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

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Every manager has to deal with injuries, so that excuse doesn't work for me.

Besides, Kozak was back up for Benteke. And let's be honest, is he really a huge loss?
Admittedly, I have high hopes for Okore but we don't know if he would've improved us significantly.
N'Zogbia was put in the bomb squad, Lambert was never gonna use him.

Any other injuries I've missed?

[sirlordbaltimore]

If he was actually utterly useless and clueless we'd have been relegated last season and bottom of the Championship this season.

It seems that McLeish was considered useless and clueless and yet he managed to do just the same as Lambert, but with a worse squad (according to those that claim they were useless players of course)

[aj2k77]

I will happily tell anybody to strap a pair on when I see somebody unmanning themselves in a Mrs Lovejoy fashion. I bet he has been sitting down to take a wee of late too.

Oh somebody think of the children!

The key point here, that you have missed from your lofty equine perch is that I didn't lower the discussion with an hormonal "it's him or me!" nonsense, which was made nonsense with the I have been going for 50 years spiel.

You sound like a role model and a real man, maybe you're Grant Holt.

[Legion]

No, I'm Grant Holt.

[olaftab]

I confirm that having seen you standing still.

[Archie]

If he was actually utterly useless and clueless we'd have been relegated last season and bottom of the Championship this season.

It seems that McLeish was considered useless and clueless and yet he managed to do just the same as Lambert, but with a worse squad (according to those that claim they were useless players of course)

Exactly. Strange that you are one of the fews that noticed that.

[Chris Smith]

Every manager has to deal with injuries, so that excuse doesn't work for me.

Besides, Kozak was back up for Benteke. And let's be honest, is he really a huge loss?
Admittedly, I have high hopes for Okore but we don't know if he would've improved us significantly.
N'Zogbia was put in the bomb squad, Lambert was never gonna use him.

Any other injuries I've missed?

Vlaar and Benteke have both missed a number of games with injuries, Bennett has hardly kicked a ball. I think most lower half sides would be impacted by that sort of disruption. It's all guess work of course but it is not too much of a stretch to imagine that the Benteke of last season plus Okore steadying things at the back would have seen us a few points better off and in Southampton and Newcastle territory.

[Archie]

Am I the only one that noticed that yesterday we played with Albrighton, Weimann, Benteke and Gabby?
That means without midfield.
And Mark is a lightweight.

Who defended? Me?

And 4 goals in the net.

As frenchmen say, c'est de la folie!

[aj2k77]

We don't really know how good (or bad) Okore will be at Premier League level but I think it's safe to say he probably wont be as bad as Paul and Barry Chuckle impersonators Clark and Baker and has been an unfortunate loss. Really looking forward to seeing him next season. Now we just need 2 full backs. Again.

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Every manager has to deal with injuries, so that excuse doesn't work for me.

Besides, Kozak was back up for Benteke. And let's be honest, is he really a huge loss?
Admittedly, I have high hopes for Okore but we don't know if he would've improved us significantly.
N'Zogbia was put in the bomb squad, Lambert was never gonna use him.

Any other injuries I've missed?

Vlaar and Benteke have both missed a number of games with injuries, Bennett has hardly kicked a ball. I think most lower half sides would be impacted by that sort of disruption. It's all guess work of course but it is not too much of a stretch to imagine that the Benteke of last season plus Okore steadying things at the back would have seen us a few points better off and in Southampton and Newcastle territory.

But even with those two in the side, we've lost 4-1 in back to back games.

Our problems are much deeper than Vlaar being injured. We only have about four Premier League quality players.

[john e]

Every manager has to deal with injuries, so that excuse doesn't work for me.

Besides, Kozak was back up for Benteke. And let's be honest, is he really a huge loss?
Admittedly, I have high hopes for Okore but we don't know if he would've improved us significantly.
N'Zogbia was put in the bomb squad, Lambert was never gonna use him.

Any other injuries I've missed?

Vlaar and Benteke have both missed a number of games with injuries, Bennett has hardly kicked a ball. I think most lower half sides would be impacted by that sort of disruption. It's all guess work of course but it is not too much of a stretch to imagine that the Benteke of last season plus Okore steadying things at the back would have seen us a few points better off and in Southampton and Newcastle territory.

But even with those two in the side, we've lost 4-1 in back to back games.

Our problems are much deeper than Vlaar being injured. We only have about four Premier League quality players.

That's not really true is it,
Most of them are premiership quality players because that's where they play and even as piss poor as they might be currently occupy a mid table position

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

I'm just saying what I see and I only think Benteke, Delph, Guzan and Vlaar are Premier League quality. The rest are just role players who can easily be replaced.

[passitsideways]

If he was actually utterly useless and clueless we'd have been relegated last season and bottom of the Championship this season.

It seems that McLeish was considered useless and clueless and yet he managed to do just the same as Lambert, but with a worse squad (according to those that claim they were useless players of course)

Except he didn't do just the same. Just like last season, Lambert's going to go past the 38 points TSM managed. And for all the dross that has been served up, at least Lambert has a good dozen commendable, credit-worthy performances against the top teams to. That in itself puts him miles above TSM.

[passitsideways]

I'm just saying what I see and I only think Benteke, Delph, Guzan and Vlaar are Premier League quality. The rest are just role players who can easily be replaced.

It's impossible to be even in lower mid table if you've only got four Premier League quality players in your squad.

I'm fine with accepting that injuries this season don't really excuse the overall performance, but the problem has been that Lambert has been copping heat for his transfer business last summer when a grade for that should really be postponed until we have more time to see what we've got with Okore and Helenius especially. Even Kozak, who represented a mystifying use of 7 million given our glaring lack of creativity in midfield, could probably knock in 12 goals if he started for a full season, and football is mad enough these days that any old double-digit scorer in the PL seems to get you good money (see Steven Fletcher).

[Chris Smith]

I'm just saying what I see and I only think Benteke Delph, Guzan and Vlaar are Premier League quality. The rest are just role players who can easily be replaced.

It's a fairly meaningless phrase, though. Steve Sidwell and Craig Gardner have spent most of their careers in the Premier League as have Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard but there is a huge gulf between them.