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

[chrisw1]

I've gone beyond Lambert getting to me. There comes a time where you have to draw a line in the sand and reflect whether he'd ever be good enough even if you gave him more money to spend and a bit more luck when it comes to injuries. The conclusion I came to is he'd be the new MON, top 6 finishes, losing cup finals and more importantly still without a plan, playing ugly football with no footballing philosophy to leave his successor.

One word for me sums up Lambert, erratic. He'll never be what we want him to be or deserve. They sooner he's gone the sooner we can move on. Until that happens I'm resigned to suffering week in, week out, comforted only by the knowledge that one day he'll be replaced and with the hope and belief that we can find better. Until that day, we reluctantly go again.

Given all of that, what makes you think the people above would bring in anyone better to replace him? Lerner's track record hardly inspires confidence and Fox doesn't have one.

While the club remains in limbo it would just be shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.

its a good point, but changing the manager has had a positive impact at the shower down the road.

But it hasn't for us the last 3 times we've done it.

And not changing the manager has had a positive impact on Newcastle & West Ham.

[aj2k77]

Better managers though.

[brian green]

I think Lambert is a very poor manager who has had the unbelievable good fortune not to be Alex McLeish. He has nothing else to offer us. However, I also believe the appointment of a new manager without a new owner in place would be pointless. The elephant in the room is not Lambert, it id Lerner.

[Chris Smith]

Chris is there any situation during the season where you think Lerner should consider sacking Lambert?

If I thought we would be significantly better because of it then of course I would. The club, it seems to me, is structured to just muddle through. Under Lambert we might finish 14th under a new manager it might be 11th.

It needs more than a change there to make any material difference.

[chrisw1]

Better managers though.

yes, when it suits us.  How many of us would have wanted Pardew or Sam when we were recruiting Lambert? I even see some would like Pulis now, but he was a pariah when at Stoke.

Personally, unless there is a substantially better option immediately available (and prepared to work under the same restrictions) then I would prefer to see what happens once a few injuries have cleared up.  After all, despite all the disastrous records we have broken, having played 16 games we find ourselves above West Brom & Sunderland, on equal points with Mark Hughes team and two points below Brendan Rogers and Roberto Martinez's teams.  All of whom have had substantially more resources than Lambert.  And that's with Benteke only having started 5 of the games and Delph & Vlaar just 8. 

I agree the football is not good and has not been for some time.  If there was money to spend I'd be very keen for a change, but playing with half a hand we've done ok this season.

[Jimbo]

I think Lambert is a very poor manager who has had the unbelievable good fortune not to be Alex McLeish. He has nothing else to offer us. However, I also believe the appointment of a new manager without a new owner in place would be pointless. The elephant in the room is not Lambert, it id Lerner.

Agree. Except he's hardly ever in the room.

[brian green]

Trouble is Jimbo the elephant who is Lerner might not be in the boardroom but I believe most of the crackpot decisions that have come out of it are a result of trying to second guess which way his knees would jerk if he were there.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think Lambert is a very poor manager who has had the unbelievable good fortune not to be Alex McLeish. He has nothing else to offer us. However, I also believe the appointment of a new manager without a new owner in place would be pointless. The elephant in the room is not Lambert, it id Lerner.

That's true Brian but if you listen to the Tom Fox interview, Randy is very much enthused once again and looks like he's given up trying to sell the club. If there was a takeover around the corner I'd agree with you but if we're to believe Lerner is here to stay, then Lambert really needs to go, sooner rather than later.

[Clampy]

I think Lambert is a very poor manager who has had the unbelievable good fortune not to be Alex McLeish. He has nothing else to offer us. However, I also believe the appointment of a new manager without a new owner in place would be pointless. The elephant in the room is not Lambert, it id Lerner.

I disagree about Lambert being a very poor manager. His appointment went down well enough when he came here which means he did a good job at his previous club. You don't get two successive promotions and a comfortable first season back in the premiership if you have a poor manager in charge. Whether he's been good enough here is a another argument.

