Well that hurt.

After Aston Villa started brightly, it wasn’t to be. Despite Andreas Weimann’s goal, Villa were unable to prevent themselves from succumbing to a sixth consecutive defeat. That Christian Benteke saw red was far from a surprise, though the fact that Tottenham Hotspur’s Ryan Mason stayed the pitch was quite unbelievable.

Whilst it would be easy to say that Benteke should have been spared a red card, the truth is you can’t raise your hand to another player, no matter the provocation – two wrongs don’t make a right.

Losing Villa’s Belgian number 20 was a turning point for the game, and his absence for the next three will take an even bigger toll on the team. When Benteke was involved, his power and presence were constant thorns in the side of a Spurs team who looked woefully low on firepower. However, the fact that Villa still managed to lose anyway tells its own story.

After a sixth loss in a row, much of the anger is headed directly in the direction of Paul Lambert. Villa’s Scottish manager will certainly be expected to take responsibility for recent form, but the truth is that there are wider and deeper issues that simply getting rid of Lambert can solve.

Perhaps one of the starkest illustrations of how far Villa have fallen comes from the changing attitudes on a man who many fans had previously considered well beneath their tastes – Tony Pulis.

Pulis, whilst achieving success at both Stoke City and during his recent time at Crystal Palace, has often been slated for his physical, anti-football mentality. However, for Villa, a club now facing real questions around their footballing strategy, the reality is somewhat stark – Pulis may not be the solution for beautiful football, but beggars can’t be choosers, and Villa are comparative beggars nowadays.

Part of the issue with the club is the somewhat understandable attitude Randy Lerner has taken towards risk in recent years. After an early period where money appeared to be no object, times have changed, leaving Villa getting by on far more modest amounts of cash.

Given the circumstances, Lerner could be forgiven for a more stringent financial attitude, though the risk of implosion could well see Villa’s American owner suffer even more financially if the club do the unthinkable and go down into the Championship.

Part of what makes things so challenging is the constraint forced upon the club by Financial Fair Play. In needing to follow business rules, the concept appears to offer stability for the club meaning that the future can not be mortgaged away. 

However, due to the real risk of relegation, Villa’s lack of spending leads them even closer to a league where £80m a year in TV revenue is but a distant dream.

All of which, unfortunately, leads Lerner to a catch 22 situation – if he spends money and fails Financial Fair Play regulations, he may well end up paying out twice over in both fees and fines.

However, if Lerner does decide to continue with a frugal mentality, Villa will continue to flirt with relegation – a situation that could lead them to lose nearly £70m in revenue if they do go down.

At that point, and assuming Lerner is still in control at the club, Villa face an increasingly tough challenge with Lerner even more likely to want to pull hard on the financial reins of the club. At that point, the risk is that less money equals less success and, if Villa are in the Championship by then, there could be even more perilous times to come.

What’s the answer? For many, the solution is removing the club’s manager, but the truth is that doing so will only change so much. Whether Villa can find a man who will do better remains to be seen, and Lerner’s past decisions will leave many unconvinced by his ability to pick choices.

For some, the solution is David Moyes, though the truth is that despite his failure at Manchester United, there will be far easier jobs for him to go for, albeit on the continent.

So, as another week dawns for Villans worldwide, there’s upset and worry. Can the club turn things around? Time will tell, but barring a stark change in attitudes, it may well be a case of more of the same for the boys in claret and blue.

Comments 166

  1. Matt, a good piece, but this phrase sticks out for me: “For many, the solution is removing the club’s manager, but the truth is that doing so will only change so much.

    The issue as I see it is that (a) team selections and substitutions are usually awry, and (b) we get terrible PR from the manager. Added to one bad record after another being created over these past 3-plus years, we need someone who can speak in English for a change. After a Frenchman and two Scots I would like to hear my mother tongue in all its clarity. 😉

    There are some basic issues that a new manager may solve. One major issue is that he may well put more bile back into the team and get them to play to their ability (a new broom often accomplishes that); two he might try playing Cole (and Okore?) once in awhile. And Grealish, as appropriate.

