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

[supertom]

We can't begin that process mid-way through a season because we'd end up going down for sure probably. We've got to get organised, motivated, survive in the short term. Get to a level of consistency where we can be comfortable, keep hold of our better players. Then either this summer, or the next one we appoint someone like Koeman, who will install a footballing philosophy at the club and start getting us to play the right way. Someone who will use the budget we have to buy footballers. Quality with potential. Someone who can make us cope if we have to sell our better players.

Koeman's doing well, but he wasn't the one who instilled their current footballing ethos. It wasn't even Pochettino who did that. It started under Nigel Adkins. Who's currently in mid-table Championship obscurity with Reading. Just goes to show how little sense football makes...

It's what we need to start though. We'd actually started doing it with Houllier but we've taken one huge leap back after another since he left.

It'll take a good 2-3 years to really get us playing to a reasonable level of football I think. But we've got to start next summer ideally.

[supertom]

I think we need someone old school with experience in the short term to keep us up this year, or next. Pulis is the man who could do that who is available.

Long term we do need a change of emphasis. We need to change the culture of the club, but for as well as Southampton and Swansea are doing for example, it's taken them years and they've had to attain a certain consistency in their appointments to carry that through.

The thing is, you can't have both what you want in the first paragraph and what you want in the second.

Pulis isn't going to come here, keep us up, then walk away. If he came here, we'd have to give him a reasonable amount of time to change us. The problem is there's not really anything he has demonstrated to suggest he's ever going to deliver what you want in your second paragraph.

I think the club needs changing from top to bottom. It did when Lambert arrived, too. It hasn't happened, but that's not because we don't need that change - we still do - it is because Lambert is clearly incapable of delivering it.

With the exception of a few games, I don't see any evidence we play better football than we did under McLeish. If he can't consistently move us on from such a low standard as that, then you have to wonder whether he's ever going to take us anywhere.

It's looking increasingly likely that we'll have to go down before we can really implement our change on footballing philosophy. Lerner has to either get interested again or hopefully find a willing buyer too.

[Tom_Mc9?]

Things can turn round in football - Pardew has somehow managed to turn things around at Newcastle by changing their style and getting a few wins under his belt. I'd ultimately like Lambert to turn things around but I think in terms of the majority of the fans' trust, I suspect the horse has bolted.

As for Mancini, pigs will fly before we get him. Like you said, he'd command a huge wage, but he'd also need to decrease his ego several fold.

[Olof's Beard]

]To put the tailspin into even starker reality.

Lambert's last 38 league games as far as I can work out from the beeb.

Played   Won    Lost  Drawn   Goals For   Goals Against   GD   Points
38            10       21      7       35                         65          -30      37

For the last 19 games or half seasons worth:

Played   Won    Lost  Drawn   Goals For   Goals Against   GD   Points
19              4         13     2         12                     39          -27     14

And that ladies and gentlemen is a recipe for obliteration, not just relegation, and 10 of those points came in the golden start to this season!

I didn't realise the last 19 games were that bad.  I know we are of passing interest to the media these days, but it's amazing that it hasn't been leapt on and Lambert been more roundly criticised.  14 points from half a season and 12 goals from half a season's worth of games.  Shameful.

[andyh]

nailed it in the first sentence there Tom.
   

[Ads]

I have not seen a single credible point ever made as to why being relegated would be some sort of revitalising tonic. It would be catastrophic and I wish such nonsense wouldn't raise its head on here, but alas, here we are.

We are Aston Villa, we belong in the top flight and that is where we will stay. What we need now is the Brian Little for 2014 to effect the change we want.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Things can turn round in football - Pardew has somehow managed to turn things around at Newcastle by changing their style and getting a few wins under his belt

I haven't checked the facts - although I have a feeling that someone will, just to make me look stupid - but I reckon that even if Lambert wins the next 10 games on the bounce, he'll still have a worse premier league record than Pardew. 

[Ads]

Things can turn round in football - Pardew has somehow managed to turn things around at Newcastle by changing their style and getting a few wins under his belt

I haven't checked the facts - although I have a feeling that someone will, just to make me look stupid - but I reckon that even if Lambert wins the next 10 games on the bounce, he'll still have a worse premier league record than Pardew. 

Would it really matter? We'd have just won ten on the bounce.

[mike]

I have not seen a single credible point ever made as to why being relegated would be some sort of revitalising tonic. It would be catastrophic and I wish such nonsense wouldn't raise its head on here, but alas, here we are.

We are Aston Villa, we belong in the top flight and that is where we will stay. What we need now is the Brian Little for 2014 to effect the change we want.

Quite agree. Can't believe those who think going down is a good thing.

[pauliewalnuts]

I have not seen a single credible point ever made as to why being relegated would be some sort of revitalising tonic. It would be catastrophic

Indeed.

Not only that, but why do people assume we'd come straight back up? There are plenty of teams who haven't, some of them decent sized clubs, too.

[Drummond]

We're not getting any fancy dan manager next, it just went happen unless they are allowed to invest. Which won't happen unless we get a new fancy dan owner.

So, we need someone who can makes a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Which is going to be tricky. I'm no big fan but there is, to my mind, something sensible about Pulis. He's a track record of over-performing, in the top flight, with run of the mill players. His teams seem to have a work ethic about them, and an attitude of defiance, a will to win and who cares if it ain't pretty? At the moment it's ugly and we lose.


He'd do me for 2-3 years, settle us down,
raise expectations and hope.

 Supporters don't complain when they win.

[Des Little]

I'm warming to the idea of Pulis.  I think we'd become harder to beat at home under him, which is what we need to do as an absolute priority.

[Tony Erdington]

All on here including me seem to be in agreement.

but it aint going to happen, the 2 main reasons,

lambert has just been given a four year contract

and lerner is not a sacking owner.

so although we can see for the sake of our club lambert has to go, cuz he's just not cutting it, he wont because he believes in his own ability as a manager, and lerner wont because his inability to see the facts.

How good Fox is I dont know but again he may well be just there for the no doubt handsome salary he's pulling down.

totally fed up

[Holte L2]

I'm warming to the idea of Pulis.  I think we'd become harder to beat at home under him, which is what we need to do as an absolute priority.

I've warmed to the idea of Pulis. He'd have us organised, and difficult to beat.
The players would know where they stand.  It wouldn't be pretty, but I think he'd have a positive impact.

[JUAN PABLO]

if we are in the bottom three come christmas

pulis needs a 5 mth contract with big bonuses