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

[itbrvilla]

Has anybody read this?

http://avillafan.com/site/12146/another-turbulent-week-at-aston-villa/

Interesting and spot on.  Over £200M spent and the team is arguable no better than the Dolly/Ellis team.  We have become insignificant and I can't help but worry about the damage done to the image and reputation/standing of the club long term.

Interesting his comments comparing Hughton's record at Norwich vs Lambchop's at Villa.

Where does the £200m figure come from? It is hardly relevant to this thread given that he has spent less than a quarter of that amount.

I'm talking about Lerner.

[Mister E]

I do believe that it is a misnomer that season ticket sales will plummet. As has rightly been said, our fans have ben magnificent all season and continue to come in their thousands. Historically, even during worse times like this, we have still managed to maintain our season ticket sales and there is still a big enough Premiership pull to ensure that we won’t see a collapse of the ilk that will worry our board. Worst case scenario would be a couple of thousand who don’t renew and a couple of thousand down on match day tickets. We would end up with a Villa Park averaging under 27,000 per game – Wouldn't be the first time and I doubt it will worry the board.

RL / PF acted very quickly to offload TSM, apparently because the ST sales forecast was looking horrible.
My sense - if this site is any sort of barometer - is that ST holders will vote with their feet and not renew unless there is change in manager. RL and PF will know pretty soon what the sales forecast trends out at and will act as soon as the season ends if necessary.
The challenge, as ever, is: who to replace Lambert?

[Legion]

I received a letter today about renewing next season. I filed it in the bin.

[PeterWithesShin]

From a purely financial point of view, losing a bunch of ST holders doesn't mean much. 5000 don't renew = what, approx £2.5m a year at £500 a pop? A years wages for one player. And of those 5K I would imagine on average they will still attend a number of games so it won't be a total loss of that income anyway.
Long gone are the days when clubs relied on match day income. Us old gits will remember clubs having a break even average attendance figure and they were pretty screwed if they were much below it. Compare that with x million to sack Lambert and his staff.

Ain't modern football grand.

[nick harper]

I do believe that it is a misnomer that season ticket sales will plummet. As has rightly been said, our fans have ben magnificent all season and continue to come in their thousands. Historically, even during worse times like this, we have still managed to maintain our season ticket sales and there is still a big enough Premiership pull to ensure that we won’t see a collapse of the ilk that will worry our board. Worst case scenario would be a couple of thousand who don’t renew and a couple of thousand down on match day tickets. We would end up with a Villa Park averaging under 27,000 per game – Wouldn't be the first time and I doubt it will worry the board.

RL / PF acted very quickly to offload TSM, apparently because the ST sales forecast was looking horrible.
My sense - if this site is any sort of barometer - is that ST holders will vote with their feet and not renew unless there is change in manager. RL and PF will know pretty soon what the sales forecast trends out at and will act as soon as the season ends if necessary.
The challenge, as ever, is: who to replace Lambert?

The club can obviously track how many season tickets are not being used at each home game. It would be interesting to know what that has been in recent weeks as that is obviously the core support. My guess is that if they are forecasting, those are the fans they may be contacting in the near future.

[Toronto Villa]

it's not just about season tickets but it is also about people not attending games, empty seats, not buying food, drinks, using the restaurant or club shop etc. It doesn't create a good impression and especially for sponsors or those with a commercial interest. If Aston Villa are playing well, are interesting and have solid attendances with a number of full houses then it generates revenues well beyond those just attending games. The click rate on our Chinese website will be a lot lower if we are shitting the bag again this time next year.

[tomd2103]

Has anybody read this?

http://avillafan.com/site/12146/another-turbulent-week-at-aston-villa/

Another pretty good read:

http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/06/divided-and-conquered-why-aston-villa-fans-must-not-allow-a-civil-war-to-break-out-at-villa-park-4690335/

[Witton Warrior]

I do believe that it is a misnomer that season ticket sales will plummet. As has rightly been said, our fans have ben magnificent all season and continue to come in their thousands. Historically, even during worse times like this, we have still managed to maintain our season ticket sales and there is still a big enough Premiership pull to ensure that we won’t see a collapse of the ilk that will worry our board. Worst case scenario would be a couple of thousand who don’t renew and a couple of thousand down on match day tickets. We would end up with a Villa Park averaging under 27,000 per game – Wouldn't be the first time and I doubt it will worry the board.

RL / PF acted very quickly to offload TSM, apparently because the ST sales forecast was looking horrible.
My sense - if this site is any sort of barometer - is that ST holders will vote with their feet and not renew unless there is change in manager. RL and PF will know pretty soon what the sales forecast trends out at and will act as soon as the season ends if necessary.
The challenge, as ever, is: who to replace Lambert?

The club can obviously track how many season tickets are not being used at each home game. It would be interesting to know what that has been in recent weeks as that is obviously the core support. My guess is that if they are forecasting, those are the fans they may be contacting in the near future.

Well I have been to every League game and 2 Cup games and they have rung twice and sent a letter today.
Will be writing a polite refusal back with a few reasons why I won't be renewing (with the rider that a half-ticket will be purchased if there is an upturn in quality.

[PeterWithesShin]

it's not just about season tickets but it is also about people not attending games, empty seats, not buying food, drinks, using the restaurant or club shop etc. It doesn't create a good impression and especially for sponsors or those with a commercial interest. If Aston Villa are playing well, are interesting and have solid attendances with a number of full houses then it generates revenues well beyond those just attending games. The click rate on our Chinese website will be a lot lower if we are shitting the bag again this time next year.

Sponsorship will mainly be based on us being a PL club, so exposure on tv rather than people in the ground. As I said, ain't modern football grand.

