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

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I don't want Laudrup. Another lazy manager who doesn't do enough work during the week and who has the ideas but actually can't be bothered implementing them. People think this has just become the thing to say since he left Swansea, but going back people have been on at him for years about this.

He'd be yet another short term manager as well, he tends to do well in his first season at a club before everything goes to shit in the second.

I wouldn't be too upset if Lambert left in the summer, but as has been said before, I wouldn't trust the board to make a good choice for a replacement, and even if they did, I can't see many good managers wanting to work under the budget constraints.

I don't think there's anything wrong with having a 'short term manager' providing there's a continuation in approach with the successor. Swansea have proven that it can be done with Martinez (2 years), Sousa (1 year), Rogers (2 years) and Laudrup (18 months). What they have done is demonstrate in Laudrup's case is replace and progress rather than stick with a manager and hope it goes right. It's a brave, bold move, especially when you consider he'd won them a cup last season.

We have shown the same level of continuation with MON, McLeish and Lambert all being tactically clueless managers. Houllier tried to buck the trend but for various reasons he was replaced. Whoever is the next manager will hopefully come in and get the team playing football. Yes he won't have much money to play with and he'll most certainly have to work with the majority of the existing squad but for me, that's no big deal.

I'd love to see a manager come in and develop the existing squad. There's plenty of talent there, it just needs nurturing by somebody that better understands the basics and can help those players reach their true potential. As I've mentioned before, Rene Girard would be on my list, a manager/coach that would suit us perfectly. Superb at developing players, used to working on a tight budget but knows how to get the best out of what he has whilst playing some great football. Apart from managing to win the league with Montpellier, he's now got little Lille up to third, just 6 points off the billionaires of Monaco.

[PaulTheVillan]

McLeish was sacked after a disappointing season.

Therefore Lambert should go.

[not3bad]

The point of sacking Mcleish was to get someone better, but it looks like Lambert has failed to improve us. Two seasons is more than he'd get in most other premier league teams. Maybe more than he'd get at any other premier league team.

[Clampy]

He does come across as very limited tactically. Bradford has been brought up numerous times but it's a classic example. In that first leg, Bannan and Delph were getting overrun again and again in the midfield and Bennett was having a shocker of a game. Any other manager would have thrown on a midfielder to shore things up a bit. He threw on another striker.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

He does come across as very limited tactically. Bradford has been brought up numerous times but it's a classic example. In that first leg, Bannan and Delph were getting overrun again and again in the midfield and Bennett was having a shocker of a game. Any other manager would have thrown on a midfielder to shore things up a bit. He threw on another striker.

Not only did he throw on another striker, he played without any width with everything down the middle which was bread and butter for two lower league centre halves. It was embarrassing.

[rob_bridge]

Surely not even our board are stupid enough to give him a new extended contract.

If he gets sacked he could have few complaints, if he gets to stay on in the summer he is can consider himself very fortunate.

If he gets an extension at this stage then it would be proof, not that anymore is needed, of the utter and absolute absence of footballing expertise amongst the board and that no lessons had been learned from the £15m or so we had to shell out in compensation to previous incumbents and their assistants.

[sirlordbaltimore]

If the board really believed this ...

"Aston Villa can confirm that Alex McLeish's contract has been terminated with immediate effect. The club has been disappointed with this season's results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans.

"The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this."
Villa chairman Randy Lerner said: "We need to be clear and candid with ourselves and with supporters about what we have lacked in recent years.

"Compelling play and results that instil a sense of confidence that Villa is on the right track have been plainly absent.

"The most immediate action that we can take is to look carefully at our options in terms of bringing in a new manager who sees the club's potential and embraces our collective expectations."


then Lambert is a dead man walking.

[Monty]

If the board really believed this ...

"Aston Villa can confirm that Alex McLeish's contract has been terminated with immediate effect. The club has been disappointed with this season's results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans.

"The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this."
Villa chairman Randy Lerner said: "We need to be clear and candid with ourselves and with supporters about what we have lacked in recent years.

"Compelling play and results that instil a sense of confidence that Villa is on the right track have been plainly absent.

"The most immediate action that we can take is to look carefully at our options in terms of bringing in a new manager who sees the club's potential and embraces our collective expectations."


then Lambert is a dead man walking.

Very true. If we're judging him by the criteria on which he was hired, he really has failed.

