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

[PaulWinch again]

Make no mistake, I want him gone, but I fear he is here for the remainder of the season at least and might even get one try and getting us back up if we go down.

I agree.

If we went down - and I think we will - I reckon he'd get the chance to bring us back up.

Exciting times indeed.

Yep, it's almost as if the club has become a case study in how to do every single thing wrong. The only thing that still seems decent is identifying good players, but they get ruined after a period of exposure to Lambert's management. We are in free fall and that is going to continue.

[David_Nab]

I feel sorry for AMC now as Lambert has performed worse yet somehow managed not to be held as accountable by Lerner.

[Des Little]

I simply cannot believe that our current board don't seem to think that this bloke doesn't need at least one coach to come in and work alongside him to educate and develop these players into something resembling a cohesive footballing unit.  Lambert has shown time after time after time again that he simply can't  cut it when it comes to the tactical side of the game.  The bloke is drowning and no one seems to have the desire to at least throw the fcuker a rope.

[Ads]

In the next instalment of Ads Travels of Torment I have the following to report.

It’s now been 1570 miles of driving following us since I last saw us score a league goal. So if I decided to hop into my car from my house here in the north west to find goals elsewhere, then I would have 67 miles to spare should I want to take in a game at Naples.

Cluj seems to make the Champions League from the Romanian divisions, so I could perhaps drive there to see the onion bag being molested? Either way, that’s a mere 1539 miles.

I am not sure what the football is like in Minsk, but to be honest, driving to Belarus to see a team play there, while being arrested for sedition and having by nads hooked up to a car battery, would probably be less painful than watching Paul Lambert put another team out. Either way, I could make it.

I could drive from New York City to Dallas and have some room to take in the country side. A pathetic 1548 miles, and they say everything is bigger in the states.

With another 170 miles up for grabs at the Factory of Sadness Mk II, it wont to be too long before I can drive across the continental United States.

Well done Paul Lambert!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think he's reached the end of the road. He looks as though he has run out of ideas and doesn't know what to do to rectify things. He's seems to just be floundering now.

I don't think Lerner will get rid of him though. He hasn't yet pushed a manager out the door at this stage of the season and, even if he did, I have little confidence in his ability to find a decent replacement. Mind you, I think Lerner himself has little confidence in his ability to find a decent replacement as well, which is likely one of the reasons he is so loath to intervene.

There's an inertia about the club at the moment on so many levels. If one of the people in a position of authority doesn't act soon, it will just drift off into reduced circumstances of its own accord.

It's Catch 22.

I get the feeling Randy loves his little chats with Lambert more than he loves the club. Tom Fox has come in and as new boy, he's completely 'on board' with Lerner's vision for the club. He probably feels given time it may actually work but I'm sure he's fully aware of how dreadful the football is and how the fans are less than happy. The big question is, does Fox use the power he has and make his argument to Lerner on the benefits of finding a new manager now or does he stick with company policy and let things roll out in the hope Lambert gets it right?

This for me makes Fox the decision maker in all this. Whatever he decides to do, I expect Lerner to back him. This isn't about money, it's about Lerner's loyalty to Lambert and only Fox can break it.

First step will be Fox getting the green light to create a continency plan in the event that Lambert suddenly resigns or they need to fire him.

Second step will be Fox reporting back with his plan and saying he's found his man and as things stand, the club should move now. Then we'll have the discussion so many of us want Fox to have with Lerner. I really can't see anything else than Lerner backing his CEO.

All this is based on the belief that Tom Fox is no idiot or 'yes' man. I think we'll know in the very near future what Fox is all about. I'm just hoping he's the smart, cunning Fox I think he is.

[silhillvilla]

I can't feel sorry for lambert as I suspect he's on about £50k a week to manage the team. I do reckon he's in a bad place personally though, floundering badly at his job, recently divorced , lost his 2 right hand men in extremely dubious circumstances , the Keane rebuff , a boss who is 4000 miles away with little communication.
That's a recipe for disaster and his personal life and lifestyle I would guess is not great. Yes his bank account is healthy but that's about it.

[Boz]

I can't feel sorry for lambert as I suspect he's on about £50k a week to manage the team. I do reckon he's in a bad place personally though, floundering badly at his job, recently divorced , lost his 2 right hand men in extremely dubious circumstances , the Keane rebuff , a boss who is 4000 miles away with little communication.
That's a recipe for disaster and his personal life and lifestyle I would guess is not great. Yes his bank account is healthy but that's about it.

I didn't know Lambert was recently divorced, perhaps his wife couldn't take the flack of being married to a dismal failure. With Lerner and Lambert both divorced, perhaps there's a Villa curse on married members of management.

[silhillvilla]

Pretty sure he was married to Karsa's sister .

[aj2k77]

Pretty sure he was married to Karsa's sister .

Ultimate jobs for the boys example.

From what I can find out about him he has no background in football, no ability or experience related to training a football team but rocks up with Lambert at his first job and follows him round from then on purely because Lambore was shagging his sister.

[LeeB]

As the squad gradually improves, we seem to get worse. How is this possible? The man's a fucking magician.

[mr underhill]

yes but one who can't  make himself disappear

[Jon Crofts]

I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for Lambert, he's out of his depth and has been since day 1.
After season 1 he should have walked and said, thanks for the opportunity but this job is just too big for me, no shame in that and most people would have respected him for it.  He could easily have cited the financial pressures and we'd be none the wiser for it.  He simply cannot motivate players, he clearly cannot coach players neither can he spot tactical opportunities and take advantage of them during the course of play.  He can spot a player, that said he's bought some absolute garbage along the way and sadly persevered with them for far too long.

He's also surrounded himself with people who've failed him and he's alienated every fan I know with his continuing insistence that we'll go again, we were terrific, we were unlucky, we'll keep going, we'll fix this.

Sorry Paul, but you haven't and you shouldn't be allowed to go on any longer as manager of Aston Villa, or for that matter any football club because you're an incompetent chancer who's pulled the wool over our stay away owners eyes for far too long now.  You singlehandedly have turned this football club into a laughing stock week after week after week with your inane, ridiculous comments post match, your baffling team selections, ridiculous substitutions and complete and utter lack of ability to do the basics of your job.

If you had any self respect you'd have resigned a long time ago, but your still here, stinking the place out, just like you've made Villa stink the league out.

[brian green]

I suspect the heart of any "planning" which might have been framed between Fox and Lerner is that money rules and there is to be no more compo paid out. The four year contract is panning out as a monumental mistake but Fox and Lerner are manacled to the no compo rule so they have no alternative but to big up Lambert, slate the fans as nutters (baying for the manager's blood I believe was the expression) and hope that we scrape up again. All very basic stuff we have seen and put up with before.

[anton hillman]

How can Lerner understand what the hell Lambert is saying during their regular chats. Maybe that's the problem...

[Drummond]

How can Lerner understand what the hell Lambert is saying during their regular chats. Maybe that's the problem...

Perhaps because he can be arsed to listen.

I'm bored shitless of this crap about his voice.