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

[KevinGage]

Home form has been too dreadful over a prolonged period of time on his watch to talk about new contracts or top 4/6 clubs snapping him up (larf, as the much missed Gnasher might say).

  We weren't expecting miracles, but earlier this season we had something like the worst home record out of all four English leagues and for the past two years we had one of (if not THE)  worst home record out of the five main leagues in Europe.

The situation he inherited doesn't tally with that level of ineptitude.

Hopefully we have turned a corner, and if we close out the season with 7/8 home wins of the board, he deserves to continue in the job.  But he hasn't - at this point- done anything to justify better terms.

[Louzie0]

Well I think it's nail your colours to the mast time and I want him to continue.

[Billy Walker]

Year on year  improvement whilst helping the club find a firm financial footing again = well deserved new contract and pay rise. From what I've seen so far I really think Lambert can get this club back up where it belongs.

[SoccerHQ]

Problem there though is that once we're into the summer, he'll have one year left. If we didn't extend his contract, the media start speculating, the players start to wonder what's going on and any potential signing has to ask whether the manager's staying. I agree that it was premature when word about the new contract broke but barring a disastrous last 9 games, I don't think they've got any choice at this point.

I think the issue for me is length, I think another 3 years is pretty generous given some of the hidings we've taken. I'd give him another two years and then have a third year dependent on sufficient league progress.

I was wavering a few weeks back but the two contrasting home wins has got him back in credit. Hopefully we don't go back to the turgid rubbish against a physical team like Stoke tomorrow.

Now I think we'll see over the next 12 months how good a manager Lambert could be or if mid table in the premier league is his glass ceiling.

In terms of squad numbers we are fine so we don't need another 7-8 cheap punts. If finances allow we need 3-4 quality players in and above all some midfield creativity!!

He might also be faced with having to replace a key player in his reign for the first time if Benteke leaves. As we've seen in the last 4 years that isn't an easy thing to do.

Targets for next season? Hopefully we can push on a bit and be in the group with Newcastle and Southampton and not being 13 points off them. At least then we wouldn't be a million miles off the top 6. Oh and a stop to embarrassing cup defeats would be good aswell!

[not3bad]

yes but it's so easy to be blindsided by the short term  . Say we continue to play well for a few more games. Lambert gets a new three year deal. Then we begin to revert to type again at the beginning of next season - or worse -,

The problem with this argument is we don't have a "type". We're too inconsistent for that. The only pattern we have is that our results are, on the whole, slowly improving.

[peter w]

I think we have been patient but I also think that we've just been fan weary. Form the Houllier era to the McLeish era after the reckless spending of the O'Neill era was painful to watch. The brilliance of that team was being ripped apart like a wounded buffalo on the Serengeti. Young, Downing (yes I know), Barry, Milner, Laursen injured, Friedel went and nearly lost Guzan, a tough to beat team gone and the replacements just didn't work.

We were vocal under the last two managers and Lambert was more or less the pick of most and so were knew we had to back him. But also we as a group could see that booing a group of kids is very counter-productive. I think they still need that level of positive support this season although sadly, but understandably, that has not proven to be the case quite often. But when we do get behind them, give them that spark, they tend to produce. Start quietly and so do they.

We can really set the tempo for the team on sunday by getting behind them. When we are behind the team fully we score and win well. Remember QPR last season, and Sunderland after we scored, and this season Man City and Chelsea. When we're up for it they tend to put ina  performance - even Everton at home. Sometimes we win and sometimes we'll lose but with this grouyp I think if we got behind them earlier and for longer they'd produce better performances more often than not.

Problem for us is that after watching that team ripped apart we're to used too negativity and worry. As much as I want the noise levels to be up if I were there I'd be in the quietly nervous corner. And silent.

[not3bad]

I think we have been patient but I also think that we've just been fan weary. Form the Houllier era to the McLeish era after the reckless spending of the O'Neill era was painful to watch. The brilliance of that team was being ripped apart like a wounded buffalo on the Serengeti. Young, Downing (yes I know), Barry, Milner, Laursen injured, Friedel went and nearly lost Guzan, a tough to beat team gone and the replacements just didn't work.

We were vocal under the last two managers and Lambert was more or less the pick of most and so were knew we had to back him. But also we as a group could see that booing a group of kids is very counter-productive. I think they still need that level of positive support this season although sadly, but understandably, that has not proven to be the case quite often. But when we do get behind them, give them that spark, they tend to produce. Start quietly and so do they.

We can really set the tempo for the team on sunday by getting behind them. When we are behind the team fully we score and win well. Remember QPR last season, and Sunderland after we scored, and this season Man City and Chelsea. When we're up for it they tend to put ina  performance - even Everton at home. Sometimes we win and sometimes we'll lose but with this grouyp I think if we got behind them earlier and for longer they'd produce better performances more often than not.

Problem for us is that after watching that team ripped apart we're to used too negativity and worry. As much as I want the noise levels to be up if I were there I'd be in the quietly nervous corner. And silent.

Good post. Don't know whether there will be a good atmosphere tomorrow, it'll be back to the fish & chips of Stoke after the fine dining of beating Chelsea.

[Toronto Villa]

Problem there though is that once we're into the summer, he'll have one year left. If we didn't extend his contract, the media start speculating, the players start to wonder what's going on and any potential signing has to ask whether the manager's staying. I agree that it was premature when word about the new contract broke but barring a disastrous last 9 games, I don't think they've got any choice at this point.

I think the issue for me is length, I think another 3 years is pretty generous given some of the hidings we've taken. I'd give him another two years and then have a third year dependent on sufficient league progress.

