Check out the forum! There are 58 members viewing right now and 356 visitors today.... Click here to join in!

Aston Villa Football Club - A RANT

heavy d says:

I thought this in August so this is not being smart after the fact.

Lambert spent Premiership transfer money (not wages, but fees) to ultimately assemble a squad of lower Championship quality. Many believe this approach was dictated to him by Lerner but it was obvious the money could have been spent more wisely. How much was spent on Lowton and Bennett? According to reports this varies between £6.5-8million. The view being to sell players for a profit and remain in the black. Benteke aside, would we get the money we paid back for any of these signings let alone make a profit? A

Any chance the so called 'prospects' in our team have had their confidence smashed out of them by these thrashings?

Where do they turn to for support? Experienced calm heads? We don't have any and this needs to be addressed.

To the manager Paul Lambert? The man with the 'we'll be fine' mantra he repeats add nauseum without saying why he thinks that or how to address the problem. Apparently scratching your head and saying 'Errrrr, We'll be fine. The future looks good' is worth about 40k a week and inspires players.

Lambert may have won a Champions League at Dortmund but that team HAD experience in it. Matthias Sammer, Andreas Moller, Karl Heinz Riedle, Jurgen Kohler. All EXPERIENCED German Internationals. Lambert himself was 26/27, his career having already been running for 10 years. They also had Ottmar Hitzfeld as Manager. A tactical astute, adaptable and capable manager

Lets re-cap the last few fixtures shall we, including Liverpool. Liverpool (A) 1-3 Chelsea (A) 8-0 Spurs (H) 4-0 Wigan (H) 0-3 Swansea (A) 2-2 Ipswich (H) 2-1 Bradford (A) 3-1 - Humiliated on a national scale by LEAGUE TWO Bradford.

Possession given away cheaply, 3 goals which were all preventable, and resorted to hoof ball tactics for the last half an hour as the entire team ran out of ideas Can anyone say we have deserved anything better from these games given the level of performance we have put in, or the quality of play? I would say we have got more than we deserved as both Liverpool and Swansea would have taken us to the cleaners on any other day and, but for two 'worldy' saves from Given we would have been beaten by Ipswich Lamberts style appears to be:

1)pick random XI

2)close eyes,cross fingers

3)bury head in sand to stop you from seeing the obvious deficiencies within the side

4)attend post match press conference - 'we'll be fine, the futures good. Honest bunch of players, real endeavour. Have faith, we don't need experience'

There has been no improvement - we have actually got worse as the season has gone on - and the same mistakes are repeated over and over again. Will he carry the can or will he admit he has signed a lot of duds that have been added to the dross left following the fire sale of the last few years. This so called cost saving approach will end up costing us £10s of millions of pounds. Record Kit and Sponsorship deals negotiated by Faulkner (His only achievement to date while the playing side withers and dies) will surely have clauses reducing the money if we are not in the Premiership.

Record TV money next year? We will miss out on that so all the other teams will forge ahead while we go through further transition

'Transition (noun)- the word people use when they don't know what they are doing to try to hide that fact, and to explain poor performance'

An absentee landlord approach of giving the clubs money to people who haven't a clue, watching it get wasted from afar, then spending more money to get rid of these same people you appointed has put us in record debt and WILL get us relegated. In terms you might understand, as you sure don't understand football. Would you try and win the Superbowl with a team straight out of the collegiate system? No. The Venky's get dogs abuse for running their club from India and appointing 'yes' men. Should Lerner escape just because he is in America ?

Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Spain

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.

Writer: heavy d

Date:Thursday January 10 2013

Time: 10:35AM

Your Comments

Can't understand why Jean II is on loan, surely it's worth giving him another crack of the whip in these undeniably desperate times. Champions League experience, hard working and an inspiring array of knitwear. Anyone know if we're still paying a percentage of his wage while on loan?

Bristol Villan

Just seen that Villa have inquired about Phillipe Coutinho a 20 year old 5 foot 7" Brazilian attacking midfielder from Inter . Looks a cracking player but again young & slight hmmm !