  2. A pragmatic,balanced review Matt.
    However,fug the finace,it`s a convienient smokescreen for Lambert-but I don`t doubt it`s relevance.We just keep losing,week in week out.He makes the same selection errors,the same uninspiring,cautious substitutions,and the same negative ,mentally weak approach to every fixture.Any pro or anti Lambert fan can dress up any argument to enforce their view,but this is pro sport and we keep losing,we can`t even manage a draw at home.We just keep losingI said to Mark earlier,yes we have limited ability in the squad,therfore we should over compensate with organisation and become hard to beat,yet we leak goals and rarely score.Pullis,I would take to keep us up for this season,because ,please be in no doubt ,we are awful a mentally weak group who are heading for relegation,at full throttle.
    Pullis would be a short term solution for a club with many deep rooted long term problems.
    Stabilty and loyalty are rare and to be admired in modern sport,but to have stabilty,just for it`s own sake,regardless of results is stupid and short sighted.

  3. Matt- Indeed it did hurt, another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

    A better performance than QPR (not hard) but let down by the red card and then some poor defending for the corner. The free kick deflection was cruel.

    I thought Spurs looked distinctly disjointed, like a team of strangers, and there was some very poor play on both sides, especially in the middle of the second half, before it all kicked off.

    Getting rod of Lambert might provide a short term fix, but I can’t see Randy sacking him yet (we aren’t rock bottom of the table), it will just cost him money. We need the longer term future clarified, then I am sure there will be change of personnel.

  4. We’re all aware that not everything can be blamed on Lambert.

    But if Lerner for whatever reason isn’t capable of selling the club or spending at a more appropriate level the only option we have is to ask if anyone else would either do better with the players at his disposal or identify better players at bargain bucket level. And the answer to that would have to be yes.

    Whether we trust Lerner and Fox with the appointment is another matter.

  5. If you mange an under 12 girls team,Bayern Minich or Plymouth,as a manager your job is to get the best out of what you have available.Lambert is clearly and painfully incapable of achieving this. i am not saying we have a marvellous squad but if he had the afore mentioned qualities 12th should not be beyond us,not relegation.
    Injuries have played their part,but to repeat myself,we are a mentally weak team who crumbles once they concede.

  6. Right now I’d take Pulis – he may not be the man to start a style based revolution, but he sure as hell seems to know how to turn around dysfunctional clubs…

  7. When the players go on the pitch, do you think they think about the take over ? No chance. It’s down to tactics and that falls at the Berks feet and he’s awful at that

    Irony is Benteke ( normally Lamberks saviour ) has maybe ended his career at Villa. Next 3 games without the beast will only likely see 3 more defeats. Can Lamberk survive 3 more defeats ? I’d hope not

  8. The removal of Lambert is obvious, he continues to fail and basically if he isn’t removed we’re doomed because what do points win ? and we’re not winning points.
    Sometimes after yet another defeat i sit in the local and wonder what, if anything, goes around Lerners head, his actions regarding AVFC are bewildering, ridiculous managerial appointments, CEO’s without ANY knowledge of the sport and this overriding obsession with American personnel in key positions, he obviously believes that any old yank knows more about the sport and club than the clubs fans. There’s no turning back for Lerner at VP, he’s a busted flush, his renewed passion is bs and irrellevent anyway, he has lost any respect or affection the supporters had for him, ditto Lambert, a clueless loser with delusions way way above his abilities. I’ve said many times on AVL that the club is finished, football clubs are ultimately judged by the calibre of its administration, ours is pitiful. Some may suggest that a spell in the Championship will do the club some good, not a chance, its needless and avoidable but not with decisions like the ones Lerner habitually makes. I would suggest that, if Lerner stays, he should –
    1 – Hire a DoF with a close attachment to AVFC.
    2 – Sack Lambert and his staff ( EVERY coach in the club at all levels ).
    3 – Move in a continental direction, the Dutch produce the finest coaches in the World.
    4 – Dismantle the PR department, its non – productive, the club is losing fans by the game and the current fiasco with the fan clubs is pathetic.
    5) From what i can see we don’t employ scouts, copy the Udinese scouting set up.
    Basically what i’m saying is, the staff assembled over the last fifteen years are not good enough, the game has changed but we have not, we don’t innovate, just copy the old failed methods, employing cheap no-hopers who are out of their depth, for once lets be radical and show some balls, Lambert, Keane, Fox, and in particular, Lerner OUT.

