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

[adrenachrome]

Say what now?

Put up your dukes.

Name your seconds.

[brian green]

Great post Paulie. I would go even further and say such is the combination of incompetent manager and uncaring, obstinate owner that we are only a hairsbreadth away from the club wanting to be relegated.
It is like a car you have kept beyond its useful life. The cost of major repairs is so great that you have spent money on patching the exhaust, putting go fast stripes over the rust, put sawdust in the gearbox and wound the mileage back. You have in effect made a complete dog of what was once a fine car.  Too mean and too stupid to keep the car in good order, your only option is to sell it for scrap.
That is honestly how I feel at the moment. The perfect storm of secrecy, subterfuge, deceit, incompetence, naivety and lassitude throughout the club has resulted in us heading for the junk yard of the Championship where Lambert will be secure and Lerner will get a few quid back from a consortium of chancers.

[mr underhill]

some people don't know how lucky they are. I spent a few minutes last night listening to inconsolable Arsenal fans willing Wenger to do one after a 2-1 home defeat to Yanited. A manager who transformed both a club and much of the English game being vilified by fans for consistently  delivering a top four finish, champions league football,  the odd bit of silverware,   home crowds of 60k and healthy merchandising and sponsorship to give his owners most of what they want. What a bunch of whingeing wankers. Well, if they don't want him there's a nice comfy office waiting at BMH.

[richard moore]

some people don't know how lucky they are. I spent a few minutes last night listening to inconsolable Arsenal fans willing Wenger to do one after a 2-1 home defeat to Yanited. A manager who transformed both a club and much of the English game being vilified by fans for consistently  delivering a top four finish, champions league football,  the odd bit of silverware,   home crowds of 60k and healthy merchandising and sponsorship to give his owners most of what they want. What a bunch of whingeing wankers. Well, if they don't want him there's a nice comfy office waiting at BMH.

I find that comforting to read in a strange way. I always think of Arsenal fans as being as long suffering now as we are, but for different reasons and about 10 rungs up the ladder from us. They need to go and follow Chelsea if they want success, money is all that talks in modern day football and Arsenal fans could do with waking up and smelling the coffee

[richard moore]

Great post Paulie. I would go even further and say such is the combination of incompetent manager and uncaring, obstinate owner that we are only a hairsbreadth away from the club wanting to be relegated.
It is like a car you have kept beyond its useful life. The cost of major repairs is so great that you have spent money on patching the exhaust, putting go fast stripes over the rust, put sawdust in the gearbox and wound the mileage back. You have in effect made a complete dog of what was once a fine car.  Too mean and too stupid to keep the car in good order, your only option is to sell it for scrap.
That is honestly how I feel at the moment. The perfect storm of secrecy, subterfuge, deceit, incompetence, naivety and lassitude throughout the club has resulted in us heading for the junk yard of the Championship where Lambert will be secure and Lerner will get a few quid back from a consortium of chancers.

No way we will get relegated according to the troll on here. Absolutely no chance Brian. You and Paulie sum it up beautifully

[brian green]

Imagine what my daughter's house is like. Her partner is a whingeing gooner and she is of course a die hard Villa fan.
On top of everything Wenger has achieved he has maintained standards while the club built a new stadium without resorting to moving to a cheap greenfield location.
Man City have a council home, Chelsea are only at the planning stage for a new stadium, Liverpool not even there, likewise Tottenham. As for Yanited the Glazers would kill for Arsenal's freedom from debt.
Everything taken into consideration I think Arsenal are the best run club in the country.

[aj2k77]

Good post Paulie, nail on head. I wish I understood the finer workings of Lerner's thinking around this new contract. I can't help feeling that Lambert was so loyal to Villa/Lerner in some way that Lerner feels compelled to keeping him, no matter what.  I'm as pissed off as the rest. Lambert, under Ellis would not have survived this.

I believe the finer workings of Lerners thinking were along the lines of

4 year contract, job done
or
Finding another manager and the hassle it entails.....

Sign on the dotted line please Paul. Let's go again.

[Mister E]

It seems simple to me:Lerner wants out and is prepared to gamble with our Premiership status rather than getting a new manager in and going through the transition that it involves. Plus, he clearly trusts Lambert as a man.
Didn't he effectively run down the Browns for 2-3 years before selling? - he has mentally checked out and will only put in what is absolutely necessary (as he sees it).

And, yes, this is a period in my 50 years of supporting Villa that is perhaps as bland and negative as it's been.

[john e]

Lerner jumped the gun is my opinion,
Lamberts contract was coming to an end, we started the season  extremely well, all looked good in the garden after 5 games and Lerner acted to keep what he thought would continue

Unfortunatly it all returned to type and now he's boxed himself into a corner

If we keep losing and drop into the relegation spots for any length he will sack him

[silhillvilla]

I've been following for 36 years and this is the most insipid , negative era I can recall. Even when we went under Billy Mc in 86 it didn't feel this bad and depressing. The club is literally a car crash . Owner wants out but can't sell, failing manager awarded 4 year extension , pantomime assistant manager , 2 best players winding down contracts , tom fox another CEO with zero football knowledge .

