Kendrick Says It's Time To Ask Questions

[ROBBO]

He has heard Lambert is on shakey ground thats my take on it, all it needs is a couple of fans to rip up their season tickets in front of the cameras and it will be on. Kendrick is right on one point the supporters need a representative body to agitate for change when needed, this supporters trust i keep hearing about doesn't seem to do much.

They are made of plastic. Bit hard to rip up. Bend, snap or throw like a frisbee, perhaps.

Always hated plastic now it's ruined a good protest.

[Legion]

[LeeB]

For a start, I cannot believe this is being hailed as a good article. It is not an article. Matt wrote better when he occasionally wrote in the mag. He says nothing.

This is also not to stick it to him. His article however has a few, self serving, thrusts.

1. I have tried but just can't get anything you want to read out of them.

2. With the hope of the above in mind, I cannot be vehemently opposed to anything.

3. With 1 in mind, you make a story (stir) and I will write about it.

4. Importantly, I have noticed you starting to question why I am not questioning them.

As it goes I know Matt. He is very pally with Woodhall so it is not like he can't find us when he wants to.

He is a good lad but picking splinters from his arse in that piece.

It is not him being given a nod with a DC5 style conspiracy theory. He has gone fishing for a story out of frustration.

No more and no less.

See his amusement at TV and a torn badge as an example.

Bugger the polls though. He would be better off at our table of twenty in The Bartons after the match.

I'm glad you posted this mate, as up until I read it I was beginning to think I was the only one who read it that way, and I was starting to question my own judgement.

[VinnieChase84]

I don't for one minute hope we lose on Sunday as I need would. However, if we do get turned over then by god I hope there is some truth in this 'lambert on the ropes' speculation.

[danlanza]

For a start, I cannot believe this is being hailed as a good article. It is not an article. Matt wrote better when he occasionally wrote in the mag. He says nothing.

This is also not to stick it to him. His article however has a few, self serving, thrusts.

1. I have tried but just can't get anything you want to read out of them.

2. With the hope of the above in mind, I cannot be vehemently opposed to anything.

3. With 1 in mind, you make a story (stir) and I will write about it.

4. Importantly, I have noticed you starting to question why I am not questioning them.

As it goes I know Matt. He is very pally with Woodhall so it is not like he can't find us when he wants to.

He is a good lad but picking splinters from his arse in that piece.

It is not him being given a nod with a DC5 style conspiracy theory. He has gone fishing for a story out of frustration.

No more and no less.

See his amusement at TV and a torn badge as an example.

Bugger the polls though. He would be better off at our table of twenty in The Bartons after the match.

I'm glad you posted this mate, as up until I read it I was beginning to think I was the only one who read it that way, and I was starting to question my own judgement.

Chelts is on form.

[john2710]

I don't believe it's any conspiracy from the club nor is it a particularly great piece of journalism from Kendrick. It justs states the obvious.

But I do think Lambert has turned, he looks a tired frustrated man. He's hamstrung by the restrictions placed on him by the club (which I've no doubt he was aware of), his own limitations & the fact that several key players have gone backwards. You have to ask who is responsible when the club is in the position where an injury to Westwood means that the only available midfield option is Sylla, a player plucked from some 2nd Divsion French club?

Assuming we stay up, the end of the season is the point where the club have to either back him or hang him out to dry. To back him & motivate supporters going into a new season the club will need to provide far greater funds than has been available for the last 3-4 years. I, for one, will take some convincing & the club must know that this is the case for many supporters. Some supporters will be bought by the club simply sacking Lambert & starting the whole process again but I suspect this time most will not.

The conundrum for the club is do they trust Lambert?

[amfy]

He has heard Lambert is on shakey ground thats my take on it, all it needs is a couple of fans to rip up their season tickets in front of the cameras and it will be on. Kendrick is right on one point the supporters need a representative body to agitate for change when needed, this supporters trust i keep hearing about doesn't seem to do much.

Funnily enough - we were already exchanging emails around the idea of providing a 'fans voice' on this issue this week. Then this article appears and potentially provides a bit of momentum!