  9. Frem

    Lambert is going nowhere.Fox and Lerner think that stabilty leads to sucess,not necessarily fellas,if you believe that one then you`ve swallowed a myth hook line and sinker.Stabilty is good when you have a solid foundation,a club can progress,but we never in the past 4 seasons have progressed,there is no plan or foundation.The names have changed,but the reults are the same.Loss after loss.

  10. It has to be moyes for me. Pullis 2 nd and anyone else 3rd.

    We all know the jobs a hard one but for me lamberts failed. The record is worse than it should be. He has to be sacked, especially with the other managers available.

    Did not watch today and not going to watch in the future. I just can bring myself to watch it

  11. A great post Steamer.I`m getting a bit concerned though,principally by the lack of the use of “knob” in your posts,why have you discarded such a fine insult?Or perhaps you only use it now for posts concerning Herbert?

  12. B6B,
    I saw Bayern Minich once, not bad but not as good as Real Hajib.

    Pulis has shown that he’s not a one system boss, he gets respect from his players, if he goes for the long ball option then no, we don’t have the right players anyway as shown by the current shower, however, you can’t have failed to be impressed with Palace last season under his reign ( geddit ?). My view is that ANYBODY is better than Lambert, yes, even McKnob, but Rijkaard and others are still out there, just no more sweaties and no-hope English. By the way, no way Moyes is coming, bigger fish to fry.

  13. B6B,
    Do alopogise for that mate, i’m beginning to mellow with age and try to avoid insulting knobs, turds etc by comparing them with our current administration.
    A very good point raised by you regarding stability, how is a situation stable and acceptable when you lose every week, now UNstable, that would be an accurate description of Lerner and Lambert who are also KNOBS.

  14. The red card can’t overshadow basic mistakes, lack of ideas and a total of 29 points from the last 102, 23 defeats in the last 36 games, 5 goals scored all season, worst start for 46 years, add to that all the negative records set in his tenure, 2.5 seasons of utter shite football, basically lambert is a loser, and an arrogant prick to boot, the sooner this fraud is removed the better, taking his Yankee pimp with him.
    RIP AVFC were no better than the shite down the road

  15. Thanks Frem,that is a good read,very fair and true.Personally,I hate what The Villa have become,a nothing club,an easy ride,scratching around in the bottom 5.getting beat in the cups by lesser teams,a gift,an easy 3 points for teams at the top of the table,the middle and the bottom clubs.We are just a club where players come to pick up their millions and move on.VP is now a graveyard of all our hopes and dreams.I hate what we have become.

  16. Today was hard to take. We were well set up, and played good football. We finally broke our goal duck and were unlucky not to score more. For the second week running we were the better side but came away with nothing.
    The manager has nothing to apologise for today (not excusing him from other previous misdemeanours mind you) and he must be cursing his luck tonight.
    A month ago Pardew looked doomed and look at Newcastle now.
    It’s looking pretty desperate just now but provided today wasn’t a one off things will look better before Christmas

  17. Hahha. Ye, what Xmas 😉

    Robbo- there was improvement but nothing to write home about. We played a very poor side and still lost another game of football

    Pardrew hasn’t broken Club records though.

    It’s no surprise how bad we are. It’s been 26 months of shite so there is no reason why we will get better under this fool

    Can only see more defeats coming

    Brasil- Every fan hates what we have become. We have no plan of the pitch, and we have no plan on it. It’s a mess.

  18. Spurs are struggling, but they have some very good players and will finish in the top 8. . . . but we were the better team and would have won if Benteke had kept his cool
    As I’ve said before, I’m no fan of lambert but he did little wrong today and deserved a win

  19. True RobboO,I am just pulling your wotsit,but when the chips are down,once we concede it`s game over.This applies against top ,mid,or bottom teams,Bradford ,Millwall etc.etc.Sorry to repeat this term,mentally weak fron boardroom to the bench.Indecisive and incoherent use of subs,negative,no tactics apart from defend, defend(badly)playing players out of position,even before the injury crisis.A pathetic delivery of corners and set pieces.Sign Cole,don`t play him.Grealish signs for 4 years,don`t use him,even for 20 mins,here and there.We approach each fixture as if we are Carlisle away at Chelsea,too much respect for the opponent,11 men behind the ball,home or away.It is a humiliating way to play.Being AV used to mean something,going to VP used to be a tough fixture.However now,if a team doesn`t win at VP they should be ashamed.We merely exist to provide points for other clubs.
    Goodnight All Lifers.

