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

[Ron Manager]

Lambert consistently underperforms. His team consistently underperform. The coaching staff cannot perform in the first place so they cannot underperform. The owner appears to lack verbal and written skills and the media are not the slightest bit interested in us.

Aston Villa may be a club with a glorious history and has marvellous support from far and wide but this consistent never ending mediocrity is really getting me down each and every week.

[brian green]

My views entirely Ron.

[aj2k77]

Hasn't he signed 3 players in the £5-8 mil range.

Benteke - Good buy
Kozak - I've been told too early to judge
Okore - Injured after almost no playing time

So his record at signing players for more money is still untested aswell for me. Only thing i'd be giving him is his p45, not more money. We will end up buying another 3 strikers and 4 fullbacks knowing him.

[stubbsyandy]

I really thought, and wanted, Paul Lambert to be the man...but we are going nowhere
We have some decent players but not enough cohesion and tactical intelligence to punch above our weight
We are at the same point we were when SGT joined the first time..where do we find another one?

[JUAN PABLO]

Given this a lot of thought over the past few days and although I can fully understand where those calling for Lambert to be sacked are coming from, I wouldn't go down that route just yet.  He's still a fairly inexperienced manager and although his two seasons at the club have been pretty poor, I would give him one last chance to prove that he has learnt from the experience (providing we stay up - if we go down he should be sacked immediately).  I would personally give him the first ten games of next season and see where we stand after that.       

exactly where we are now

[N'ZMAV]

he's 2 years in to his 3 year plan, failing if you ask me, I'd give him till next November, and if we haven't improved then I'd sack him (If I was Lerner)

[walsall villain]

Given this a lot of thought over the past few days and although I can fully understand where those calling for Lambert to be sacked are coming from, I wouldn't go down that route just yet.  He's still a fairly inexperienced manager and although his two seasons at the club have been pretty poor, I would give him one last chance to prove that he has learnt from the experience (providing we stay up - if we go down he should be sacked immediately).  I would personally give him the first ten games of next season and see where we stand after that.       

exactly where we are now

So we start the season anticipating failure? I would end this in May and give any transfer funds we can muster to another manager. I have changed my mind a few times on Lambert but now think he has had long enough to have turned us around. Mind you, I can't see anybody doing any better if the guidance from the owner is to buy young and buy cheap.

[mattjpa]

Given this a lot of thought over the past few days and although I can fully understand where those calling for Lambert to be sacked are coming from, I wouldn't go down that route just yet.  He's still a fairly inexperienced manager and although his two seasons at the club have been pretty poor, I would give him one last chance to prove that he has learnt from the experience (providing we stay up - if we go down he should be sacked immediately).  I would personally give him the first ten games of next season and see where we stand after that.       

exactly where we are now

What exactly would those 10 games achieve? I am completely of the opinion that we have gone as far as we can under the current regime. If you give him 10 games then you need to also give him 20-30m this summer to spend on his players. If it then does not work you have to pay off him and all his backroom staff for the remainder of the season and bring in a whole set of new staff. This is turn will result in us chasing our tails to stay above water for another season and the new manager starting a race from the back. He will then want money in Jan to bring in his own players at inflated prices and there is a chance he may not fancy Lamberts signings, (Just as Lambert has with McLeish's) resulting in the bomb squad mk2. Giving him 10games is half arsed and possibly the worst thing we could do. He either gets the chop following the next couple of defeats/at the end of the season or we give him a 2year contract extension *shudders*, some fresh KPI's regarding the league results, integration of academy players and cup performance and a 30m kitty to see his project through.

I know which one I want but I am still a Villa supporter and if they choose the latter I will not be attending protests, painting bed sheets or paying planes to fly over villa park. But  I will aslo not be handing over £30-£40 per game untill I am convinced I am going to be entertained again.

[saunders_heroes]

Given this a lot of thought over the past few days and although I can fully understand where those calling for Lambert to be sacked are coming from, I wouldn't go down that route just yet.  He's still a fairly inexperienced manager and although his two seasons at the club have been pretty poor, I would give him one last chance to prove that he has learnt from the experience (providing we stay up - if we go down he should be sacked immediately).  I would personally give him the first ten games of next season and see where we stand after that.       

exactly where we are now

He doesn't deserve any more chances. He's humiliated us time and time again and we've given him the benefit of the doubt, gave him chance after chance and he's come back and humiliated us again. Time to say enough is enough - he is not the man for Aston Villa. He has to be sacked before he relegates us.
His record is truly abysmal.

