Manager Paul Lambert

[dudevillaisnice]

Durham the closet Villa fan

 

We should all stand up and applaud what Paul Lambert is trying to achieve at Aston Villa. He has a team made up mainly of young players – eight of the starting XI at Stoke on Saturday are 23 years old or under, and six of those eight are English.

If you haven’t seen Villa this season, that’s a shame because this is a team that tries to play football. 

They keep the ball on the floor and pass it around. Unless it’s a clearance, they rarely hoof the ball aimlessly.

These young players have technique. Matthew Lowton scored one of the goals of the season with a beautiful chest and volley from 25 yards with Stoke’s hardest hatchet men charging at him.

They’re brave. Nathan Baker took the ball full in the face from a fierce Kenwyne Jones blast. And carried on no problem.

And they’ve got character. Jordan Bowery started only his second Premier League game for Villa in that big relegation clash at Stoke.

All of these young players look calm and composed on the ball and, even better, they kept their heads up on Saturday. They had been by far the better side at Stoke, so when the home team equalised, heads might have dropped. But they didn’t and Villa hit back to win 3-1 with two late goals.

Heavy beatings at Chelsea and Man City have proved that it’s a project that has some way to go. Indeed, Aston Villa are still heavily involved in the relegation picture. Individual mistakes will happen with a young, growing team and those errors have cost Villa dear this season.

It would be a travesty if Villa were to go down, given the quality of the football they play. Aston Villa fans should feel proud of their club – it’s a model that every other club should try to emulate.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2306172/Adrian-Durham-Joey-Barton-Manchester-United-haters-Paul-Lambert-Aston-Villa.html

[Big_John_10]

Durham has been signing our praises for a while now.

[dudevillaisnice]

Yeah, he is yet to see us lose a game this season... incredible.

[Zatman]

He gets a lot of stick for being a WUM but Durham does actually know about football. He is spot on as well in article

Yeah, he is yet to see us lose a game this season... incredible.

 

Maybe we could have a whiparound to get him a season ticket

[Big_John_10]

You are the one that is saying that it's the worst defence you've seen and slaging him off for putting this one together. All I've asked you to do is to mention a few alternatives that you think could have improved us considering the money and wages available.

I think keeping Collins, warnock and possibly Hutton to start with and spending more money signing a better player than KEA would have made us better defensively. Obviously doesn't offer much in future potential but i think we'd be a lot less worried about relegation this year.

Do you honestly think that we couldn't have signed better or strengthened in different areas? Do you believe that he could have not done anything but create a defence that breaks our premiership record for goals conceded?

[Big_John_10]

look forward to next season

Once we're safe we can look forward to what the new tv money will bring, the possibility of Benteke signing a new contract, bennet, Westwood, Sylla and Lowton improving and someone like carruthers coming more into the first team.

Just need to get safe first.

[Swerbs]

Lerner, Faulkner and Lambert are trying to emulate Dortmund aren't they?

[SikhInTrinity]

I love how people keep saying keep Collins, Warnock and Hutton, have you forgotten last season they were utter shite, they would have made absolutely no difference to us this. Warnock who now plays for Leeds, Hutton playing for the one of the bottom clubs in Spain, and Collins playing for West Ham but his hoofball suits them.

[sonic_bouma]

fans of other clubs speak quite fondly of him in terms of his approach to football

 

its very hard to judge when we are a club in transition and he arrived on the back of some awful form and squad players

 

but he has made some huge mistakes this year although in the last few weeks we have seen the affect he can have on average players

 

if we do stay up and its a big if still then with the TV money and 2 years of selling big earners I'm looking forward to us strengthening and seeing the direction Lamberts philosophy can take us

[sonic_bouma]

i will however start to worry if by the end of the summer and 10 games in we are still seeing Clark, Bennett, Delph, Bannan etc as regular features of the team.

 

At the moment I keep telling myself he doesn't rate them that highly but they are a there because of our financial circumstances

[Big_John_10]

I love how people keep saying keep Collins, Warnock and Hutton, have you forgotten last season they were utter shite, they would have made absolutely no difference to us this. Warnock who now plays for Leeds, Hutton playing for the one of the bottom clubs in Spain, and Collins playing for West Ham but his hoofball suits them.

They were shit last year.

This year is a much worse defence though.

[SikhInTrinity]

This year its a work in progress defence, We have not had a consistent back four apart from Lowton, we did last year and you rightly said they were shit. I honestly don't think Warnock or Hutton would have made any difference to our defence, think people have forgotten Warnocks ice-skating skills of last year against Swansea, his OG against QPR. As for Hutton, he is the worst RB, I have ever seen and he constantly wanted to hold hands with Collins.

[PussEKatt]

Last year we hung around the 15th to 17th position for most of the season.

This year after Lambert has had 2 transfer windows and nearly a whole season we are around the 17th to 18 th position.

FFS after all this time he has managed to drop us 1 position ????

[Woody1000]

Last year we hung around the 15th to 17th position for most of the season.

This year after Lambert has had 2 transfer windows and nearly a whole season we are around the 17th to 18 th position.

FFS after all this time he has managed to drop us 1 position ????

We're 16th!

[PussEKatt]

Were 16th now.

But where have we been for most of the season ?

[Raymond]

Last year we hung around the 15th to 17th position for most of the season.

This year after Lambert has had 2 transfer windows and nearly a whole season we are around the 17th to 18 th position.

FFS after all this time he has managed to drop us 1 position ????

All this time? You mean 3/4 of a season?

[Demitri_C]

give the guy a chance ffs, rome wasnt built in a day

[BOF]

Last year we hung around the 15th to 17th position for most of the season.

This year after Lambert has had 2 transfer windows and nearly a whole season we are around the 17th to 18 th position.

FFS after all this time he has managed to drop us 1 position ????

Are you being serious?

If you are then let me explain.

He took a side on the decline. A side that were hovering around the drop zone but were only ever going in one direction. They were on the decline. They were old. They were overpaid and they were shit. Hutton can hardly get his game for the worst team in the Primera Liga (Mallorca), Warnock has dropped into the league he was trying to drag us into (Leeds). Collins has admittedly had a good season for West Ham and Dunne; while he has been missed on occasion; has not been mourned by the Villa faithful. Even the previously-mercurial Bent has had to make way for the best strikeforce and the best striker to come Villa's way since probably the days of Saunders and Atkinson.

We now have a side who are in a similar position to last year's one, but this is while they are learning their Premier League trade. This Villa side are as good as the other one but with 10 years in hand. We're on the up and we are doing it the right way. If you are intent to contain your opinions to simple glances at the league table without looking at what he's trying to do and how he's trying to do it then that's your prerogative but you're missing the point. We will be in this league next season and we'll be in a helluva better shape than we've been in a long long time.

[PussEKatt]

Put it another way then.

Are we moving in the right direction after nearly a whole season ?

[BOF]

Yes. Absolutely.