  20. Frem: Yes, a good article, but it basically pulls together everything that’s been said on AVL I think.

    Steamer: Brilliant statement from the heart.

    Now – do we want Pulis? I’d say perhaps but that must be a short-term appointment pending the club’s sale. For me Cowans’ appointment as caretaker would be the best until the club is sold – and surely the club has got to be sold.

  21. Oh well.

    JL

    Yes, it has to be sold, can’t go on “treading water” indefinitely.

    Although it seems likely we’ll lose at Spam, I reckon Villa will somehow win. Without CB, I don’t know how. It’s just a hunch.

  22. r0bb0: It’s looking pretty desperate just now but provided today wasn’t a one off things will look better before Christmas

    It’s been looking “pretty desparate” since 2012 and now into 3 seasons, mate!

    And once you’ve lost 9 matches on the trot (and scored just 1 or 2) how do you get your confidence back? CB is out for 3 matches don’t forget, so our saviour-apparent is no longer there and will need another match or two to get back into shape. That then takes us up to near Christmas and Man U is coming up early December.

  23. So improvement is now One shot on target against a dreadful Spurs team . I’d say they played worse than QPR did the week before and that’s saying something .
    Bizarre subs again – Bent on in stoppage time for one. The same hoof it up to Benteke tactic . Zog being taken off (not Weimann who was lucky not to get a second yellow with all his drama queen petulance ) No we weren’t excellent as PL said afterwards but the red card has provided him with another excuse to add to the “hard run of fixtures / no Benteke / no Delph / we were unlucky ” catalogue . It is our worst run for 47 years and one goal against a lifeless disinterested Spurs changes nothing .

  24. Jenny: It is our worst run for 47 years and one goal against a lifeless disinterested Spurs changes nothing .

    A telling statement that. And they only scored as a result of 2 dead ball kicks.

  25. How the hell can they give that og to Kane ? the bloke hit the ball at the opposite side to where it went in so an obvious own goal, sorry, forgot Spurs are London.
    Apparently Friedal has said that Mason was told to get CB sent off, now i’m not naive enough to believe this doesn’t happen but the League ought to have a look at this incident and take retrospective action. Also all four officials should be rebuked, it won’t happen though, Spurs are London.
    Also heard that Pocchetino said CB was a “Dirty Bastard” if true he’ll get away with it, Spurs are London.
    Bet he wouldn’t repeat it if CB was next to him, he’ll be out of work in a couple of weeks though if that was a typical Spurs non – performance.

  26. I implore every Villa fan to get off their backsides and do everything within their power to remove Lambert from his post or this time next year we will be a championship club.
    Be honest with yourselves how many clubs in this country would keep a manager after six straight defeats we must remember football is a results business and zero points from eighteen is totally unacceptable add to that one goal scored in that run of games and Mr.Lamberts position is absolutely untenable.

    Now talking of honesty I would like to say that I do not blame Lambert I blame the hierarchy at Villa Park for keeping a man in a job for this amount of time when he has shown time and time again to be completely out of his depth, the Villa job was always too big for him, yes you can say why didn’t he have the decency to resign but why should he walk out of a well paid job all because the Chairman has not got the balls to fire him.

    Maybe a bigger problem we may be facing is that when and not if Lambert goes have we the confidence in Fox and Lerner to appoint a man who can take us forward and at least make Aston Villa competitive, all we want is to see some fight perhaps with a touch of football thrown in and to make sure that teams do not get an easy ride when they play us, I think the answer to the question is a big fat no, to think that they could have given Lambert a new contract based on a few results tells us they do not have a clue what they are doing.

    We are a club in turmoil and have been for the last four years we have a chairman who is willing to sell the club to anyone that can come up with enough cash to allow him to walk away without incurring a massive loss he will not care if they have the best intentions for AVFC as long as he gets his £s, it is a very sad state of affairs for such a great club.