AstonBilla

Saw that on TalkSport as well - http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/130110/aston-villa-have-bid-rejected-inter-milan-star-188933

ExpatVillaShirt

Have to disagree, Vlaar, Ahmadi and Benteke aren't from lower leagues, but needed time to adapt. Lowton has been doing OK and improving, Westwood also has got better with playing time. Bennet has suffered because he has been thrown in at the deep end in a defence with little experience, but he will develop again given time and development. Lambert wasn't to know Dunne was going to be injured all this time and Vlaar would take a knock to keep him out for a while, all the crap about him and Bent falling out too is utter tosh, the guy said himself the other night that he has been injured all season with one niggle then the next. Jean Il Makoun can't get a work permit because of red tape. What is important now is that another CB or even two and the midfield situation is sorted during this month or we are in big trouble and will be down, we need a spine to the team and leadership. Delph is very poor, Bannan and Ahmadi just aren't tough enough to marshal a midfield in the league. Three players of decent quality and experience will make all the difference. Lambert has never said he doesn't want experience, he just doesn't wan't the usual mercenaries coming in just for a wage packet. He must act now, and we have to have faith he knows this and back the team ........ at least until 23:59 on Jan 31st, if nothing has been done by then we are screwed. UTV

astonmilan

.......... all the talk about Courtinho is rubbish. the guy has no EU passport and has only played one A grade international game as a sub. He will not get a work permit under this criteria in the UK full stop as I understand the rules. Would be nice but it's just not going to happen.

astonmilan

Feb 1st. If PL isn't given funds then Randy gets the abuse. Don't see the point in sacking PL as he's been dealt a bad hand. Squad was low on quality, numbers, age and experience. Whatever funds where available have had to be used sparingly and chances had to be taken.

Villan444

Jean II's knitwear lol. That runs Nii Lamptey's colourful Dashiki collection very close. Work permit issues to do with language skills. Villa could have dealt at the start of the season and got it sorted, but they just farmed him out. We are still paying a % of his wages. No way he can come back unless he has learnt fluent English in the last 6 months and they get an immigration hearing in record time. Another senior player with quality who was isolated. Also treated with disdain by Lambert before the season started - "Makoun? I couldn't tell you who he was or where he is if you gave me a photo and a sat nav". Oh how we rolled with laughter. If he changed his name to Bannan and pretended he was scottish he would probably have been the first name on the team sheet!

heavy d

heavy d .......... learn fluent English in a couple of months ?? are you on drugs mate ?? one of the hardest languages to learn in a couple of months. He came to us in the January and Villa immediately set to work on his language tuition, he was then told he wasn't wanted by McLeish and shipped out to Greece where he had to start learning another language. The guy didn't know whether he was coming or going. Learning languages at the drop of a hat as well as moving and settling in a new country and culture isn't as easy as you apparently think. Lambert aint perfect mate, none of us are but you are just trying to pin everything the club has endured over the last three seasons on him ...... lets stick to fact and not fiction shall we. UTV

astonmilan

Hi astonmilan - Admittedly Benteke, Vlaar and El Ahmadi didn't come from lower leagues. Benteke from the Jupiler League in Belgium will come good but would abviously need time to adapt - hence the hot and cold nature of his play. I do think that Vlaar has quality but it should be noted that the defence was actually performing better initially when he was out of it. Also, pinning your team leadership hopes on a player with his injury record ranks up there with other recent decisions Villa have made, such as the decision to hire a manager with a history of heart problems, giving him a long term contract, then having to pay his contract up in full when he had an inevitable relapse within a year. Unlike the two above, El Ahmadi could have years to adapt. Would that address the fact he is incapable of showing any positional sense or pass to a claret shirt most of the time? That also means Lambert was building the spine of the team up with players who would all need time to adapt while spending a large chuck of his budget on lower league players to play on the periphery of the team. Would it not have made more sense to spend that money on more quality through the centre of the side, and got cheaper foreigh options to play on the flanks. Learning on the job in the centre of the pitch is ALWAYS going to cause problems.

heavy d

why not recall Mckoun. Got to be better than our current crop of sideway midfielders and flimsy defenders. Im a half decent centre half.

leelindsay

......and the learning fluent English in 6 months remark a joke :-) The terms of getting a new permit were for him to continue a program of English lessons, overseen by the immigration dept, with progress being checked regularly. This option was not chosen. Was really just saying the whole Makoun idea was a non starter

heavy d

You could get a game chap. Apparently running around abit is all you need to do for this club to make you a millionaire. Clean your boots off ready!

heavy d

Get involved leelindsay. I've played with lots of players that would show our youngsters up at the moment. We've literally got an U21s team if you take out Gabby and the keeper. They may or may not work out in a few years time but the here and now is what counts and they're not ready.

