Paul Lambert (R)

[passitsideways]

We won one game from beating Chelsea in mid March that season. Drew one and lost 7. He was getting dogs abuse at Spurs on the final day and should have been sacked.

Quarter of a season and 4 points, utterly inept.

Yep, I wanted him gone - Benteke missed the final couple of months and Kozak was already out for the season, but that didn't excuse the fact the general lack of ideas or competence.

The question was more whether it would've been justified to punt him before then. Up until December, which was when we lost four on the trot against the likes of Fulham and Palace (who hadn't quite got into gear under Pulis yet), we were around 10th place - finish the season around about there, on a shoestring budget, and you could argue that that would've represented progress on the relegation battles from previous seasons. As it turned out...

[mr underhill]

what more is there to say about the bloke? Time to lock this one I think.

[JD]

We got what we asked for. Remember Norwich away when Villa fans were singing for Lambert to take over as Villa Manager.

I don't hate him (he just wasn't good enough), but his tactics were dreadful.   

[SoccerHQ]

We won one game from beating Chelsea in mid March that season. Drew one and lost 7. He was getting dogs abuse at Spurs on the final day and should have been sacked.

Quarter of a season and 4 points, utterly inept.

Second season was like the McLeish year, awful football but we managed to pick up results here and there and were 11-12th for most of the season before we collapsed when we lost our main striker (as happened when Bent got injured).

Just had enough points on the board to survive but it was close.

Everyone knows he should've gone in 2014, even Lambert wanted to which was ridiculous.

[JUAN PABLO]

7% win rate at Stoke

Hope they keep him .

I noticed he was at Villa for nearly 3 years so why did it feel like he was here for about ten years

[john e]

he'l still get another job in football management he's in that merry go round group of British managers who can 'do a job' at some level

he shouldn't but he will

[SoccerHQ]

7% win rate at Stoke

Hope they keep him .

I noticed he was at Villa for nearly 3 years so why did it feel like he was here for about ten years

Our long goalless runs did that. Didn't we have a run of six games without a goal and then the next season we win seven games without one?!

That's why I can never understand why on here and elsewhere Sherwood gets more stick. Yes we were poor under him aswell but we did have memorable games under him and he was only here eight months so it was all over pretty quickly compared to Lambert.

[AV82EC]

The one thing about Sherwood was he had the ego for the size of job unfortunately none of the ability. He got the new manager bounce and somehow got us to a Cup Final and kept us up and for that I’ll always be grateful to him. His true ability shone through the season after with the collapse at Leicester and what followed.

[paul_e]

7% win rate at Stoke

Hope they keep him .

I noticed he was at Villa for nearly 3 years so why did it feel like he was here for about ten years

Our long goalless runs did that. Didn't we have a run of six games without a goal and then the next season we win seven games without one?!

That's why I can never understand why on here and elsewhere Sherwood gets more stick. Yes we were poor under him aswell but we did have memorable games under him and he was only here eight months so it was all over pretty quickly compared to Lambert.

Lambert was shit, Sherwood was a wanker, that's  the difference.  I never wanted Sherwood anyway but after the run when he arrived I figured he'd done enough to deserve a chance but over the summer there was quite clearly a problem with him wanting players like Richards, Lescott and Gestede and the club wanting to sign players like Amavi, Gueye, Adama, Veretout, etc. When he then decided to throw Riley under the bus for the latter he proved exactly what he is.  A decent manager with some humility could've built a decent team out of that squad (as the performances of those players since they left has shown), we'd have still been down near the bottom whilst they adapted to the league but it could've been the start of a turnaround with good coaching and management.

[SoccerHQ]

The one thing about Sherwood was he had the ego for the size of job unfortunately none of the ability. He got the new manager bounce and somehow got us to a Cup Final and kept us up and for that I’ll always be grateful to him. His true ability shone through the season after with the collapse at Leicester and what followed.

Of course but at least it was over soon after (albeit the damage had been done with our transfer dealings).

If Lambert had got us to 2013 Carling cup final Lerner would've probably given him a ten year deal!

[JUAN PABLO]

The one thing about Sherwood was he had the ego for the size of job unfortunately none of the ability. He got the new manager bounce and somehow got us to a Cup Final and kept us up and for that I’ll always be grateful to him. His true ability shone through the season after with the collapse at Leicester and what followed.

I always wonder what would have happened If we had won that Leicester game.

I thank him for the albion and liverpool cup games as there had been so much shit for years up to then .

[AV82EC]

The one thing about Sherwood was he had the ego for the size of job unfortunately none of the ability. He got the new manager bounce and somehow got us to a Cup Final and kept us up and for that I’ll always be grateful to him. His true ability shone through the season after with the collapse at Leicester and what followed.

Of course but at least it was over soon after (albeit the damage had been done with our transfer dealings).

If Lambert had got us to 2013 Carling cup final Lerner would've probably given him a ten year deal!

And if he’d won the League Cup could you have blamed him? Ultimately we’re in this to win stuff, it’s what this club should be about. Maybe my expectations are too high but I expect this club if run and managed well to be top half of the Premier League each season and competitive in Cup competitions and qualifying for Europe on a regular basis. The last 7 seasons have been torture.

[paul_e]

The one thing about Sherwood was he had the ego for the size of job unfortunately none of the ability. He got the new manager bounce and somehow got us to a Cup Final and kept us up and for that I’ll always be grateful to him. His true ability shone through the season after with the collapse at Leicester and what followed.

I always wonder what would have happened If we had won that Leicester game.

I thank him for the albion and liverpool cup games as there had been so much shit for years up to then .

The Leicester game exposed his complete lack of tactical understanding because he made changes to stretch the game when we really needed to be looking to tighten it up.  That's not why I dislike him, I dislike him because of the 'anyone but Tim' approach to proportioning blame when things went to shit.

[SoccerHQ]

The one thing about Sherwood was he had the ego for the size of job unfortunately none of the ability. He got the new manager bounce and somehow got us to a Cup Final and kept us up and for that I’ll always be grateful to him. His true ability shone through the season after with the collapse at Leicester and what followed.

Of course but at least it was over soon after (albeit the damage had been done with our transfer dealings).

If Lambert had got us to 2013 Carling cup final Lerner would've probably given him a ten year deal!

And if he’d won the League Cup could you have blamed him? Ultimately we’re in this to win stuff, it’s what this club should be about. Maybe my expectations are too high but I expect this club if run and managed well to be top half of the Premier League each season and competitive in Cup competitions and qualifying for Europe on a regular basis. The last 7 seasons have been torture.

I said just getting to league cup final e.g. still losing to Swansea like Sherwood was partly kept on for reaching FA cup final even though our actual performance on the day was a total surrender from kick off.

[Ads]

I think Sherwood would have been better off with a different transfer policy. He'd have got a tune out of that nutter Adebayor and then a few over priced ex-Spurs like Townsend and Huddlestone would have done the meat and veg 442 trick.

He didn't know how to handle the foreign players, it was clear they'd been signed without a thought of blending them in. He ok'd everyone, I don't believe otherwise, but equally I don't think he knew a thing about them either. But at the same time, it's clear Reilly didn't do his homework on them.

I liked Sherwood. He didn't have the nous and would have benefited from somebody very tactically astute alongside him. But his ego wouldnt allow for that and his Machiavellian way of stabbing AVB in the back to secure the Spurs job is evidence of it.

I will always have a bit of time for the charlatan though, as football is about fun and for a few brief months in half a decade of shite, Villa were back.

If we'd won at Leicester I think confidence would have seen us through perhaps and they wouldn't have won the title.