    AVFC RIP.

  27. robbo

    you dont blame lambert for yesterday well the prick got his get out of jail card when benteke got red,but his formation nobody in front of lowton leftspurs all the left side of pitch, subs wiemen had lost the plot completely and kept him on zog who made the goal and benteke chance that hit the bar goes off the one player who can keep the ball,richardson what has he done or add to team sticks on bent in third min of injury time ,keane was up on his feet for first 4/5 matches now sits chhewing gum
    you could go to any sunday morning team and get a better manager ,one other thought when we go down we wil class acts like steer luna bennet gardner sylla helnius tonev to come back

  28. The Berk has a 50% defeat ratio as our manager

    And I see Bolton are getting investment now.’palace getting me owners

    We can’t been get anyone to buy us

  29. SWV is right…..until the fans put the pressure on Learner and fox, Lambert wont be going anywhere.

    I was ok with keeping Lambert last season and defended him, giving him the grace of a 3rd season……and now we are 10 games in….it’s just not happening is it. Has to go.

  30. 1. Biggest defeat in premiership history (8-0 chelsea)

    2. Worst start to a season since we’ve been in the premiership (his first season)

    3. First manager since we’ve been in the premiership to have two seasons or more and hasn’t achieved a top ten finish

    4. Most home defeats in a single season ever

    5. Most defeats over a season in our premiership history (20 last season)

    6. Most goals let in over a season since we’ve been in the premiership (over 60 last season)

    7. Five defeats in a row without scoring for the first time in our entire history

    8. Six defeats in a row for the first time since we’ve been in the premiership and also beyond (47 years)

    9. First manager to lose to a fourth tier side over two legs in a cup semi-final

    10. First time we’ve gone out of cup competitions three years on the spin to lower league opposition?

    11. 23 defeats in 36 games the worst run any manager has ever had at this club?

  31. Frem,

    And your point is?

    Whatever happens in tonights game Palace v Sunderland we are dropping another place to 16th, at what point do the people who sit around that large table in our boardroom say enough is enough, we are a shambles of a football club and do you know what shocks me the most, some fans are still backing Lambert, I struggle to find an answer to that.

    AVFC RIP

  32. The trouble we have is Learner does not care. Unless the fans, protest etc and make life as difficult as poss for Lambert, fox and learner then lambert is going no where.

    I fear the fans are just accepting it.

    Did not watch yesterday, what was the atmosphere like?

  33. Excellent article Matt and the piece you referred us to Frem was excellent and well balanced .

    Matters are now getting really serious and the time has come to consider the future, and what makes this painfully aware is that Steamer is now writing comments which are also very pertinent. Disappointed that Steamer alone, is the only one on the previous article, to point out that Chadl should have seen red for his Tackle on Westwood, as Vertongen could also have done.

    The winding up of Benteke was happening well before the sending off, and Lambert at 70 minutes should have been considering taking Weimann and Benteke off and replacing them with gabby and Bent, putting fresh legs on and keeping the pressure on Spurs. They never looked like they were going to do much, apart from get someone sent off…

    Sanchez is also a liability, and maybe Clark would be a much better bet, and having played 90 minutes against QPR would have been up to speed and more liable to assist up front.

    However all this is about one game, that even with the sending off, the correct substitutions and game plan should have won three points, and Villa would have climbed the table. I do have some feeling for Lambert yesterday, but not enough to say that he should stay, as the only reason we are in this position is his team selection, tactics and training methods have got us there.

    If one looks at the players we have had during Lerner’s tenure, we would not have needed to spend any more than we already have, in fact less, if we had retained the right ones, instead of ridding ourselves of so many.

    I do not see the future improving much, and can only see us getting closer to the bottom. Perhaps it is me, but watching the match on Sky when I got home, Villa park seemed to have very little atmosphere yesterday, the Holte End looked half empty, and the fans very sadly quiet, while the Spurs fans were very vociferous, and encouraging their team all the team. It was almost as if they were the home team, and when that happens something is very wrong.

    We must remember this is still our club, the most important club in the Midlands, and we need to give our support no matter what, and hope that things will eventually improve, whether Lambert stays or goes. No-one here wants to see Championship football at VP.