[Ads]

Hasn't he signed 3 players in the £5-8 mil range.

Benteke - Good buy
Kozak - I've been told too early to judge
Okore - Injured after almost no playing time

So his record at signing players for more money is still untested aswell for me. Only thing i'd be giving him is his p45, not more money. We will end up buying another 3 strikers and 4 fullbacks knowing him.

Kozak looked good to me. He has a very good knack for finding space in the box, with the way he stepped off the defenders at Cardiff and floated in between them at Southampton as an example. I think the team would be four or five goals better off had he not had his horrific injury.

Okore is a quality player. I saw him play against Chelsea and cannot believe they didn't go the extra million and sign him. He is the Scandinavian behemoth our defence craves. He has everything a defender needs; lightening quick, strong as an ox and can pass the ball as well as Westwood. He would have been well settled and like Kozak, I think the team would have been a good few goals better off with him in it, as opposed to the terrible inconsistency of Clark and Baker.

Lucky for us that three of our best five players are all longer term injuries.

[tomd2103]

Given this a lot of thought over the past few days and although I can fully understand where those calling for Lambert to be sacked are coming from, I wouldn't go down that route just yet.  He's still a fairly inexperienced manager and although his two seasons at the club have been pretty poor, I would give him one last chance to prove that he has learnt from the experience (providing we stay up - if we go down he should be sacked immediately).  I would personally give him the first ten games of next season and see where we stand after that.       

I can see where you are coming from. In order for it to work for any manager, they need to be backed.

He has been given money, but it has had to be spread so thin. We're likely to sign a new left back in the summer for the third window in a row. You can bemoan the collective failure of Lambert, Bennett and Luna, but then when you consider the outlay on two players is less than £2 million, it hardly constitutes a waste and more of a failed gamble. For every half a million pound Westwood or Bacuna that looks like they can offer something in a Premier League first XI and squad, you have your Bennett's and Luna's.

I want to see him given the opportunity to buy more players in that £5-8 million bracket, as when he does that he gets it right.

The quality of player and the right system should be symbiotic in the pursuit of good football. I think we lack both, when it comes to playing at home. I remember the style of football he wanted to play at West Ham, at home to Everton and away at Newcastle before abandoning it through a lack of quality to play that way. I still think that is how he wants to go about affairs, having stumbled on a system last January that he thought would see us through the next 18 months.

We have good strikers in Benteke and Kozak, good central players in Delph and Westwood- but that is where the quality stops. I want to see him given the opportunity to buy the midfielders capable of getting us on the front foot in a game at home and turning things around.

I can totally understand why people want to see him sacked.  The past two seasons have  been pretty poor on the whole, with things being particularly bad at home.  Having seen most of the home games during his time though, I can also see how much of a difference a couple of good attacking players would make, particularly in the final third. 

In the current footballing climate, it's hard to argue that he doesn't deserve to be sacked, but he's a fairly inexperienced manager and part of me wants to see if he is able to adapt and learn from his past mistakes before we give up on him.  We should be able to tell that from the first ten games of next season and if there is no noticeable improvement after that, particularly at home, then I think it would be time to part company with him.  Of course relegation or the availability of an outstanding candidate (someone like Frank De Boer at Ajax) would lead to a revision of that opinion.

I also believe that it's wrong to apportion all the blame to Lambert, as many of the problems were present at the club before he arrived.  He's just been unable to address the downward curve that the club seems to have been on since the final days of O'Neill's tenure.

 

[supertom]

Given this a lot of thought over the past few days and although I can fully understand where those calling for Lambert to be sacked are coming from, I wouldn't go down that route just yet.  He's still a fairly inexperienced manager and although his two seasons at the club have been pretty poor, I would give him one last chance to prove that he has learnt from the experience (providing we stay up - if we go down he should be sacked immediately).  I would personally give him the first ten games of next season and see where we stand after that.       

exactly where we are now

He doesn't deserve any more chances. He's humiliated us time and time again and we've given him the benefit of the doubt, gave him chance after chance and he's come back and humiliated us again. Time to say enough is enough - he is not the man for Aston Villa. He has to be sacked before he relegates us.
His record is truly abysmal.

