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

[ClaretAndBlueBlood]

Fulham have spent more on one player than Lambert has spent in total this season, in fact the most he has spent on one player Benteke) is still less than what they paid for McCormack.

I have stood by PL from day one and taken a load of abuse for it.  Whilst things have been tough and the home form hard to tolerate, I have always believed in him, I go to a lot of away games so maybe took some of the hardship from my perspective.

I still believe he worked miracles keeping us up for those two years, much more is still to do however.

well done Paul.

UTV.

this is generally the way I have felt / am feeling. He really has been dealt a crap hand to play with, rebuilding a squad with players who, on the whole, are not premier league quality. It has been hard to watch most of the time but I feel he has done a reasonable job in very difficult circumstances.

The hardest part to understand has been the bomb squad and the line that they weren't played due to their high wages, presumably we were still paying them those high wages for them to train with the kids and go shopping on match days. But then who's restriction was that?

[aj2k77]

He's made too many tactical and personel mistakes the last few years for me to get over carried away by a great first 4 games.

Come the end of the season, if we've had a solid season, no humiliations and it looks like he's learnt from many mistakes then he's got to gain a lot of credit for it.

As for a new contract? I guess that would depend on if any takeover were in the pipeline.

[Dante Lavelli]

Lambert mentioned post match that things were progressing well both on and OFF the pitch at Villa.  Seemed a strange thing to say although I suppose he could be referring to that Fox fella who has joined.  Personally I'm not sure that is progress, more essential maintenance, so I hope he was alluding to other things - maybe a takeover or sorting contracts for a few key players.

[Billy Walker]

Paul Lambert hasn't achieved anything yet (and I'm sure he'd be the first to say that) but the job he has had to do for us has been (in my opinion) one of the toughest in the Premier League:  a complete rebuild whilst cutting down the wage bill. 

What I like about Lambert is that he seems to get the club, its potential and its history.  Not only that but he seems to want to be here and to actually build something.  Look at our squad now and appreciate the depth we have - the logic of blooding the youngsters a couple of years back is now there for all to see.  These things take time and fair play to Villa fans (and the Chairman) for giving Lambert time - he would have been hounded out of most clubs after eighteen months.

There will be ups and downs again this season but, bit by bit, we are getting back up there.  When the likes of Sanchez are up to speed and Vlaar and Benteke are back we will have one hell of a spine to our team.  Next match let's get Villa Park rocking and take three points off Wenger.

[Dante Lavelli]

The big question mark which has not been answered yet this season is our home form and how we break teams down.
If he has a strategy for that too then we can start looking to the future with him at the helm with a degree of confidence.

[QBVILLA]

To be fair to him Lambert took the flak when the results were dire so he deserves some credit for the start we've made. When the fixtures came out I thought we'd be doing well to get 4 points after the first 4 games.

[MoetVillan]

I think he has made quite a few errors.  But on the whole he is working well to improve the squad.  One of the parts I have liked about him is working with youth, that for me is one of my favourite parts of the game, seeing players develop.  I have also liked the fact that he is always up for a game against the big boys.  We have had a lot of managers in the past who sacrifice these and concentrate on the more winnable fixtures.  I dont see that in Lambert and I like it, testing yourself against the top teams.  His purchasing has been up and down, but on the whole it has improved the squad while being kept on competitive wages and not blowing a lot of money we dont have.  We have had some tut, but you always get that, we have also had some brilliant results.  Most of all, I get the impression he loves being manager of our team.  He gets berated for saying we played well on post match interviews, usually on these pages, when any unbiased person would suggest this is not the case, but he is very very biased....and heck I like that.  I have remained faithful to him as I think he has a lot of limitations put upon him, and despite that, we are second in the league after four games, and not on alphabetical order and our goals against line looks fabulous. 

[ozzjim]

A match between the current side, and the side at the end of the MON's final season would be interesting actually. I think the later would win, but it would be tight.

[tomd2103]

To be fair to him Lambert took the flak when the results were dire so he deserves some credit for the start we've made. When the fixtures came out I thought we'd be doing well to get 4 points after the first 4 games.

Agree with that.  The first three fixtures were the acid test for me and had results gone against us (especially at home against Newcastle and Hull) then there would have been mounting pressure on him.  As it is, we've made a very good start and he deserves credit for that. 

[Ger Regan]

At the moment we're planning as if we have a plan. It's nice watching us play and to being able to see what we're trying to do.

[ozzjim]

To be fair to him Lambert took the flak when the results were dire so he deserves some credit for the start we've made. When the fixtures came out I thought we'd be doing well to get 4 points after the first 4 games.

Agree with that.  The first three fixtures were the acid test for me and had results gone against us (especially at home against Newcastle and Hull) then there would have been mounting pressure on him.  As it is, we've made a very good start and he deserves credit for that. 

We are 6 points better off than we were in the corresponding 4 games last season. A result of any sort against Arsenal will be another one gained on last season.

[bob]

A match between the current side, and the side at the end of the MON's final season would be interesting actually. I think the later would win, but it would be tight.

0-0

Both teams trying to counter, neither really wanting the ball.

[supertom]

We've a run of games through October and November which will be a really good gauge of where we're at. Once we get this tough next four out the way, we're playing games that largely we should be expecting to take points in, and in particular, some sides we should be looking to dominate at home. Generally these games we've not done nearly well enough in under Lambert, so I think the run of games against the sort of bottom 12 sides (with Spurs to play within that too) we'll have should be an indication of how much things have (or haven't) improved.
Looking at our fixtures I think we've a good chance of getting a massive way toward guaranteed safety before the year is out. Get to 25-30 points by the beginning of next year, and we're in fantastic shape. Given our start, and the impending return of Mr Benteke, that's not out of the realms of possibility.

[pauliewalnuts]

We got a decent start last year, too. Won at Arsenal and then got conned out of all three points at Chelsea.

I appreciate four games is longer than that, but it is still only four games. There have been plenty of mistakes made in the past, and I am not sure we've seen enough to forget about them just yet.

He deserves credit for four of the first five games though (the Leyton Orient defeat felt somewhat familiar), that's for sure. Let's see how things pan out.

[PaulWinch again]

We got a decent start last year, too. Won at Arsenal and then got conned out of all three points at Chelsea.

I appreciate four games is longer than that, but it is still only four games. There have been plenty of mistakes made in the past, and I am not sure we've seen enough to forget about them just yet.

He deserves credit for four of the first five games though (the Leyton Orient defeat felt somewhat familiar), that's for sure. Let's see how things pan out.

I'd agree, but I'm a bit more hopeful as there seems to be much more to the squad now.