Liverpool protest ?

[Pete3206]

If we are losing and playing badly after 30 mins the atmosphere could get nasty

I get the feeling that plenty of people want it to go wrong and therefore 'get nasty'. Their theory being that Lambert will suffer his 'Bolton' moment and get fired. I don't believe this will happen, regardless of today's result. Nor if we get beaten by Bournemouth or thrashed by Arsenal or Chelsea. Despite Lambert's many failings, I don't think he's doing anything less than his absolute best to turn things around. For me, the blame lies squarely about 3,000 miles away, a man who will again be notable by his absence.

Lambert out? Yes, absolutely. But, not today. Today, we should leaving Villa Park with a hoarse throat, having backed the team to a valuable point or maybe even better.

These protests do not achieve anything.

[amfy]

The reason I'm not against a protest, is that the fans are divided anyway. Last week at Leicester, when fans were singing 'Villa, Villa!', the bloke next to me was furious - screaming 'Its not Villa though is it? How is this Villa?' - & calling everyone all the names under the sun for joining in. No-one wants to be in a crowd like that any more, people want something definite to happen.

The problem with this protest is that it is muddled in its aims, set up in such a way that it maximises the potential for conflict between fans, and, to top it off, is likely to be completely visually ineffective.

The £ sign protest worked well because you only had to hear about it on the day to be able to join in, it didn't need a massive number of people to join in to be visually effective (although I think a lot did), & then at kick off everyone either threw their papers to the floor or made paper planes out of them, and instantly got right behind the team. Sometimes, the simple ideas are the best.

(Still didn't really achieve anything though)

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

I just hope those supporting the team aren't harassed for their choice.

How about "I just hope those supporting the demonstration aren't harassed for their choice" - which was my experience at the Bolton match under TSM!

Don't think either will happen

which is why protests during games should be avoided. They will always divide opinion and prove contentious.

Exactly, and that makes them nowhere near as powerful as simply uniting in passionate support for the team for ninety minutes. Which you would hope everyone could do and no one would find contentious.

[Clampy]

The reason I'm not against a protest, is that the fans are divided anyway. Last week at Leicester, when fans were singing 'Villa, Villa!', the bloke next to me was furious - screaming 'Its not Villa though is it? How is this Villa?' - & calling everyone all the names under the sun for joining in. No-one wants to be in a crowd like that any more, people want something definite to happen.

The problem with this protest is that it is muddled in its aims, set up in such a way that it maximises the potential for conflict between fans, and, to top it off, is likely to be completely visually ineffective.

The £ sign protest worked well because you only had to hear about it on the day to be able to join in, it didn't need a massive number of people to join in to be visually effective (although I think a lot did), & then at kick off everyone either threw their papers to the floor or made paper planes out of them, and instantly got right behind the team. Sometimes, the simple ideas are the best.

(Still didn't really achieve anything though)

If memory serves me right, wasn't Angel signed just after the £ protests? Correct me if I'm wrong though.

[Rudy65]

If we are losing and playing badly after 30 mins the atmosphere could get nasty

I get the feeling that plenty of people want it to go wrong and therefore 'get nasty'. Their theory being that Lambert will suffer his 'Bolton' moment and get fired. I don't believe this will happen, regardless of today's result. Nor if we get beaten by Bournemouth or thrashed by Arsenal or Chelsea. Despite Lambert's many failings, I don't think he's doing anything less than his absolute best to turn things around. For me, the blame lies squarely about 3,000 miles away, a man who will again be notable by his absence.

Lambert out? Yes, absolutely. But, not today. Today, we should leaving Villa Park with a hoarse throat, having backed the team to a valuable point or maybe even better.

These protests do not achieve anything.

So you want him out, but not yet?

How long do you want to give him before its too late for another manager to turn it around?

His 'absolute best' clearly hasn't been good enough for 2.5 years

[Nastylee]

Lambert will not be sacked, that is nailed on.

[amfy]

Yes I think so Clampy!  So maybe it actually was effective too!

it's just that in retrospect, I tend to think that Doug did whatever he did because he wanted to, not because of anything we did. I also look back now and think how desperate I was back then for a Billionaire to come and spend loads of money on us, and now I think should be careful what I wish for .

