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

[john e]

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.

Fuck me your making Lambert out to be a genius manager if he can take a team with only 4 premiership quality players and turn them into a mid table premiership outfit

I honestly don't think he's that good

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Okay then, which of our players do you think are Premier League quality?

Not relegation battlers. Actual Premier League quality, players other teams would want.

[john e]

Okay then, which of our players do you think are Premier League quality?

Not relegation battlers. Actual Premier League quality, players other teams would want.

Listen you obviously rate Lambert far higher than me, that's fair enough everyone has their opinion, I'm only 50/50 on him

But if your right and he can produce a mid table side with only 4 premiership players then just think what he could do if we signed a couple more ''quality' players, by your estimations we should be looking at a top 6 place

Like I say I think the players we have are generally mid table premiership quality and I don't think Lambert is as good as your cracking on, but each to their own

[JUAN PABLO]

shame Vlaar is injury prone but I suppose If he wasnt , he would be playing for a Tottenham or Everton anyway .

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

That's fine, except I think Lambert should be sacked.

We've only played well in a handful of games this season. We've been incredibly lucky to win some of the games we have.

We need a new manager and some quality players to go with it. If we don't do both, we'll struggle again next season.

[john e]

That's fine, except I think Lambert should be sacked.

We've only played well in a handful of games this season. We've been incredibly lucky to win some of the games we have.

We need a new manager and some quality players to go with it. If we don't do both, we'll struggle again next season.

That's surprising as you've just described Lambert as a virtual miracle worker with what he's done with so little,
Don't be embaresed about backing Lambert on here, if you honestly believe what your saying about the state of the squad

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

That's fine, except I think Lambert should be sacked.

We've only played well in a handful of games this season. We've been incredibly lucky to win some of the games we have.

We need a new manager and some quality players to go with it. If we don't do both, we'll struggle again next season.

That's surprising as you've just described Lambert as a virtual miracle worker with what he's done with so little,
Don't be embaresed about backing Lambert on here, if you honestly believe what your saying about the state of the squad

That's not what I'm saying at all. Maybe I haven't explained myself well enough.

Basically, we need more quality players to go with the four we have. The rest of our squad is adequate if we want to battle relegation every year but that's not good enough for me. We need to be looking at catching Southampton as a realistic target for next season.

[sirlordbaltimore]

If Lambert's considered to have done a miracle keeping our heads above with what he inherited and the 43m he's spent ...

[Toronto Villa]

I actually think Lambert and the squad have underachieved massively with the talent available. If you have the ability to raise your game and beat 3 of the 4 contenders for the title, then we should have been able to more often than not against sides around or below us.

[Monty]

I actually think Lambert and the squad have underachieved massively with the talent available. If you have the ability to raise your game and beat 3 of the 4 contenders for the title, then we should have been able to more often than not against sides around or below us.

This is what I think. People say the players are no good, yet we've seen these same players give brilliant performances on several occasions. There's a pattern forming: every time a player gets written off he goes through a run of form (Vlaar, Delph, Westwood, Benteke). It can't be the case that the players are just rubbish - they're just inconsistent, and it's the manager's job to help them to be consistent. Lambert's strongest point, for me, is his ability to find good players in unlikely places - his weakest point, though, is getting them to play even half-coherently.

[fredm]

I actually think Lambert and the squad have underachieved massively with the talent available. If you have the ability to raise your game and beat 3 of the 4 contenders for the title, then we should have been able to more often than not against sides around or below us.

Exactly. I believe there is a far better team in the players available than what turns out each match. That, to me, is down to the coaching and tactics which should be worked out at BH during the week. The coaching staff need addressing in the summer IMO if, as I expect, PL remains and has some money to spend.

[Irish villain]

shame Vlaar is injury prone but I suppose If he wasnt , he would be playing for a Tottenham or Everton anyway .

As I said before, how does he compare to the likes of Laursen, Mellberg, Johnson, Southgate, Ehiogu in that tier of villa defenders who are the next level down after McGrath?

