Lambert's worst signing?

[supertom]

Luna- Simply because he was bought as a first choice, where-as I suppose for Tonev you could say he wasn't intended to play week in, week out at this stage. Luna though is very poor.
Other than that, in terms of bizarre, slightly pointless signings there's been Dawkins (remember him? No?), Bowery and Grant (knackered after 5 minutes) Holt.

That said, kudos on Benteke, Bacuna, Bertrand and re-signing the Goose (all in particular for their value/timing).

[Dave Clark Five]

I'm jumping on the Culverhouse bandwagon. He probably told Lambert to tell the fans to f*** off as well.

[dekko]

Culverhouse.   The players Lambert has signed who are not up to snuff are only players.   You give them a few chances (or in the case of Helenius a scrap of a chance) and if they can't do what they are paid to do it's one of the Bs, the bench or the bomb squad.   Culverhouse is just as culpable as Lambert in the inadequacies of coaching the best out of the players we do have (Tonev - don't shoot from thirty yards out, Weimann - don't snatch a shooting opportunities, KEA -front up your opponent just like you did against Norwich, Bennett - don't roam in field, Baker - don't let one mistake blow your game to pieces, - Vlaar - you are the captain talk to the referee frequently but respectfully etc etc).   As I have commented on other threads you can see there is a good team in there when we play like we did in the second quarter last Saturday.   That ability has to be brought out and that is Lambert's job and equally the job of the team he was allowed to bring with him.   You can carry a dud player or two, you can't carry a dud coach.

This right here.

[supertom]

I'm jumping on the Culverhouse bandwagon. He probably told Lambert to tell the fans to f*** off as well.

To be fair though, if you're gonna be giving a Glaswegian a load of stick, at the very least he's gonna turn around and tell you to fuck off. At least he didn't go on a Pardew-esque nut rampage.

[LeeS]

Enid, the tea lady at BMH. Cannot make tea at all. She uses round tea bags instead of pyramid ones ffs.
She does do a decent sponge cake , so it's not all that bad and her Nescafe Instant is ok.

We won 4-1 at the weekend and all you can do is slag off the tea-lady. She's hardly been given a chance at all since they installed that vending machine. Also, she cost next to nothing and is a good influence in the dressing rooms.

[not3bad]

Tonev.

At some point before the end of the season Tonev is going to connect right with one of his shots from another postcode with the goal of the season and earn us a famous three points. I reckon Old Trafford. And then we'll all love him.

Especially after his Fast Show style Bulgarian/Brummie interview after the game.

[nigel]

It strikes me a bit unfair to see Helenius mentioned here. He's barely had a chance, and when he did get a chance, he scored.

It's all very well arguing "yeah, but against a League One side". Correct, a League One side which beat us that day.

I have been pretty unimpressed with Tonev thus far, but really, for a player costing that little, in his first season, we need to cut him a little slack, surely?

Agree.
I think people are sometime too quick to judge players.
Last season I reckon at least half of the supporters would have got rid of Benteke before the turn of the year. Then he went on to be 2013 top European scorer.

Bennett: rough start, took a long time to adjust. Was begining to look pretty good come the end of last season, unfortunately, he got injured.
Luna: great start, got injured, has hit a rough patch.
Tonev: must have time to adjust.
Bacuna: okay start, hit a purple patch, hit a bad patch, and now is coming good again.
I could probably write a similar line for every player bar Guzan and Delph, who have both been outstanding.

We should cut these players some slack and cheer them through their bad times, as they need it a little bit more than the form players.

[danlanza]

Enid, the tea lady at BMH. Cannot make tea at all. She uses round tea bags instead of pyramid ones ffs.
She does do a decent sponge cake , so it's not all that bad and her Nescafe Instant is ok.

We won 4-1 at the weekend and all you can do is slag off the tea-lady. She's hardly been given a chance at all since they installed that vending machine. Also, she cost next to nothing and is a good influence in the dressing rooms.

Good point. Sorry Enid.Welcome to the squad. It's time for Holt's 5th pie of the day, get cooking my dear.

[Isa]

Luna: great start, got injured, has hit a rough patch.

Does three games constitute a 'great start'? Because he has been pretty woeful ever since the Newcastle home game.

[mattjpa]

I think anyone in their first season signed from abroad should be exempt from this thread, it is too early to judge them. Likewise anyone stepping up from lower league in their first season should be exempt as its hard to make the step up. Players go in and out of form so anyone who has had a good first season but is now struggling such as Lowton should be cut some slack id say, rememeber form is temporary, class is permanent.  Also,anyone who hasnt had a fair crack in the side to build up some momentum due to non selection because of any of the above or sustained/build up of a few injuries should be exempt so that leaves er....erm...er.....I dont know, maybe Vlaar?