Villan444

“Great difficulties will be surmounted by patience and perseverance.” We are all hurting. Chelsea away was like a dagger to my heart. But whatever happens we have a great club and we all need to pull together. Sacking managers has failed us. Moyes finished 17th with Everton in 2003. The next season they reached the champions league. Keep the faith and UP THE VILLA.

Pongo W

Lets face it guys, being young isnt an excuse. If they arent good enough at 20-23 then you never will be. Any hope that these "kids" will become world beaters is ridiculous. Look at the top players they all made a big impression when young. Ferdinand was sold for £18 million at the age of 22/23, cant see anyone paying £1.8 million for Clarke!!

Lion Heart

Have you still got your boots Pongo W? We are short on numbers and a consistent goal threat. You're not allowed to shoulder charge the keeper any more though :-(

heavy d

Being young isn't an excuse but virtually the whole team being young & not used to the prem ,foriegn etc etc is I think . A 'team' by definition is a blend of age, youth, different skills ,leaders followers etc . I believe quite a few of the youngsters would make the grade given the right guidance & being brought on correctly. I just hope we're not destroying them .Even Ferdinand Rooney et al would have struggled if thrown in like this

AstonBilla

To be honest with you Im sick of seeing these articles would it be possible to wait until the end of the month or even after his first signing or two before we completely slate his transfer 'policy'... Fieldy was the first to mention it and I agree with him: PL came in and decided to give our more experienced players like Ireland, Nzogbia, Gabby, Given etc. a chance to prove themselves and he has been massively let down by most of them Gabby, Given and Bent are the only ones who have been anyway useful... Then of course (except for Holman) he had the delight of losing every single experienced player he had at one stage or another... Yes the man has made mistakes numerous mistakes at that but nobody else is going to sort this mess out... I can even admit Id have done many things he did I would have given some of the older heads a second chance because I also thought they were being used wrong over the years however now it seems they are as I had feared just not good enough... We are devoid of quality in DF & MF but we have 2 great GKs and 3 or 4 very capable CFs who all bring something different to the side... A CB and 2 CMs is a minimum imo... The CB must be Vlaar standard at a minimum and a destroyer and creator in MF to complement the passing of Westwood... I think in Stevens we have a LB who can do a job until the end of season and Bennett could play a role as a Left Winger if needs be... Slagging of Vlaar is pretty silly you're looking at things in isolation do you know why we looked better without him? Because we played a FIVE MAN BACKLINE to choke up the final third look what happened after Liverpool without him... He is a dutch international he isnt always in the starting line up but in recent games he has played alot more... Lets give PL a chance to bring in some new faces before we completely right him off...

CDX_EIRE

Also sick of seeing these articles. Ridiculous over reactions all week. As if the club's problems, well documented are that simple to resolve. So much scapegoating and finger pointing this week with the same things been said over and over. Appreciate your passion but can't agree with sacking Lambert. There are no quick fixes.

Villa_Grizzly

Well, it is an open site, we take submissions, difficult for me to turn to people and say I don't agree so I won't publish, obviously the choice is to see what the article is and stop reading if you don't like. Some are sick of the optimists saying all is well, some are sick of the negative or worries. Nothing to get sick at all, football is all about opinions and I guess trying (no matter how difficult) to respect others

The Fear

I had a big long argument lined up but I lost track half way thru... I understand people want to voice their opinion and the front page is the best way to that however this has really been done to death at this and the forum is the best place for this sort of thing... Then again I dont run this site and its not my decision... My comment was more of a blanket statement than a specific response to this one Im appealing to anyone else who is going to write one of these articles try to be objective and not look at things in isolation... Good luck to future posters Im not trying to put anyone off writing I just feel they are a little one sided at times...

CDX_EIRE

CDX_EIRE. I do think Vlaar will shore up the back line, and could eventually bring the other players around him on. But he appears to be the only leader, save for Stan, anywhere in the squad. We can't rely on Vlaar to do this though with his injury record. This lack of leadership wasn't addressed in August and, with 4 must win fixtures coming up, we appear to be dragging our feet again. Weren't we assured that a new Head Scout was drafting up a list of targets? Weren't we told that Lambert knew who he wanted? I understand transfers can be drawn out and difficult but why do we appear to be the only Team who consistently wait until the last minute? The Christmas fixtures highlighted the need for immediate reinforcements, especially with the run of games that were coming up but its now Jan 10th and...........NOTHING. None of us know whether this is being taken seriously by the club and we all fear for the immediate future. The areas that require improvement are obvious! We can't afford to stick, we need to twist as at the moment it isn't working!!!

heavy d

we are 10 days into th transfer window and no signings! When are we going to bring in some talent!