We definitely want to do something with this. We're working on our own thoughts, and would really welcome any ideas to move this along. Someone out there will have a blindingly obvious idea on how to pull this together I'm sure!

For example - spending 3 months doing a survey & getting 1100 responses was brilliant for safe standing - but isn't going to cut it for this even if I was up for doing that again!

Tbh - personally I'm not a Lambert/Lerner/Faulkner out person, but it isn't about me, it's about finding out what people really think - but not just the loud ones! We can see them all over twitter & fb. We need to hear from the ambivalent & the wait & sees, etc too - they tend to  be a bit quieter. It's a democracy - what we have to take forward in the end, is what we find out people think.

[Irish villain]

Think back to the quality of Petrov, Milner, Downing and Young and then look at KEA, Sylla and maybe Westwood.

We got what, the guts of£60m quid for Downing, Young and Milner. We made healthy profits on them all, and Barry the year before that. We spunked half of that on further bad buys after MON left and probably put the rest to paying the high earners. The cost has been a staggering decline in the quality we have on the actual pitch.

Same could be said of our defence. Going from the likes of Laursen, Mellberg, Collins, Cueller, Luke Young and Dunne to what we have now is again a decline. Is Vlaar as good as Laursen, Mellberg, Collins and Dunne were in their prime? I don't think so while we have thrown Baker and Clark into the heat of two relegation struggles at the formative time of their careers.

We have gambled an awful lot to reduce the wage bill. Surely there was a better way? I think we could have got more out of our existing resources and used our transfer kitty and academy graduates much more effectively than we have. We have pursued a scorched earth policy with the first team squad, paying the wages of the bombers but not playing them, and watching as what line sup in Claret & Blue just declines in quality. Is it worth risking the financial disaster that would be relegation? I am just struggling to make sense of why we have gone about things the way we have. Surely there was a better way to square those circles.

[danlanza]

I don't believe it's any conspiracy from the club nor is it a particularly great piece of journalism from Kendrick. It justs states the obvious.

But I do think Lambert has turned, he looks a tired frustrated man. He's hamstrung by the restrictions placed on him by the club (which I've no doubt he was aware of), his own limitations & the fact that several key players have gone backwards. You have to ask who is responsible when the club is in the position where an injury to Westwood means that the only available midfield option is Sylla, a player plucked from some 2nd Divsion French club?

Assuming we stay up, the end of the season is the point where the club have to either back him or hang him out to dry. To back him & motivate supporters going into a new season the club will need to provide far greater funds than has been available for the last 3-4 years. I, for one, will take some convincing & the club must know that this is the case for many supporters. Some supporters will be bought by the club simply sacking Lambert & starting the whole process again but I suspect this time most will not.

The conundrum for the club is do they trust Lambert?

This is the big question. Do we trust him ? If we open the transfer budget flood gates what can we expect ?
Quality, fighting for a top 6 finish, or lower league , cheap wages and just about surviving ?
I am bloody bored of seeing my club go through this ' Transition " period tbh.
Has everybody who works for our club forgotten our history ? Do they know the names of the lads who won the European Cup, Super Cup, FA Cup Finals, League Cup Finals.?
It is all well and good to plaster the players tunnel with our history, winning teams, trophies, etc. Maybe they should instead put up the photo's of pissed off, life long season ticket holders and there sons, daughters, grand children, who have had enough of being an also ran club.
We want and demand our history back. And we want it pretty bloody sharpish Mr Lerner, Faulkener and Lambert.
If you cannot do it then step aside, let someone who can take charge. We will not be selling our soul at all, we will be regaining our place in the top flight of English and European football.
Just my very pissed off view. No offence intended to anybody at all. I just think that we all deserve better than we are getting.
UTV Always.

[steamer]

I hate writing long posts.
As some one who constantly railed against Doug, I would take Lerner any day. Seperate debate.
Stride far more nous than Faulkner.
My issue with Lerner is that, good intentions aside, a leader needs to be seen leading.
He avoids the limelight (no problem) but his surragate Faulkner also abdicates leadership.
It is left to the mumblings of Lambert to keep us informed.