On a related subject, I think Vlaar could be on for our fans player of the year this year. Absolutely invaluable to us now.

[not3bad]

This and the "who would you show the door" thread are pretty similar.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Culverhouse is just as culpable as Lambert in the inadequacies of coaching the best out of the players we do have (Tonev - don't shoot from thirty yards out, Weimann - don't snatch a shooting opportunities, KEA -front up your opponent just like you did against Norwich, Bennett - don't roam in field, Baker - don't let one mistake blow your game to pieces, - Vlaar - you are the captain talk to the referee frequently but respectfully etc etc).   As I have commented on other threads you can see there is a good team in there when we play like we did in the second quarter last Saturday.   That ability has to be brought out and that is Lambert's job and equally the job of the team he was allowed to bring with him.   You can carry a dud player or two, you can't carry a dud coach.

From what I've read on Norwich forums, they rate Culverhouse above Lambert and would have him back tomorrow. They credit him as the footballing brains behind the pair with Lambert best serving as the figurehead. There was a few stories of how Culverhouse would prepare the team during the week, tactics, formation, set pieces etc only for Lambert to come in on a Friday and change everything leaving the players clueless to what they're supposed to do.

How true it is, I've no idea but our players certainly give the impression they have no game plan most weeks. Like you Brian, I'm more than convinced there's a good team in there but for whatever reason the coaching or lack of it, is our greatest weakness. I'd love to see what a decent coach could do with this team but more importantly, to have a plan based around buying young talent needs a good coach and manager to develop them which is something we don't appear to have.

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

I think anyone in their first season signed from abroad should be exempt from this thread, it is too early to judge them. Likewise anyone stepping up from lower league in their first season should be exempt as its hard to make the step up. Players go in and out of form so anyone who has had a good first season but is now struggling such as Lowton should be cut some slack id say, rememeber form is temporary, class is permanent.  Also,anyone who hasnt had a fair crack in the side to build up some momentum due to non selection because of any of the above or sustained/build up of a few injuries should be exempt so that leaves er....erm...er.....I dont know, maybe Vlaar?

On a related subject, I think Vlaar could be on for our fans player of the year this year. Absolutely invaluable to us now.

Does your rule apply to people like Benteke or just the crap ones? I feel you're being far too kind to them. We can't keep players around because they might suddenly turn into an okay player in a few years.

[not3bad]

I think anyone in their first season signed from abroad should be exempt from this thread, it is too early to judge them. Likewise anyone stepping up from lower league in their first season should be exempt as its hard to make the step up. Players go in and out of form so anyone who has had a good first season but is now struggling such as Lowton should be cut some slack id say, rememeber form is temporary, class is permanent.  Also,anyone who hasnt had a fair crack in the side to build up some momentum due to non selection because of any of the above or sustained/build up of a few injuries should be exempt so that leaves er....erm...er.....I dont know, maybe Vlaar?

On a related subject, I think Vlaar could be on for our fans player of the year this year. Absolutely invaluable to us now.

Does your rule apply to people like Benteke or just the crap ones? I feel you're being far too kind to them. We can't keep players around because they might suddenly turn into an okay player in a few years.

No?  Well I'm glad we didn't apply that principle to Delph.

[pauliewalnuts]

Agree.
I think people are sometime too quick to judge players.

I definitely think we are sometimes. If they're an experienced player who have already played in this league, then maybe they don't deserve so much time, but the likes of Tonev, who is, what, 23 years old?

Moving to a country on his own, doesn't speak a word of the language, and isn't coming here as a crucial signing for the club, really, he's shown very little but give the bloke a chance.

I've moved to another country at almost that age myself and it's not easy adjusting - and having Lorna Languages on hand might help a bit but it's not a magic pill that makes everything easy.

I'd also flag up that Stiliyan Petrov, lest we forget, a far, far more experienced player than Tonev or Helenius, who already spoke the language perfectly, and came here from a British league so had more idea what to expect, had a brilliant first game at West Ham but was then at the very best mediocre for at least one entire season, possibly longer. Something we forget these days, and look how he turned out.

re his shooting from insane distances, I reckon the bloke is basically desperate to do well. It's not helping him, though, so it'd be nice to think the management team would have spotted that and worked on it with him