[Jimbo]

In my Villa supporting life, I've only ever known Villa fans to be united when the team is doing really well, which has been rare, and is getting increasingly rarer.

Seeing as we're unlikely to enjoy success any time soon under this terrible manager, and more importantly, under this detached, disinterested and irresponsible owner, then I fear it'll have to get really bad before there's any chance of Villa fans uniting.

It's a stupid protest, because knowing that not everybody will join in, it will look pathetic. However, that's not to say that I don't support a protest in theory. I do. It just needs to have a single, simple message, and it needs to be simple to execute. Placards and banners seem so much more effective because they're easy to hold up.

Lerner is the target, he has to be. He needs to wake up and see what his woolly-minded detachment is doing to the club. The only reason Lambert is still here is because of him. Only he can sack Lambert; only he can invest properly in the club. Both need to happen if he wants to attract a buyer any time soon.

[SoccerHQ]

He'll get untold amounts of stick if we lose to Bournemouth next week.

I agree I don't see today becoming quite as toxic. I haven't woke up funny but I actually think we'll play well today and not lose, similar to the Man. United guy before xmas as in these sorts of games we obviously get more space.

Unless it's like Arsenal and we're 3 down in 30 minutes which won't make a pleasant second half for Lambert.

[dicedlam]

it's just that in retrospect, I tend to think that Doug did whatever he did because he wanted to, not because of anything we did.

This is why I think today's protest is futile and will not solve anything.
I reckon Lerner is just as stubborn as Ellis could be and will not bow down to fans calling for Lambert's head. Lambert know's it too.

It's a mess. The club is in a total mess from top to bottom.

[SoccerHQ]

I'm not convinced we'd have signed JPA for 9.5m if the pound protest hadn't of occured. That was an reasonably effective protest.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

I just hope those supporting the team aren't harassed for their choice.

How about "I just hope those supporting the demonstration aren't harassed for their choice" - which was my experience at the Bolton match under TSM!

Don't think either will happen

which is why protests during games should be avoided. They will always divide opinion and prove contentious.

Exactly, and that makes them nowhere near as powerful as simply uniting in passionate support for the team for ninety minutes. Which you would hope everyone could do and no one would find contentious.

Absolutely.
More than ever I think us all getting behind the team 100% today would show the watching media/public where our hearts are.
A similar 100% (or 90% according to the poll on the Lambert thread) protest/calling for Lambert's head immediately after the game would again be much more effective.

As several have already pointed out - Lerner himself wants out and is already trying to sell the club.

[Witton Warrior]

I just hope those supporting the team aren't harassed for their choice.

How about "I just hope those supporting the demonstration aren't harassed for their choice" - which was my experience at the Bolton match under TSM!

Don't think either will happen

which is why protests during games should be avoided. They will always divide opinion and prove contentious.

I understand that some people do not like dynamic tension and it's potential uncontrollability however there is far too much spurious invalidation of anyone with an opposing idea - people with banners are "youths" (usually "spotty"), those who do not agree with protesting are "sheep" or "pawns" - the revolution will be televised...

;-)

[VillaAlways]

I just hope those supporting the team aren't harassed for their choice.

How about "I just hope those supporting the demonstration aren't harassed for their choice" - which was my experience at the Bolton match under TSM!

Don't think either will happen

which is why protests during games should be avoided. They will always divide opinion and prove contentious.

Exactly, and that makes them nowhere near as powerful as simply uniting in passionate support for the team for ninety minutes. Which you would hope everyone could do and no one would find contentious.

Absolutely.
More than ever I think us all getting behind the team 100% today would show the watching media/public where our hearts are.
A similar 100% (or 90% according to the poll on the Lambert thread) protest/calling for Lambert's head immediately after the game would again be much more effective.

As several have already pointed out - Lerner himself wants out and is already trying to sell the club.

He may want out but he's the owner now and responsible for the club now. The fact that he appears happy to have stripped the club of all it's ambition and appears unfazed by the possibility of relegation and not taking appropriate action in sacking Lambert. This is entirely down to Lerner I'm afraid. He should have been sacked at the end of last season as apparently advised by his chief executive but no he managed to detract away from that by announcing putting the club up for sale . It's Lerner who extended his contract. This is all down to him,he is the only one who can do anything about it, the protesters are quite right!

[Pete3206]

Good post Jimbo