ShaneBlack

On the whole our youngsters and yes they are youngsters in terms of experience when you look at the games they've actually played, haven't done too badly, partnerships were starting to be formed Benteke/Weimann, Bannan (for somebody who'll never make it makes the majority of our chances)/Westwood, Lowton has been decent and so on, not pulling up trees but the unbeaten run was an improvement in our consistency of results and January should've been the time to add some experience, look at options for players who have struggled etc so that unbeaten run morphed into a winning run. Then we hit Chelsea and the spirit hasn't been the same since, the confidence has gone, everybody is worried about making errors so they are making more of them by hesitating and so on. Now we need the experience in January to drag the players back up and give them some confidence and belief back.

Money is there, most brought into the Lambert plan but didn't expect it to be so youth oriented - get a balance now so these lads have somebody to look to when things aren't going right for them and we can get back on track. That's down to Lambert and no one else. He's the manager, it's what he's paid to do and he's exactly who the majority wanted, so no point looking elsewhere to blame even though it's the in thing to do. Faulkner runs the club off the pitch, Randy has to provide funds, Lambert then has to get it right on the pitch and he hasn't, whether you allow him injuries on experience or not. What doesn't help is the confidence being kicked like Bradford again, because for how bad we were, we could've and should've been clear anyway with the chances we wasted sadly.

mike_field

I was one of the fans calling for Lambert in the summer, and was really excited when he was appointed, but I must admit I am worried now. It is beginning to remind me of when Graham Turner ripped the European Cup team apart and started buying all these supposedly exciting young players (eg Steve Hodge, Paul Elliott, Neale Cooper). Back then there was a lot of talk about potential. If we survive this season it may all be worth it, but I cannot bear the thought of another season in the Second Division; looking at the top-tier league table with no Villa in it; the humiliation of not being considered significant enough to be on Match of the Day; of being totally overshadowed by our smaller neighbours (then Coventry, now Albion). I'm certainly not calling for Lambert's head, in truth we've little choice but to stick with him, there are only so many times you can sack a manager. Probably not many will agree with me, but at least McLeish kept us up last season. And I couldn't have imagine one of his sides shipping goals like we are at the moment. Imagine how we will all feel if he gets Forest promoted, and we are relegated. Surely that can't happen?

Mark from Dudley

I agree with you Heavy D about not relying on Vlaar I thought we would get away with him n clarke and whoever to step in from time to time but recent form and injuries has made me think we need a bigger squad and options within that squad also... Im also very disappointed by his lack of movement IV been going around trying to make every excuse I can think of for PL I was attributing his lack of movement as in the market to 'concentrating on these important games' or this little gem 'he doesnt want to make it look like he's panic buying'... God I do make myself laugh... He must my 100% support and backing til end of january but Im going to trying my hardest to not make any excuses for him any more... I think he is on borrowed time if he doesnt sort it out by the end of January 70-80% of fans could be against him... Il continue to try to be positive but Im fast running out of reasons to be optimistic...

CDX_EIRE

I keep saying it but I liken players to actors. Great actors and experienced actors can ad lib and only need loose direction to deliver a great performance. Young inexperienced actors and b list performers need a strong script and detailed direction to get even a half decent output. Managers like Moyes, allerdyce, pullis etc get great results from average players because they work on shape, on where to run and on organisation especially at set plays. If you're managing Barcelona you can just pick 11 and let them go do their stuff because of their individual brilliance (the fact that they have bucket loads of experience and experience playing together also helps) it will never work with the players that we have. Unfortunately tactics, organisation, shape and working on the training ground to learn off the ball runs and set pieces don't seem to be in Lambert's repertoire. We won't bring in experience because they might challenge Lambert's authority but even if we did it would make no difference in the absence of the above managerial / coaching input, unless of course we get a miracle and sign messi, ronaldo etc etc

AVbornandbred

Couldn't agree more avb+b. Fergie has been doing it for years with mostly average players and a couple of world class. We need the team to play as a unit but at the moment no-one knows what the other will do. WTF do they do on the training ground?? Some have said recently that PL doesn't get involved but I remember stories about him tackling players etc.?!?!?!?! If only MON was still here things would be much better, sigh...