I was wavering a few weeks back but the two contrasting home wins has got him back in credit. Hopefully we don't go back to the turgid rubbish against a physical team like Stoke tomorrow.

Now I think we'll see over the next 12 months how good a manager Lambert could be or if mid table in the premier league is his glass ceiling.

In terms of squad numbers we are fine so we don't need another 7-8 cheap punts. If finances allow we need 3-4 quality players in and above all some midfield creativity!!

He might also be faced with having to replace a key player in his reign for the first time if Benteke leaves. As we've seen in the last 4 years that isn't an easy thing to do.

Targets for next season? Hopefully we can push on a bit and be in the group with Newcastle and Southampton and not being 13 points off them. At least then we wouldn't be a million miles off the top 6. Oh and a stop to embarrassing cup defeats would be good aswell!

given some of the hiding some teams have taken this season especially considering the amount of money those teams have spent on players I think we need to give some credit to the entire management staff at Villa for improving us as much as they have. Nobody has given us a hiding this season and we've played all of the big teams. This was the biggest issue in the summer and for the most part it has been fixed. We aren something like 8 or 9th best defence in the league now.

Obviously the next steps are to improve the home form which in turn will bridge the gap to the teams 6th to 9th. With the right investment this is very achievable. We are going in the right direction even if sometimes we take a step or two back to go forward. But that comes with a squad and club in transition that is developing an identity. We're developing something positive at the club even if we've had take a few on the chin to get there.

[villan from luton]

The big thing is to be able to beat teams similar to us at home, I hope we can do it today

[amfy]

I think the number of individual fans who swing from one extreme to the other with good & bad results is probably quite small. It's just that those who feel negatively find their voice more easily when things are going badly, & the optimists have more to say when things are going well. The overall impression of a message board may be that there are wild swings in opinion, but that isn't necessarily the case.

A couple of weeks back when people were asking those who still wanted Lambert to stay what justification they had, I really couldn't articulate it because in the circumstances it sounded lame. A good second half against Arsenal, a good first half against Liverpool, a good second half against Cardiff, and a good first half against Newcastle, alongside an actually not bad performance against a West Ham side who had started to out together a run of form, in a wind that turned the game into a lottery. In all those games, the spark we all saw last season was starting to re-ignite, but ultimately, a point was as much as we got from any of them, and there is only so many games you can make excuses for.

In these circumstances, following the run of results that culminated in the dreadful performance against Palace, it is hard for those who think Lambert is worth sticking with to find a voice, but slowly since the New Year, it has got easier. Now it is those who want him out who have to struggle to find the arguments, - the 'it has been dreadful', 'there has been some dross', now starts to struggle to counter the argument that this was inevitable given what he has had to turn around.

In another couple of weeks it could all be different again. In fact, given that it's Stoke today, it could be different in about 8 hours time! It might look fickle, but a bad result against Stoke won't change my mind, it will just give the loudest voice back to those who doubt we're on the right path.

[villa_cads]

I think the number of individual fans who swing from one extreme to the other with good & bad results is probably quite small. It's just that those who feel negatively find their voice more easily when things are going badly, & the optimists have more to say when things are going well. The overall impression of a message board may be that there are wild swings in opinion, but that isn't necessarily the case.

A couple of weeks back when people were asking those who still wanted Lambert to stay what justification they had, I really couldn't articulate it because in the circumstances it sounded lame. A good second half against Arsenal, a good first half against Liverpool, a good second half against Cardiff, and a good first half against Newcastle, alongside an actually not bad performance against a West Ham side who had started to out together a run of form, in a wind that turned the game into a lottery. In all those games, the spark we all saw last season was starting to re-ignite, but ultimately, a point was as much as we got from any of them, and there is only so many games you can make excuses for.

In these circumstances, following the run of results that culminated in the dreadful performance against Palace, it is hard for those who think Lambert is worth sticking with to find a voice, but slowly since the New Year, it has got easier. Now it is those who want him out who have to struggle to find the arguments, - the 'it has been dreadful', 'there has been some dross', now starts to struggle to counter the argument that this was inevitable given what he has had to turn around.

In another couple of weeks it could all be different again. In fact, given that it's Stoke today, it could be different in about 8 hours time! It might look fickle, but a bad result against Stoke won't change my mind, it will just give the loudest voice back to those who doubt we're on the right path.

Great post amfy.

[brian green]

Knowing the VIlla the way I do I am confident that come tonight we shall still have no clearer picture whether those lads of ours (including the manager) are heroes or villains.   Nailed on 0-0 I think.

[Chris Smith]

After a few years of chaos we finally seem to have established some stability and a sense of order at the club. Uncertainty over the manager's future will undermine that when it comes to new contracts for existing players and negotiating transfers. I think at this stage that is more important for to for all parties to know where they stand, board, manager and players, so that they all  and can concentrate on preparing for next season.

[eastie]

No need to consider lamberts future until the season ends - top 12 minimum should be attained this season , bottom 6 and show him the door , 13th or 14th and randy tosses!

[Somniloquism]

given some of the hiding some teams have taken this season especially considering the amount of money those teams have spent on players I think we need to give some credit to the entire management staff at Villa for improving us as much as they have. Nobody has given us a hiding this season and we've played all of the big teams. This was the biggest issue in the summer and for the most part it has been fixed. We aren something like 8 or 9th best defence in the league now. .

We will need to to visit Manchester twice before we can say we haven't been handed a hammering this season.

However we have definitely been better which is probably because we have hoofed the ball up the field so when we make the inevitable passing mistake, it was well away for the area.

Hopefully next season we will be more confident on the ball in midfield and will revert more to play then hoof.