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

[Concrete John]

are we really expecting Lambert to become a different manager next season ?

Possibly harsh because more than anything else it's currently hard to identify a clear set of tactics that we're adhearing to.  Therefore it's impossible to know whether our failures are solely down to Lambert's tactic (i.e. the players do as they're told but the tactics are bobbins) or that the players lack the skill/confidence to carry out the instructions.

Quite.

As it is, we have a manager who's steered a ridiculously young squad through a relegation scrap and then improved them to be a mid table team.  All the time working with a mandate to reduce costs in the process.

I'm not expecting him to become a different manager as I think he's doing a decent enough job at the moment.

[Chipsticks]

are we really expecting Lambert to become a different manager next season ?

Possibly harsh because more than anything else it's currently hard to identify a clear set of tactics that we're adhearing to.  Therefore it's impossible to know whether our failures are solely down to Lambert's tactic (i.e. the players do as they're told but the tactics are bobbins) or that the players lack the skill/confidence to carry out the instructions.

Quite.

As it is, we have a manager who's steered a ridiculously young squad through a relegation scrap and then improved them to be a mid table team.  All the time working with a mandate to reduce costs in the process.

I'm not expecting him to become a different manager as I think he's doing a decent enough job at the moment.

Completely agreed. I'm not exactly sure what people are expecting from a guy who's had to literally rebuild an entire team on minimal costs. This is the only viable, and sustainable way back to the top, the only downside is it's taking longer than some people thought.

I can see, and happy with, Lambert being our manager for a long, long time yet.

[pauliewalnuts]

Completely agreed. I'm not exactly sure what people are expecting from a guy who's had to literally rebuild an entire team on minimal costs. This is the only viable, and sustainable way back to the top, the only downside is it's taking longer than some people thought.

That's one way of looking at it (taking longer), but I think the quibble most people have had this season isn't so much that it is taking too long, as that it isn't actually happening at all, and in some ways (playing style, for example) we seem to have regressed.

[not3bad]

12/13 - relegation battle
13/14 - mid table stability
14/15 - Europa challenge
15/16 - world domination

surely the last two aims are based on not just getting in better players (which we MUST do in the summer) but also on having better tactics ?

are we really expecting Lambert to become a different manager next season ?

Out of curiousity, what were you hoping Villa would achieve at the start of the season?

[Chipsticks]

Completely agreed. I'm not exactly sure what people are expecting from a guy who's had to literally rebuild an entire team on minimal costs. This is the only viable, and sustainable way back to the top, the only downside is it's taking longer than some people thought.

That's one way of looking at it (taking longer), but I think the quibble most people have had this season isn't so much that it is taking too long, as that it isn't actually happening at all, and in some ways (playing style, for example) we seem to have regressed.

Well it's worth bearing in mind that Lambert's still a relatively young manager himself, so it shouldn't be too surprising that he's made a few mistakes. Admittedly there have been a fair few questionable moments this season but based on the last few weeks we seem to be past that, so fingers crossed all is well from here on out.

[pauliewalnuts]

Completely agreed. I'm not exactly sure what people are expecting from a guy who's had to literally rebuild an entire team on minimal costs. This is the only viable, and sustainable way back to the top, the only downside is it's taking longer than some people thought.

That's one way of looking at it (taking longer), but I think the quibble most people have had this season isn't so much that it is taking too long, as that it isn't actually happening at all, and in some ways (playing style, for example) we seem to have regressed.

Well it's worth bearing in mind that Lambert's still a relatively young manager himself, so it shouldn't be too surprising that he's made a few mistakes. Admittedly there have been a fair few questionable moments this season but based on the last few weeks we seem to be past that, so fingers crossed all is well from here on out.

The last two games were a significant improvement. We've done that before, though. What we need to do is show more of an ability to maintain the improvement than we have after excellent results in the past.

On the face of it, Stoke at home looks like the perfect sort of match to do that - at least when you consider where Stoke are in the table.

I have still got a horrible, horrible feeling about attaching any importance to a game against Stoke since "that" Stoke match under MON

[Quiet Lion]

I have still got a horrible, horrible feeling about attaching any importance to a game against Stoke since "that" Stoke match under MON

Urgh - I will always look back on that game and wonder what could have been

[Dante Lavelli]

I think Stoke is a pretty perfect match to see if we can start to identify some clarity in Lambert's Jeckl and Hyde tactics/performances.

Stoke are currently midtable - like us - and would be happy with a point therefore they will sit back and soak up our pressure.  It will be a good test of our seeming progress to see if we can dictate the play more because we cannot simply rely on counter attacking football.  Furthermore the players should be on a high so confidence cannot be used as an excuse not to start the game trying to play some positive attacking football.  hopefully we will get a good clue as to what and how Lambert actually wants us to play (at least at the beginning).

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Are we really expecting Lambert to become a different manager next season ?

I bloody hope so. He's done very little this season to indicate he knows tactically what he's doing. Obviously he still learning the job and there aren't many tougher jobs than at Villa. Add to that the financial constraints and trying to construct a team with young, inexperienced players and it's a very demanding task.

Hopefully next season he'll start to get the basics right which should see improved results and performances at home. Get that right and he'll be laughing. I expect he'll do a lot of trading over the summer and this time he'll actually have some money to spend including players sold, not that we have many to sell but he generally likes to shift a few every summer.

[Chris Smith]

This debates reminds me of a couple getting to their destination and then arguing because they took a different route to the one suggested.

At the start of the season most sensible people hoped for mid table and, barring a sudden reverse, that's where we will finish. Now we might taken the odd wrong turning and not always gone by the scenic route but the important point is that got to where we wanted to be.

A similar improvement next season and we can put the last few years behind us.

[not3bad]

Considering another wave of players had to be integrated into the squad over the Summer and a lot of other players have suffered "second season syndrome" it looks like things might not turn out so badly.  At this moment in time.

[rob_bridge]

I would have expected a season more akin to 40 points thus far in terms of points and be practically safe. 2 League wins against the dross also rans would have us there.

Also achieved without the abject loss to a 3rd Tier club who were at the time in the relegation zone and the like of which I never wish to see again.

That said if we finish with 46-49 points it will be a League job akin to expectations though achieved in a somewhat hap hazzard way. However I am predicting nothing other than unpredeictability for the rest of the season

[not3bad]

However I am predicting nothing other than unpredeictability for the rest of the season

Yep. We could quite easily be miserable again this time next week.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

This debates reminds me of a couple getting to their destination and then arguing because they took a different route to the one suggested.

At the start of the season most sensible people hoped for mid table and, barring a sudden reverse, that's where we will finish. Now we might taken the odd wrong turning and not always gone by the scenic route but the important point is that got to where we wanted to be.

This comment reminds me of a female driver who has just returned home with the husband's new car and expects him to be happy she's safe and well whilst expecting hubby to ignore the dents, scratches, broken bumper and headlights, nevermind the gearbox that now needs replacing.

[Chris Smith]

This debates reminds me of a couple getting to their destination and then arguing because they took a different route to the one suggested.

At the start of the season most sensible people hoped for mid table and, barring a sudden reverse, that's where we will finish. Now we might taken the odd wrong turning and not always gone by the scenic route but the important point is that got to where we wanted to be.

This comment reminds me of a female driver who has just returned home with the husband's new car and expects him to be happy she's safe and well whilst expecting hubby to ignore the dents, scratches, broken bumper and headlights, nevermind the gearbox that now needs replacing.

This comment reminds me of a Bernard Manning routine from 1974. :¬)