  34. Paul,

    Ten thousand empty seats tells its own story, from what I could hear the atmosphere was terrible and all I could hear were the spuds fans lording it up, VP was a place teams feared to come to but now they look forward to a day out in B6 to take away three points.

    But as you point out this is not just about one game this mess started four seasons ago and it is going to get worse before we see any improvement, we may think we have hit rock bottom but the bad news is we are still falling, but as you quite rightly say it seems like the majority of our support have accepted we are shit and when that happens we know we are deep up shitten strasse.

    AVFC RIP

  35. Paul: We must remember this is still our club, the most important club in the Midlands, and we need to give our support no matter what, and hope that things will eventually improve, whether Lambert stays or goes. No-one here wants to see Championship football at VP.

    What if that support just provides encouragement for matters to continue as they are?

    It reminds me a bit of Chamberlain and his “Peace in our time” message. The situation was glaring him in the face but he didn’t want to accept it.

  36. no way was there 32 thousand at match from all camera angles looked2 out 3 seats sat on so that only be 28 thousand at match 5 years ago was getting 42 thousand surely when fox looks at books no way back

  37. Despite my paucity of posts and it leading to long diatribes on the travails of Aston Villa and being a supporter of said club for 40ish years – F**K Lambert and F**K Lerner for ruining this fine club full of tradition, pride, success and future.

    We are left with nothing but being a participant in the league and indifference to the situation at board level. FFP has killed any opportunity of competing from significant investment that we could be left with selling VP naming rights to bolster income to allow investment .

    Change is needed and very quickly, god forbid our only recourse is Tony Pulis at least by Stoke reputation but it does show how far we have fallen.

  38. A little unlucky v spurs in that they were rubbish until tekkers went off and posed even less of a threat than qpr in the previous game.

    Iam am sick to the back teeth of PL not having money as in reality he has spent more than most in the lge
    Southampton .swansea ect are fine examples that show its not all about money but more to do with swred management , propa tactic ans a focus on positvie play
    Jack grealsh has no chance of developing properly under PL either as this hit um on the break tactic is not going to allow him to develop

    Villa have had more than enough cash , more than enough wages ect to be a much better side/squad than most teams above us

    Randy has set us up to fail — its about time he did the right things for this club and stop wasting his money with managers that are not good for our club —- its amazing that lambert still has a job with us with what is the poorest performance i have seen from a villa manager —

  39. Runtingz

    Well said.From top to bottom,the club is a mess and has been for years.PL musn`t be given a penny more-he`ll only waste it.Our MF consists of players who are all clones of each other,they all do the same job,neat and tidy,short passing,but not one of them can play a killer ball,score goals,or change a game.How many windows has Lambert had to rectify this?
    The cuurent situation feels like the post Euro winning era under Graham Turner,relegation beckons I`m afraid.

  40. Just looking at the league and i laughed at how rubbish most of the teams are…it is our only chance of staying up.

    We have lost 6 on the trot and still not in bottom 3 and in touching distance of 8th!

    Back to back wins are needed but sadly wont happen

  41. Matt – i don’t think lambo will get the sack and i fear Learner will give him every chance to stay up no matter how close to the trap door we are

    I really hope i am wrong on that but learner doesnt seem to have any real ambition for the club

    There are some good managers available so we don’t even have to try to pluck out the next Koeman to improve the club

    Only at villa – literally

  42. Andrew- The quality in the league ain’t great is it. 10th should be easy for a manager in his 3rd season, but we have a twat of a manger

    It’s got to the stage where I don’t know if I want us to win or not. If we beat WH, then Lamberk stays for even longer and lives on the win, as will the board. One win will save his job. However, if we lose our next two, then I can’t see any other way then the Board having to act

    So, if someone said, we can beat WH then go on another usual shite streak after and Lamberk stays, or you can lose your next two and Lamberk gets the sack, I’d take losing the next two

  43. afternoon lifers

    we do indeed need a new manager, that said I have to totally disagree that in some way the money we have spent would of been somehow spent better by others and i’ll tell you why.