[rob_bridge]

If the board really believed this ...

"Aston Villa can confirm that Alex McLeish's contract has been terminated with immediate effect. The club has been disappointed with this season's results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans.

"The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this."
Villa chairman Randy Lerner said: "We need to be clear and candid with ourselves and with supporters about what we have lacked in recent years.

"Compelling play and results that instil a sense of confidence that Villa is on the right track have been plainly absent.

"The most immediate action that we can take is to look carefully at our options in terms of bringing in a new manager who sees the club's potential and embraces our collective expectations."


then Lambert is a dead man walking.

Very true. If we're judging him by the criteria on which he was hired, he really has failed.

Unless of course with the Newspeak that ...collective expectations..... have been lowered so much.

To be fair had we stuck with TSM we would have been relegated in the 2nd season. No doubt. He had no idea how to approach a game to win it.

For all Lambert's faults we haven't been relegated - well not yet.

[Toronto Villa]

If the last 6 games are bad or we just squeak out a couple of more points you'll be reading the same about Lambert on May 12th

[mr underhill]

is it not feasible though, that Randy & Paul did learn something from the previous debacle with MON , Houllier and TSM and that certain KPI's etc. were included in Lambert's contract which, hopefully, made any termination ahead of the conclusion of his contracted three years less onerous financially?  maybe not..

[not3bad]

is it not feasible though, that Randy & Paul did learn something from the previous debacle with MON , Houllier and TSM and that certain KPI's etc. were included in Lambert's contract which, hopefully, made any termination ahead of the conclusion of his contracted three years less onerous financially?  maybe not..

Would a manager going into a premier league job agree to such conditions? Considering hardly any of them make it to the end of their contract nowdays the compensation is almost part of the package from the start.

[KevinGage]

Chris makes a very reasonable point on this thread (or one of t'others)  about Lambert signing the bulk of the current squad, ergo he should be given as much of a chance as possible to get the best out of them.  Rather than a new guy coming in and starting a whole new rebuilding job from scratch. 

Lambert has clearly seen something in the likes of Bennett, Tonev and so on, and he might be better placed to get something approximating form out of them.

I would have been of that opinion too, going into the second half of the season.   Despite our form being largely indifferent > poor, we were looking more stable defensively compared to last year.   Our vulnerability defending set pieces has largely been eradicated too.   All good things.

But in truth, we have looked poor for about 70% of the past two seasons. With unwanted records and record defeats being generated left right and centre.

Ultimately it comes down to what we (or more accurately the board) believe to be the bigger risk, getting a new guy in and all the turmoil that can bring. Or letting the current bloke continue.  I'm increasingly coming around to the idea that the latter scenario would be the most reckless.

[Mister E]

Chris makes a very reasonable point on this thread (or one of t'others)  about Lambert signing the bulk of the current squad, ergo he should be given as much of a chance as possible to get the best out of them.  Rather than a new guy coming in and starting a whole new rebuilding job from scratch. 

Lambert has clearly seen something in the likes of Bennett, Tonev and so on, and he might be better placed to get something approximating form out of them.

I would have been of that opinion too, going into the second half of the season.   Despite our form being largely indifferent > poor, we were looking more stable defensively compared to last year.   Our vulnerability defending set pieces has largely been eradicated too.   All good things.

But in truth, we have looked poor for about 70% of the past two seasons. With unwanted records and record defeats being generated left right and centre.

Ultimately it comes down to what we (or more accurately the board) believe to be the bigger risk, getting a new guy in and all the turmoil that can bring. Or letting the current bloke continue.  I'm increasingly coming around to the idea that the latter scenario would be the most reckless.

This is the reasoning that would suggest Lambert will get until Xmas to 'turn the ship around'.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

It really depends on who we bring in. I don't believe for one milisecond a new manager means "starting from scratch", partly because we don't have the money to replace the squad and also because there's not much on the tactical side to "scratch".

The only "turmoil" we'll see is if Lerner/Faulkner haven't being doing their homework and have no contingency plan. There's plenty of options out there, some seem ideal to continue with the current 'plan', in fact it would be difficult to get it wrong. My only concern is that the board either do nothing in the summer and then we're forced to scrape the barrel at Christmas or set up such a long list of requirements,  that the only manager left on the list is Gordon Strachan.