[Toronto Villa]

it's not just about season tickets but it is also about people not attending games, empty seats, not buying food, drinks, using the restaurant or club shop etc. It doesn't create a good impression and especially for sponsors or those with a commercial interest. If Aston Villa are playing well, are interesting and have solid attendances with a number of full houses then it generates revenues well beyond those just attending games. The click rate on our Chinese website will be a lot lower if we are shitting the bag again this time next year.

Sponsorship will mainly be based on us being a PL club, so exposure on tv rather than people in the ground. As I said, ain't modern football grand.

yes, but in order to go beyond your existing revenue streams as part of the wonderful FFP you have generate income elsewhere. Being in PL gives every club a great starting point, but it is how you broaden your reach that can help get you to move to the next level. That's why clubs go on these elaborate tours mid season. If we went to Dubai or New York very few people relatively speaking are watching PL Aston Villa as opposed to PL Tottenham or Arsenal or Man City. The club are going to be interested in how we are portayed away from Villa Park by Non-Villa fans and in the media as much and arguably moreso than local fans who will likely show loyalty in some capacity come what may. Football fans are daft that way. Look how many people still show up to Villa park as evidence of that.

[JUAN PABLO]

From a purely financial point of view, losing a bunch of ST holders doesn't mean much. 5000 don't renew = what, approx £2.5m a year at £500 a pop? A years wages for one player. And of those 5K I would imagine on average they will still attend a number of games so it won't be a total loss of that income anyway.
Long gone are the days when clubs relied on match day income. Us old gits will remember clubs having a break even average attendance figure and they were pretty screwed if they were much below it. Compare that with x million to sack Lambert and his staff.

Ain't modern football grand.

and they are losing money where they are finishing every year -  I mean a 15th compared to a 10th is going to cost a few quid too.

[saunders_heroes]

After two seasons of truly horrendous shite, why on earth would we want to give him more money to waste and more time to drag us backwards ?

I don't recall ANY of this 'lets give him more money/time' nonsense when McLeish was in charge. And he did just as bad (or good depending on how bad you think the job is being done) a job, if not slightly less depressing than Lambert's currently doing it.

The difference is McLeish didn't have the foresight to bring in the likes of Benteke, Kozak, Vlaar, Okore etc. He blew his money on N'Zogbia, Hutton and Given. We also played the kind of football which saw us create hardly any goalscoring chances.

You're pushing it at bit with Kozak and Okore. What have they done in a Villa shirt to prove they're top class?
Benteke is the only player I'd give him credit for. The others are either gash, average or unproven.

[Clampy]

After two seasons of truly horrendous shite, why on earth would we want to give him more money to waste and more time to drag us backwards ?

I don't recall ANY of this 'lets give him more money/time' nonsense when McLeish was in charge. And he did just as bad (or good depending on how bad you think the job is being done) a job, if not slightly less depressing than Lambert's currently doing it.

The difference is McLeish didn't have the foresight to bring in the likes of Benteke, Kozak, Vlaar, Okore etc. He blew his money on N'Zogbia, Hutton and Given. We also played the kind of football which saw us create hardly any goalscoring chances.

You're pushing it at bit with Kozak and Okore. What have they done in a Villa shirt to prove they're top class?
Benteke is the only player I'd give him credit for. The others are either gash, average or unproven.

What I meant was he looked elsewhere other than the premiership, something we used to accuse MON of not doing enough. And where did I say they were top class?

[ez]

I believe a lot of us are thinking how big a gamble it is to go into a season with a manager you are far from convinced is the man for the job. I reckon Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner would be more likely thinking what a gamble it is to get rid of a manager you are still some way from thinking is not the man for the job.

Agree, Damo. I'd also imagine the personal relationship comes into it too. Randy seems to be very happy, trusting and probably loyal to Paul Lambert. I really don't expect him to want to change and imagine he sees Lambert as a long term manager that needs his support in getting the club back on track, both on the pitch and financially.

What he's counting on is the unconditional loyalty of the fans who have been brilliant again this season. He may be in for a nasty surprise over the summer when he sees the season ticket sales.

Possibly, but when it comes to it the choice of going down the match or trudging round B & Q with the other half then suddenly Villa Park will seem a far more attractive proposition. In fact they could use that as their next marketing push.

Seriously, my guess is that whoever is in charge unless we spend the sort of money that makes it look like we are serious then season ticket sales will suffer.

It's a myth that lapsed season ticket holders like me spend our Saturday afternoons in B&Q with our other halfs. I watch the villa games live.

[phildaniels]

Just a note of caution.

We don't hear much from Lambert.

He's generally asinine in pre and post match pressers. To an extent it's part of their training. Sheff U in the Cup might be the exception but he's at length defended the circumstances of that perceived error.

There's a short piece on Sky today saying he needs to talk to Lerner/PF about injury cover.

An unusual candor. The first sign of defense, no matter how subtle? A public statement his role is impaired?

As a player he left club football in Scotland whilst contracted and headed for Germany on a whim.

When leaving Colchester United and Norwich City there were few pleasantries. Still none at Carrow Road. They recently blocked a player sale to Aston Villa out of spite whilst preparing to fire their own manager.

You might think his stock his low with us.

Do not underestimate his ambition and his close circle of friends. On the basis things aren't perfect in the B6 garden might he want to engineer a move? Possibly overseas? Could he have consulted someone who knows the current Aston Villa administration rather well for advice?

Ambitious, driven people with good networks in their field move around.

If he departs abruptly on his terms are we left in an even deeper hole than the one we're in?

I hope Lambet's reign turns out to be good for Aston Villa. 

If it doesn't, can we recruit efficiently and possibly at haste?