[ChicagoLion]

I think Lambert is a very poor manager who has had the unbelievable good fortune not to be Alex McLeish. He has nothing else to offer us. However, I also believe the appointment of a new manager without a new owner in place would be pointless. The elephant in the room is not Lambert, it id Lerner.

I disagree about Lambert being a very poor manager. His appointment went down well enough when he came here which means he did a good job at his previous club. You don't get two successive promotions and a comfortable first season back in the premiership if you have a poor manager in charge. Whether he's been good enough here is a another argument.

Its a question of level. There is a long history of managers doing well in the lower leagues, having limited success for a short while and then getting promoted beyond their capability. This is what has happened here. At this level the evidence suggests that he is a very poor manager and not good enough for us.

[DB]

I think Lambert is a very poor manager who has had the unbelievable good fortune not to be Alex McLeish. He has nothing else to offer us. However, I also believe the appointment of a new manager without a new owner in place would be pointless. The elephant in the room is not Lambert, it id Lerner.

I disagree about Lambert being a very poor manager. His appointment went down well enough when he came here which means he did a good job at his previous club. You don't get two successive promotions and a comfortable first season back in the premiership if you have a poor manager in charge. Whether he's been good enough here is a another argument.

Its a question of level. There is a long history of managers doing well in the lower leagues, having limited success for a short while and then getting promoted beyond their capability. This is what has happened here. At this level the evidence suggests that he is a very poor manager and not good enough for us.

Another one of those could be the fella at Bournemouth - Eddie Howe, doing fantastic at a small club. Hopefully he can get them up, always good to see an un-fashionable club come up, rather than a Leeds Forest etc...

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think Lambert is a very poor manager who has had the unbelievable good fortune not to be Alex McLeish. He has nothing else to offer us. However, I also believe the appointment of a new manager without a new owner in place would be pointless. The elephant in the room is not Lambert, it id Lerner.

I disagree about Lambert being a very poor manager. His appointment went down well enough when he came here which means he did a good job at his previous club. You don't get two successive promotions and a comfortable first season back in the premiership if you have a poor manager in charge. Whether he's been good enough here is a another argument.

Lambert is a poor 'manager' as despite his success at previous clubs he decided that he (and his staff) was qualified to develop young players, something he had no experience of. It was a stupid decision, a waste of time and money and something that should never have happened. He had our full backing and patience but it was a mistake on his part. He spent £23.7m net, managed to get us to 15th with 41 points, 3 more than McLeish who had a negative spend of £22.750m-.

The experiment continued into last season, spending £16.5m net but this time with foreign players and despite a couple having a bit more experience, though none in the PL, a year later 3 of his 6 signings were playing away from Villa Park. We finished the season in 15th place on 38 points, the same as McLeish achieved.

This season he abandoned the young player approach bring in a mix of older PL players and a couple of foreign players. Right now we are no better than when he first joined us. His plan for the club has been one of trial and error, his negligence in allowing players to leave for free will hit us hard come the summer. It was bad enough seeing Albrighton leave for nothing in the summer but watching Delph and Vlaar go will be criminal. Add to that we're likely to lose Benteke, revenue will be down and we'll face another reduction in season ticket sales, next summer is going to be the toughest any Villa manager has faced for a very long time.

It's not even worth going into his tactics, I think most agree they're poor but as a manager your responsibility is to have a vision, plan and execute it, build something that can year on year develop. Lambert's vision is scattergun, he's all over the shop and that for me makes him in any industry, a very poor manager.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

That's a bloody good post TSoV!

Accurate and difficult to disagree with your final paragraph.

[Legion]

That's a bloody good post TSoV!

Accurate and difficult to disagree with your final paragraph.

Very much so.

[brian green]

To be absolutely candid, when I read posts on here challenging the reality that Paul Lambert has failed us and continues to fail us, it fills me with complete and utter despair.