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

[olaftab]

Well that depends on when we make the change. Whether it's planned or emergency. If we are firmly fixed in the bottom 3 at Xmas then answer is, unfortunately, Pulis however better would be to get the right man in now and therefore avoid a panic appointment.

[olaftab]

If I remember correctly, Stoke looked like a relegation candidate in Pulis' last season. Granted, he did a good job at Crystal Palace, but I'm not sure his skills set extends beyond making a team hard to beat and ugly to watch.

My prediction, if we appointed Pulis, is that he would make the team stronger in the short term by giving clear instructions about how to play. In he long run, the novelty would wear off, and the next time we hit bad form, some people would wonder how Lerner managed to appoint someone even worse than Lambert.

Now that would be some achievement!

[curiousorange]

My gut feeling that Pulis would get us out of a hole is tempered by the idea that he'd be given a four year contract before he did so.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Just because Pulis is a better manager then Lambert, it doesn't mean we need him.

We deserve a bloody lot better.

[ronshirt]

An absentee owner who put the club up for sale but could not for whatever reason attract any buyers. A manager who went down the unconsidered trifles route and when that didn't bring much glory against Bradford then decided that cynical pension-swellers would be the answer. A coaching staff booted for alleged bullying. A bomb squad. A fondue set. A cuddly toy.

[pauliewalnuts]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2815490/Cristiano-Ronaldo-scored-19-goals-Aston-Villa-net.html

Ronaldo has scored 21 goals since we last scored (19 in this article, plus two more today)

[supertom]

If I remember correctly, Stoke looked like a relegation candidate in Pulis' last season. Granted, he did a good job at Crystal Palace, but I'm not sure his skills set extends beyond making a team hard to beat and ugly to watch.

My prediction, if we appointed Pulis, is that he would make the team stronger in the short term by giving clear instructions about how to play. In he long run, the novelty would wear off, and the next time we hit bad form, some people would wonder how Lerner managed to appoint someone even worse than Lambert.

Now that would be some achievement!

Pulis had one season too many really. Still, even in his worst season he turned it round toward the end (they looked doomed when we beat them. Awful and getting worse) but they ended up finishing on 42 points and pretty comfortable. That was his worst finish, which is pretty good for a club like Stoke in fairness (not so much that season given their expenditure).

Again, I'd take him in a heart beat as a short term option. Long term, we'd need someone more progressive. But for a strong finish this season and a solid, comfortable season next, he's well worth a go. And his football, though often dour, has always been effective at home and is still Barca-esque compared to the filth Lambert dishes up.

I don't think he'd ever come close to matching Lambert's penchant for breaking negative records.

[Toronto Villa]

thing is the likes of Pulis doesn't come in a short term package. He'd ask for 3 years minimum by which time the glow of the initial turnaround will have well and truly worn off.

[Malandro]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2815490/Cristiano-Ronaldo-scored-19-goals-Aston-Villa-net.html

Ronaldo has scored 21 goals since we last scored (19 in this article, plus two more today)

I've been on a cruise ship twice since we scored

[brontebilly]

Counter attack was best played under MON. With a younger, leaner Gabby, a rising star in Young, a  savvy monster like Carew being fed by the likes of Milner and Barry we were simply devastating at times. We played just how you described Brian. We could soak it up and then break with incredible speed. We neither have the defence now to absorb that level of pressure, nor the midfield to help us break quickly. We have done it on occasion but it is all too rare. We have turned into a team than keeps absorbing pressure until we eventually snap and concede.

MON's highpoint was the 07/08 season where we scored 71 goals. We got more points in 08/09 and 09/10 but scored nearly 20 goals less. Carew's injuries and playing clowns like Cuellar and Heskey didnt help in this regard. Teams wised up to our talisman Ashley Young too.

I think a lot on here are in denial about the quality in our squad. I think its awful frankly, granted Sunderland, Burnley, QPR and others are in the same boat. Robbie Earle surprisingly made a good point after the QPR game, that Villa have become the nursing home club brimful of players at the end of their careers going nowhere. 5 years of austerity have left us in a right old mess on the pitch.

As for new managers, Pulis ffs. The club needs gutting and would suggest coaching at every level in the club needs to be ripped up and started again. Would like someone like Thomas Tuchel or many other progressive young European coaches to be in consideration when Lambert is finally put out of his misery.

[pauliewalnuts]

 Agree with the above.

The squad is crap but Lambert manages to make them look even worse than they are.

[andyh]

I want lambert out as much (if not more) than the next man.
BUT, to covet Tony Pulis is just too much.

[Legion]

No to Pulis. I'd prefer Moyes to replace Lambert. Or a tub of lard.

[Adam B]

Pulis would be a terrible, self-deprecating appointment, a manager that would set us back another 4-5 years. It has to be someone who can take us forward.

[Eigentor]

I'd say that the biggest problem is that the few good players we have -- Delph, Benteke, Vlaar (and perhaps Senderos to some degree) -- are very injury prone. Half of the time they will be on the sidelines or playing at 70 per cent. The rest are, sadly, either journeymen, or players from the lower divisions or own academy that have struggled to adapt to the Premier League.

Maybe Lambert doesn't get enough out of them, but I think any manager would struggle to deliever top half finishes with a team where Gabby, Weimann, Westwood, Cleverley and Cissokho play regulary.