Vlaar is standing out because we lack quality. I don't think he's much better than a James Collins and that he is now our most important player says a lot about where we find ourselves.

He's a top man by all accounts and a good leader but he's not all that in terms of ability.

[Toronto Villa]

I actually think Lambert and the squad have underachieved massively with the talent available. If you have the ability to raise your game and beat 3 of the 4 contenders for the title, then we should have been able to more often than not against sides around or below us.

This is what I think. People say the players are no good, yet we've seen these same players give brilliant performances on several occasions. There's a pattern forming: every time a player gets written off he goes through a run of form (Vlaar, Delph, Westwood, Benteke). It can't be the case that the players are just rubbish - they're just inconsistent, and it's the manager's job to help them to be consistent. Lambert's strongest point, for me, is his ability to find good players in unlikely places - his weakest point, though, is getting them to play even half-coherently.

Yes, I agree, but I would also add that the players themselves need to maintain a level of consistency. That comes down tp preparation by the coaching staff, but also by the players themselves. It's a combination of a number of things, but I agre with your point that the manager needs to set the standard of consistency himself first and foremost. I've said before that Lambert has on occasion played a complete blinder tactically, and on many occasions he has got it completely wrong. I hope, that if he stays he can find ways to address that, be it with better advisors in his staff or simply better talent to work with.

[john e]

That's fine, except I think Lambert should be sacked.

We've only played well in a handful of games this season. We've been incredibly lucky to win some of the games we have.

We need a new manager and some quality players to go with it. If we don't do both, we'll struggle again next season.

That's surprising as you've just described Lambert as a virtual miracle worker with what he's done with so little,
Don't be embaresed about backing Lambert on here, if you honestly believe what your saying about the state of the squad

That's not what I'm saying at all. Maybe I haven't explained myself well enough.

Basically, we need more quality players to go with the four we have. The rest of our squad is adequate if we want to battle relegation every year but that's not good enough for me. We need to be looking at catching Southampton as a realistic target for next season.

Must have misunderstood you,
 I thought you said we only have 4 premiership quality players, which I'm sure you did,
and obviously it would follow that Lambert is doing a sterling job with such a  shit hand to deal with to get them to relative safety

I agree with others above,
 I don't think he's got the best out of what he's got and that there could be a lot more to Come from certain players, not as you suggest that they are playing at there absolute maximum because they are only championship players anyway

[Mister E]

I actually think Lambert and the squad have underachieved massively with the talent available. If you have the ability to raise your game and beat 3 of the 4 contenders for the title, then we should have been able to more often than not against sides around or below us.

This is what I think. People say the players are no good, yet we've seen these same players give brilliant performances on several occasions. There's a pattern forming: every time a player gets written off he goes through a run of form (Vlaar, Delph, Westwood, Benteke). It can't be the case that the players are just rubbish - they're just inconsistent, and it's the manager's job to help them to be consistent. Lambert's strongest point, for me, is his ability to find good players in unlikely places - his weakest point, though, is getting them to play even half-coherently.

Yes, I agree, but I would also add that the players themselves need to maintain a level of consistency. That comes down tp preparation by the coaching staff, but also by the players themselves. It's a combination of a number of things, but I agre with your point that the manager needs to set the standard of consistency himself first and foremost. I've said before that Lambert has on occasion played a complete blinder tactically, and on many occasions he has got it completely wrong. I hope, that if he stays he can find ways to address that, be it with better advisors in his staff or simply better talent to work with.

I agree with both of you and would add that with some better and more experienced players alongside our rookies, we'd have seen fewer situations like yesterday where the team put up the white flag so insipidly. As has been said before, Lambert's unwillingness to bring in a couple of experienced midfielders to give Westie and Delph - in particular - some support has been baffling. His failure to add to our CB stock has been surprising.
Individual errors in the last two games have done for us ... they're not something acoach can predict but it does beg questions of the coaching that this squad is getting, after nearly two seasons together.