This. Two whole seasons to show some progress and we've shown only abject failure. We've also regressed this season based on last year because I really don't see us passing 40 points, and in any case as an attacking unit we've been wretchedly ineffective compared to how we were Feb-May last year.

I don't see him quelling the regression either. It'll probably get worse next season.

[JUAN PABLO]

Given this a lot of thought over the past few days and although I can fully understand where those calling for Lambert to be sacked are coming from, I wouldn't go down that route just yet.  He's still a fairly inexperienced manager and although his two seasons at the club have been pretty poor, I would give him one last chance to prove that he has learnt from the experience (providing we stay up - if we go down he should be sacked immediately).  I would personally give him the first ten games of next season and see where we stand after that.       

exactly where we are now

So we start the season anticipating failure? I would end this in May and give any transfer funds we can muster to another manager. I have changed my mind a few times on Lambert but now think he has had long enough to have turned us around. Mind you, I can't see anybody doing any better if the guidance from the owner is to buy young and buy cheap.

After the Liverpool game , I went back to pro Lambert 60/40 for a while but that wore off quick . Even the Chavski win , I was still against .I was not convinced even thou I celebrated it like we had won the FA Cup , which is sad , then Palace did it too.
I went off him after the cup game , nail in the coffin for me .  I just cant see this working out for Lambert and Aston Villa.  Get rid in summer and look else where  or do anything in their power to get him from Soton . 



Looking at Lamberts 32% win rate in his two seasons . We would probably be on 11 points .

[JUAN PABLO]

We have not progressed . Hes added more players in the summer and had another season to show the players what he wants them to do .

He comes up with some excuses after a game but never addresses them.

Going back to Bowery for Albrighton in the 90th minute , shows where we are at .  It is not good enough for Aston Villa.

[andyh]

Given this a lot of thought over the past few days and although I can fully understand where those calling for Lambert to be sacked are coming from, I wouldn't go down that route just yet.  He's still a fairly inexperienced manager and although his two seasons at the club have been pretty poor, I would give him one last chance to prove that he has learnt from the experience (providing we stay up - if we go down he should be sacked immediately).  I would personally give him the first ten games of next season and see where we stand after that.       

I can see where you are coming from. In order for it to work for any manager, they need to be backed.

He has been given money, but it has had to be spread so thin. We're likely to sign a new left back in the summer for the third window in a row. You can bemoan the collective failure of Lambert, Bennett and Luna, but then when you consider the outlay on two players is less than £2 million, it hardly constitutes a waste and more of a failed gamble. For every half a million pound Westwood or Bacuna that looks like they can offer something in a Premier League first XI and squad, you have your Bennett's and Luna's.

I want to see him given the opportunity to buy more players in that £5-8 million bracket, as when he does that he gets it right.

The quality of player and the right system should be symbiotic in the pursuit of good football. I think we lack both, when it comes to playing at home. I remember the style of football he wanted to play at West Ham, at home to Everton and away at Newcastle before abandoning it through a lack of quality to play that way. I still think that is how he wants to go about affairs, having stumbled on a system last January that he thought would see us through the next 18 months.

We have good strikers in Benteke and Kozak, good central players in Delph and Westwood- but that is where the quality stops. I want to see him given the opportunity to buy the midfielders capable of getting us on the front foot in a game at home and turning things around.

I can totally understand why people want to see him sacked.  The past two seasons have  been pretty poor on the whole, with things being particularly bad at home.  Having seen most of the home games during his time though, I can also see how much of a difference a couple of good attacking players would make, particularly in the final third. 

In the current footballing climate, it's hard to argue that he doesn't deserve to be sacked, but he's a fairly inexperienced manager and part of me wants to see if he is able to adapt and learn from his past mistakes before we give up on him.  We should be able to tell that from the first ten games of next season and if there is no noticeable improvement after that, particularly at home, then I think it would be time to part company with him.  Of course relegation or the availability of an outstanding candidate (someone like Frank De Boer at Ajax) would of course lead to a revision of that opinion.

I also believe that it's wrong to apportion all the blame to Lambert, as many of the problems were present at the club before he arrived.  He's just been unable to address the downward curve that the club seems to have been on since the final days of O'Neill's tenure.

 

We have LOST 50% of our home games over the last 2 seasons.
That's the equivalent of a 1 full seasons worth of home games lost, in 2 seasons !!!!!

I think it will take a hell of a lot more than a couple of 'good attacking players' to put things right.