Villan444

I hear BFR might be available......

malacaxeta

Big Ron or Graham Taylor would both bring knowledge. Not as manager but somewhere in the board room. Both could have input about how the club should be run i.e the focus on the playing side of the club rather than plastic flags, cheesy moto's and a poxy stadium restaurant.

heavy d

Looks like we are all indulging in the blame game a bit. I like a lot of others was quite happy with appoitment of Lambert. Think we all need to remember hes on a learning curve as well one season as a prem manager is not going to make him a world beater overnight we cant keep chopping and changing managers so despite how glum I feel as a Villa fan I feel we need to stick with Lambert and keep in mind how rocky a road Ferguson had at man utd when he first arrived there. Yes it hurts but unless we keep a manager for longer than a year we are never going know if he could turn the club around. I reitterate again to Mr.Lerner the history of a club is written on the pitch not in a state of the art training ground and first class facilties playing in the championship if we finish up there those facilties will count for nothing.

Merlin128777

So we have to stick with the third bad choice in a row, just because......? I really dont want us to do badly this month (I'd rather sack him in the summer) but if we do, his position will be UNTENABLE. All the Villa alumni are saying this in the Media, directly or indirectly. He may be able to keep us up but there's too much risk attached to that. In my view it wasnt Mcleech that kept us up last year, it was the players simply digging in when needed. This team does not appear to have the right stuff to do that and its not just a question of personnel. The king is naked and dead - long live the king. Or queen - sorry, forgot it changed.

malacaxeta

malacaxeta I am not defending PL just because I thought he was right at the time,but let your thoughts take you to who we would get in instead? How many proven managers would come to Villa given the constraints ? We would probably be looking at someone unproven who wanted to make a name for himself as we did with PL not even going to mention the previous occupant but regardless of who once again we go through transition for a fourth year ? Anyway end of the year Lerner will no doubt sack him if we are relegated as the board are of course totally blameless!.

Merlin128777

Have Your Say

Recent Articles

The Vital Villa Fantasy League Winner! (Monday May 20 2013)

Lambert Thanks Fans For Vociferous Support (Sunday May 19 2013)

Stats: Wigan v Aston Villa (Sunday May 19 2013)

Wigan v Villa - Team News 19/5/13 (Sunday May 19 2013)

We Deserve To Finish Higher (Saturday May 18 2013)

Pre Season Takes Shape (Friday May 17 2013)

Something For The Weekend (424) (Friday May 17 2013)

Lambert Sticking To His Policy - No Big Signings (Friday May 17 2013)

Shaun Maloney Speaks To Vital Wigan About Stan (Friday May 17 2013)

Mystic Mug Sits On Fence To Beat Lawro! (Friday May 17 2013)

Archived Articles

Vital Villa Articles from 2005
Vital Villa Articles from 2006
Vital Villa Articles from 2007
Vital Villa Articles from 2008
Vital Villa Articles from 2009
Vital Villa Articles from 2010
Vital Villa Articles from 2011
Vital Villa Articles from 2012
Vital Villa Articles from 2013

1.	Pride of Lions	873
2.	The Fear	663
3.	BodyButter	436
4.	kefkat	372
5.	CDX_EIRE	309
6.	ClivetheVillan	244
7.	thefacehead	239
8.	Villan57	239
9.	DeanoVilla	196
10.	mike_field	180

Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
12. Fulham	38	11	10	17	-10	43
13. Stoke	38	9	15	14	-11	42
14. Southampton	38	9	14	15	-11	41
15. Aston Villa	38	10	11	17	-22	41
16. Newcastle	38	11	8	19	-23	41
17. Sunderland	38	9	12	17	-13	39
18. Wigan	38	9	9	20	-26	36

Choose your club

Other Sites

Network Navigation

Vital Partners

Aston Villa Football Club - A RANT

Writer: heavy d

Your Comments

Have Your Say

Recent Articles

Archived Articles

Vital Members League (view all)

League Results (view all)

League Table (view table)

Breaking League News

Current Site Poll (view all polls)

Latest Results
Wigan	2	-	2	Aston Villa
Aston Villa	1	-	2	Chelsea
Norwich	1	-	2	Aston Villa
Aston Villa	6	-	1	Sunderland
Man Utd	3	-	0	Aston Villa
Aston Villa	1	-	1	Fulham