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

[saunders_heroes]

I'd say that in terms of value for pounds spent lambert is way ahead of MON, Houllier and Mcleish

Benteke one of the best value signings anywhere in Europe in the last couple of years

Guzan vlaar Westwood and lowton last season were very good for the prices paid. I fancy ok ore will be a bargain

Some bad buys too but the main problem is that we've bought a whole new squad on the cheap and our youngsters aren't as good as we'd hoped

You're really struggling classing Guzan, Vlaar, Westwood and Lowton as good signings. Guzan is a bog standard goalkeeper who has actually been a Villa player since 2008 and the others would make it into my worst Villa line up of the last 30+ years.

[Toronto Villa]

I don't think I've seen anyone call Vlaar total rubbish.

I think a few people came close to calling him that in his first season which was completely unjustified.

I thought he was hopeless last season. Improved a bit this season though. Still nothing to get excited about.

you're entitled to your opinion off course, I just don't think many people will agree with you.

[Toronto Villa]

Guzan is a bog standard goalkeeper

*not surprised you'd say that* emoticon

[caster troy]

Give him till Christmas and run the risk of having to find a decent manager in January as another relegation battle looms? No thanks.

We should count ourselves very lucky that we've survived these last two seasons and ditch him now. New boss appointed in June, full pre-season, chance to bring in some players. He should have been sacked about 10 times over, it would be madness to keep going.

[SoccerHQ]

Yeah but Collins played for a team that finished 6th (let's ignore the season we finished 16th with him as a regular) so is a demi god while Vlaar is total rubbish.

Vlaar? Total rubbish?

I meant it as SH seems to go with league position when deciding if players and managers are any good for us.

Hence him praising Collins and Dunne when they left for contributing one year when we finished 6th and calling Guzan bog standard.

[SoccerHQ]

I don't think I've seen anyone call Vlaar total rubbish.

I think a few people came close to calling him that in his first season which was completely unjustified.

I thought he was hopeless last season. Improved a bit this season though. Still nothing to get excited about.

Yet you praise Collins and Dunne on their leaving threads?

[Legion]

Point taken. Also, Guzan is hardly bog-standard.

[saunders_heroes]

Guzan is a bog standard goalkeeper

*not surprised you'd say that* emoticon

And the way you talk about the team you'd have thought we were a perennial top 6 and not perennial relegation strugglers.

[SoccerHQ]

You really think Guzan is worse than the likes of Carson and Sorensen?

Personally I think he's on a par with Friedel but has just suffered playing behind such a poor backline for his two years in goal.

Carson had a far superior backline infront of him in 07/08 and yet still conceded a similar amount of goals to what Brad has this year.

[saunders_heroes]

Yeah but Collins played for a team that finished 6th (let's ignore the season we finished 16th with him as a regular) so is a demi god while Vlaar is total rubbish.

Vlaar? Total rubbish?

I meant it as SH seems to go with league position when deciding if players and managers are any good for us.

Hence him praising Collins and Dunne when they left for contributing one year when we finished 6th and calling Guzan bog standard.

I'm old fashioned like that. Pack a team full of mainly poor players and you'll get a team that finishes low down in the league.

[saunders_heroes]

Point taken. Also, Guzan is hardly bog-standard.

He's nothing special, that's my point. Oh and his distribution is crap.

[PaulWinch again]

Guzan, Vlaar, Benteke, Delph are all good players or better than that and a team can be built around them. I also think Westwood, Weimann and Bacuna could be good as well.

[SoccerHQ]

Yeah but Collins played for a team that finished 6th (let's ignore the season we finished 16th with him as a regular) so is a demi god while Vlaar is total rubbish.

Vlaar? Total rubbish?

I meant it as SH seems to go with league position when deciding if players and managers are any good for us.

Hence him praising Collins and Dunne when they left for contributing one year when we finished 6th and calling Guzan bog standard.

I'm old fashioned like that. Pack a team full of mainly poor players and you'll get a team that finishes low down in the league.

Yes but Dunne and Collins were regulars in the team that finished 16th in 11/12. We really should've finished somewhere round there in 10/11 aswell, 9th was a very flattering finish for us.

So for 2/3 of their time here they were in a defence of a similar standard to the one Vlaar is in now.

[saunders_heroes]

You really think Guzan is worse than the likes of Carson and Sorensen?

Personally I think he's on a par with Friedel but has just suffered playing behind such a poor backline for his two years in goal.

Carson had a far superior backline infront of him in 07/08 and yet still conceded a similar amount of goals to what Brad has this year.

Ha! Carson is one of the worse keepers I've ever seen at Villa. He was a car crash at times. Sorensen was decent. Guzan isn't fit to lace Friedel boots though.
And let's face it, the only reason we resigned Guzan is because we dumped Given in with the bomb squad because of his wages.

[saunders_heroes]

Guzan, Vlaar, Benteke, Delph are all good players or better than that and a team can be built around them. I also think Westwood, Weimann and Bacuna could be good as well.

Other than Benteke I think only Delph is Premier League quality, though he's gone off the boil recently.