[Chris Smith]

Good post Paulie, nail on head. I wish I understood the finer workings of Lerner's thinking around this new contract. I can't help feeling that Lambert was so loyal to Villa/Lerner in some way that Lerner feels compelled to keeping him, no matter what.  I'm as pissed off as the rest. Lambert, under Ellis would not have survived this.

Under similar circumstances Ellis didn't ditch O'Leary until everything was pretty much done and dusted in respect of the sale.

[Rudy65]

100th game in charge of Villa come Monday's game. How many of them have we really enjoyed? Probably around 10% of them. Progress? Not a fecking chance. This is Lambert's squad now and we are every bit as poor as anything I've seen in my 40 years of watching the Villa.

I can remember plenty of shit Villa sides, but it isn't the fact that we're so awful that bothers me most at the moment.

It is the fact that I just can't see it changing. I am no Ellis revisionist, but really, at least under Doug you felt that if the manager did badly enough, he'd get the bullet. With this chairman and this manager, it seems like there is no pride, there's no point at which the chairman will decide he's had enough.

He has made it pretty clear he's not really that arsed about the club these days, the fact he awarded a new four year contract so easily a couple of months ago says it all. It doesn't matter what we think of Lambert, Lerner thinks he is doing a wonderful job.

So we're stuck with a chairman who either doesn't give a fuck, or just doesn't understand the game, and a manager who has proved himself to be utterly incompetent over an extended period of time.

For me it isn't the fact we're so awful, it is the fact that it seems like there is no likely way out of it, it will just go on and on, and as it does, more and more people - like me - will just lose patience or interest with it all, and drift away. While that happens, the rest of the league will start wondering why we're even in it, we offer so little, as we go along breaking records for shitness.

Between them, the people running us, what they're doing at the moment is gradually suffocating this club. I can think of many ways in which Randy has been good for this club, and shown he has his heart in the right place, but the current lack of concern, the degree to which he has accepted our decline, means I'll never forgive him.

He has reduced the club to an absolute shambles. I just wish he'd start to care enough to do something about it before we complete our emulation of Wigan Athletic and get relegated.

Good post.

But we all just standing back and watch it happen.

Shouldnt we be doing something about it. At least make the point to RL and the media. Only enter the ground at half time or something? Anything is better than nothing.

The media still think PL has done well given his 'limited budget' which is bollocks. Until that mentality in the media changes he isnt going anywhere

[Meanwood Villa]

When he got the new contract everything was rosy and lots of people, myself included, were hoping Lambert had cracked it. Randy clearly believed he had. Since then we've gone into an immediate and all too familiar tailspin, Lambert has zero credit in the bank and many people, myself included,  want him out so we can maybe enjoy following our team again. Fickle? Perhaps, but at the moment the new contract is looking a monumentally stupid decision (something our chairman has previous for in respect of managerial choices of course) Maybe it will look a masterstroke by the end of the season. We can but hope but I doubt it.

[Rudy65]

some people don't know how lucky they are. I spent a few minutes last night listening to inconsolable Arsenal fans willing Wenger to do one after a 2-1 home defeat to Yanited. A manager who transformed both a club and much of the English game being vilified by fans for consistently  delivering a top four finish, champions league football,  the odd bit of silverware,   home crowds of 60k and healthy merchandising and sponsorship to give his owners most of what they want. What a bunch of whingeing wankers. Well, if they don't want him there's a nice comfy office waiting at BMH.

Its all relative.

Wenger was hugely successful in his first 8 years but one trophy in the last 9 years is poor with the team at his disposal. Time for Wenger to go in my view. He was the man of his time back in 96 but is behind the times now. With the likes of Klopp making noises of wanting to work in the prem they have a ready made replacement.

As an aside Arsenal were so one dimensional in the last 30 mins yesterday. They wanted to pass it through the United defence, committed to many men forward and got caught on the break. You could see United's second coming because of this. No plan B, even with Giroud on who would have given them a bit more physical presence for the cross or long ball

[Rudy65]

Imagine what my daughter's house is like. Her partner is a whingeing gooner and she is of course a die hard Villa fan.
On top of everything Wenger has achieved he has maintained standards while the club built a new stadium without resorting to moving to a cheap greenfield location.
Man City have a council home, Chelsea are only at the planning stage for a new stadium, Liverpool not even there, likewise Tottenham. As for Yanited the Glazers would kill for Arsenal's freedom from debt.
Everything taken into consideration I think Arsenal are the best run club in the country.

But like all fans, Arsenal would rather be competing for trophies with a couple of £100m of debt rather than being profitable and being also rans