I wanted Lambert to succeed as do ( I guess) most on this site.
Most of us were happy with his appointment.

Where do we go from here ?
First Priority is to stay up.
We then need some declaration of intent, where do we want to go ?
What is the plan and who can take us there ?
If the club are flying a kyte through Kendrick, I hope they have a plan B.

It has been mentioned here many times but a respected Villa/Football man in the Management team is clearly needed.
Can Lambert make it, I do not know. On current evidence no.
With some Mentorship, Maybe.
Why are we not shouting for his head, to me it is clear, we wanted Odreary Out, We wanted Oneil, but changed our minds. we were unsure about Houllier, nobody in their right mind wanted The Scottish one, and not because he was from Small Heath.
We are too embarressed to be seen hounding out a guy we mainly wanted 18 months ago.
Way forward,
1st a declaration of intent from the Board and a road map.
Then some open constructive debate, through what ever forum.
I notice, no comment from some of the Moderators on the site who may have to, "keep their powder dry"

[curiousorange]

As Kendrick and the Mail have more direct access to the club than we, shouldn't he be putting these concerns to the management himself?

[ROBBO]

Amfy like you i am not a Lambert has to go at all costs follower but i do think supporters are being treated very badly in all this. To think that 36000 still turn up at home games is nothing short of astounding considering the entertainment being offered up.
I am concerned that Lambert is showing all the outward signs of someone who has overeached and can't find a way out, the last interview i saw was painful to watch i actually felt sorry for him, when i see how much money he has spent however you can't be too sympathetic as he has had a lot more than most premiership managers with little or no improvement.
I would love us to go on a run like last season and see another new horizon but i can't see it, Benteke was our saviour then but he is a pale imitation of that player now and i can't see another player in the squad that is capable of giving us the spark that's needed.

[danlanza]

As Kendrick and the Mail have more direct access to the club than we, shouldn't he be putting these concerns to the management himself?

Yes is the answer to that.

[Witton Warrior]

I hate writing long posts.
As some one who constantly railed against Doug, I would take Lerner any day. Seperate debate.
Stride far more nous than Faulkner.
My issue with Lerner is that, good intentions aside, a leader needs to be seen leading.
He avoids the limelight (no problem) but his surragate Faulkner also abdicates leadership.
It is left to the mumblings of Lambert to keep us informed.

I wanted Lambert to succeed as do ( I guess) most on this site.
Most of us were happy with his appointment.

Where do we go from here ?
First Priority is to stay up.
We then need some declaration of intent, where do we want to go ?
What is the plan and who can take us there ?
If the club are flying a kyte through Kendrick, I hope they have a plan B.

It has been mentioned here many times but a respected Villa/Football man in the Management team is clearly needed.
Can Lambert make it, I do not know. On current evidence no.
With some Mentorship, Maybe.
Why are we not shouting for his head, to me it is clear, we wanted Odreary Out, We wanted Oneil, but changed our minds. we were unsure about Houllier, nobody in their right mind wanted The Scottish one, and not because he was from Small Heath.
We are too embarressed to be seen hounding out a guy we mainly wanted 18 months ago.
Way forward,
1st a declaration of intent from the Board and a road map.
Then some open constructive debate, through what ever forum.
I notice, no comment from some of the Moderators on the site who may have to, "keep their powder dry"

Some excellent posts on here - amfy, Cheltenham and steamer

There is certainly a positive feel for a "fans voice" movement and I for one will support and act in concert with others if it comes about.
I will state now that I want Paul Lambert to be the most successful Villa manager in history but I doubt he will come close.

Said after the win over the Baggies it would be papering over cracks and a win on Sunday would be the same.
This goes deep and strong medicine is needed.

Up The Villa

[brian green]

Excellent post IV.   We HAVE pursued a scorched earth policy and we have taken far too many needless gambles.