FC have ever employed.

Two sets?

I'd go so far as saying there are aspects of the last 4 sets that were dire.

Robertson, Walford, McAllister, McLeish, Culverhouse.

Garbage all of them.

Bit harsh on Mcallister as when he took over in houlliers absence we were in the bottom 7 and finished 9th.

[Fergal]

You have made one very obvious point brontebilly. One that is so obvious many tend to miss it. Lambert was a midfielder at both Celtic and Dortmond. Yet he doesnt seem to have learnt from his years in that position.

Why not? Could it be he is not very intelligent?

It appears this is the case.

Another point. The last two sets of coaching staff must be the worst  Aston Villa FC have ever employed.

Two sets?

I'd go so far as saying there are aspects of the last 4 sets that were dire.

Robertson, Walford, McAllister, McLeish, Culverhouse.

Garbage all of them.

Bit harsh on McAllister as when he took over in houlliers absence we were in the bottom 7 and finished 9th.

McAllister should have been appointed manager I think he would have done a brilliant job for us.

[PeterWithesShin]

Which shit players does he pick ahead of better players already here? Apart from KEA (and who is here that is better?) i'm struggling to come up with any.

I think Allbrighton has proved in the time that he has been given that he is better than Bacuna Tonev Bowery the list goes on.

Can you imagine any one worse than Tonev ? I am pretty sure we have players out on loan that are better than Tonev. FFS I am better than Tonev.

He bought on Holt at Liverpool and started him against Everton- genius

I looked at the squad list, it is amazing how much crap he has assembled in 18 months. Bowery, Bacuna, Holt Tonev, KEA, Lowton, Luna, Westwood and Bennett.

And how many  players from our youth set up has he bought through? None

You are right there are not many alternatives because he has assembled this squad.

Tonev has started 6 league games, Albrighton has had a number of injuries. Bowery has started 3 league games. Holt has started 1. Bacuna is hit and miss but shows signs of being a decent(ish) player.

I'm not saying they are great, but the truth is there wasn't much better at the club already which is what you were saying. Take Bacuna and Lowton, already at the club at RB was Hutton.

I do agree that i'd like to see him give some of our youngsters more of a chance, but i'm hoping that the way we have started loaning out players is to get them ready for the opportunity.

[Villa in Denmark]

Tonev has started 6 league games, Albrighton has had a number of injuries. Bowery has started 3 league games. Holt has started 1. Bacuna is hit and miss but shows signs of being a decent(ish) player.

I'm not saying they are great, but the truth is there wasn't much better at the club already which is what you were saying. Take Bacuna and Lowton, already at the club at RB was Hutton.

I do agree that i'd like to see him give some of our youngsters more of a chance, but i'm hoping that the way we have started loaning out players is to get them ready for the opportunity.

I think this is the important thing with our "home grown" young players at the moment.  They're lacking competitive first team experience. Hopefully what they're now getting will toughen them up a little, so hopefully they can start being introduced from next season.

To throw them into the battles we've been fighting the last 2 1/2 years could have ruined them.

From that perspective you can almost understand why he chooses to pick the "more experienced" youngsters he's brought in. 

What's less easy to understand is why there aren't a couple of older heads in the squad.  They don't need to be particularly brilliant, but have enough nous to know what's what and hold the youngsters going when backs are a bit against the wall.

[mr underhill]

well Grant Holt's one and was brought in for that very reason - and look how that's panning out at the mo

[ChicagoLion]

Can we have a Poll?

Should Paul Lambert be given a new contract before the end of the season.

Yes


No

[brontebilly]

well Grant Holt's one and was brought in for that very reason - and look how that's panning out at the mo

Holt is crap though and another big slow centre forward is the last thing we should be bringing in anyway.

its good players he needs to bring in but the balance of the squad is wrong. Vlaar plus a younger defender is fine. But Delph, Westwood need someone badly next to them in midfield. An experienced head, but a good player first and foremost, that knows the game inside out and can play 30 games plus a season. No doubt Kea was meant to be the player last season. Maybe he thought Sylla would improve but he was never going to be the leader we need in midfield.

Same as with the full backs, great that they are decent going forward but surely one of them should be a competent defender. I feel sorry at times for the centre halves with both full backs next to them all at sea. To be fair Bertrand has been an immediate improvement in this regard.

There was no need whatsoever to spend 7m on Kozak, that has been his biggest error to date.

Lambert's transfers have been hit and miss but thats a long way down the list of reasons why I want him gone.

[Steve67]

I think the fact that Lambert has reverted to type, by signing Holt and attempting to sign Hoolihan, shows his limited imagination.  Mid table is about as good as it's ever going to get under him.  If mid table floats Randy's boat, then we are in for another three years.  Like someone else said, I am bored of this hobby.  The football is crap, the players he has signed this season are very poor.  How many of Lambert's signings would yield a profit, other than Benteke?  That in itself shows how very, very poor this Villa side is.  He has had every opportunity to bring in some defensive backbone, some creativity, and failed to do so.

I hope to God the Villa hierarchy read this thread!!  No way would I offer him a new contract. Wait until at least the New Year.

[Villa in Denmark]

well Grant Holt's one and was brought in for that very reason - and look how that's panning out at the mo

I was thinking more along the lines of someone sitting in midfield where they could actually influence the game.
The last two weekends I've seen Sidwell and Adams help to drag their teams across the line against Man U, in games where they shouldn't have been within touching distance, by having a bit of experience,coupled with desire and some ability.
Playing Holt is the diametric opposite of parking the bus. He's more a one way ticket to Margate, you send it (the ball) on it's way and hope it doesn't come back too soon.