    The whole offloading of players on high wages happened because we were spending a huge percentage of income on wages. before Lambert came in we had houllier and Mcleish who started with fairly strong squads, added a few players again on high wages and did what exactly? they both nearly relegated us!
    Lambert was given funds to buy enough players in on low wages to clear the decks, the fact nobody wanted to buy those players on £40,000+ tells its own story and compounded matters.

    Our much vaunted academy players who everyone including me assumed would come in and negate the need to buy have proved (grealish apart) to be not good enough at this level. something Steamer said about clearing the coaching staff earler is right and I totally agree. we’ve produced teams of youngsters that did well at youth level but rarely produce finished players like everton, southampton etc do. something is wrong with our youth policies and it has to be addressed.

    the complete rebuilding of a prem side whilst staying up has never happened in my knowledge in the way it has at villa especially replacing players with inferior/cheap options. Lambert has bought some dross and some good players (this you would expect even with more money not all transfers succeed anyhow ) and to compare what’s happened at villa to teams coming up or of lower stature is flawed. teams coming up don’t usually have huge wage bills ditto lower stature clubs and the money is usually spent to supplement with quality at the level they can afford ( especially with sky money), their situation is miles away from villas scenario in my opinion.

    some will see this as defending Lambert its not, I just think his tenure here has been stacked against him succeeding short term from the off, that said his tactics and continual bullshine are horrendous. I would take pulis on a short contract but it by no means guarantees success either, and didn’t he leave palace over no transfer fees? he’s also his own man Lerner won’t like that.

    Like Steamer I think Villa needs a good epsom salts enema from top to bottom, I have no faith in Lerner doing the right thing and the right staff and plan is not there for success, I hope someone comes in and turns this group of players around but i’m no deep sea diver so i’m not holding my breath

  44. Mark

    Why are we always rebuilding?We always seem to be at the foundations never any further.I genuinely don`t believe there is a plan or strategy.We just muddle along,everything is off the cuff.We just stumble from game to game,one disastrous performance to the next.Lambert just trots out the same old guff,and Lerner says nothing.I have no faith in anyone at the club,players or staff.

  45. brazil- I said recently I thought this would be the season ( the third ) when we brought in 3-4 quality players (as the financial side of things improved). Lerner declaring he’s selling the club stopped this ever happening by withdrawing funds and making us a poor choice of destination for a good player ( as if it wasn’t bad enough) to be fair to Lambert he said it would be 5 years but to what the target was I can’t remember, he didn’t say it would be 5 years of hell though. If there is a plan it would be nice for them to share it, you have to assume young and hungry ( a thinly disguised cost cutting exercise) is dead and we have moved on to lost and useless.

  46. D Johnson back from loan and did really well. Give him a go

    Mark- The problem is we don’t give the young lads game time what so ever, nothing. Not even Grealish is allowed on the playing field anymore. We won the next Jen and not one has kicked a ball for the team since hardly.

    Palace Sunderland tonight. Hope for a draw

  47. have read all the comments steamer is dead right but nothing will change whilst the happy clappers turn up home and away every week ,and say nothing the only way Lambert will get removed is if the fans really want it.
    which means every game stay away or chant Lambert out for 90 mins regardless of the score .
    It has all been said that he is the worst manager in villas history by a long way even mc cluless was far better we have played 11 games this season and had 12 shots on target .this is just a joke i remember the days you could go to villa park and be entertained see 3 or 4 goals and 20 shots on target in one game 12 shots in 11 games is in my book a sack able offense instant dismissal.
    the plain and simple facts are Lambert is a liar and is driving the club to the bottom of the league he is a liar because he told Grelish he would get games if he signs a new deal now he has signed he has forget about him i know this for a fact off his family and he now wishes he had not signed for a liar and a cheat, i have supported villa for over 50 years and have seen the high points of Rotterdam .but i have never ever seen darker days than they are now even when we where in the 3 div we had a far better manager and far better players than we have now . but the thing we had then was players with heart and fight for the shirt we have none now i backed us to go down at 12 to 1 after we beat Liverpool as even when we where in second place after 4 games we only had 5 shots on target and that is relegation form i simply cannot trust this manager as he is completely clueless and unless you happy clappers do something about it we are doomed i do not blame the owner as he has given Lambert over 80 mill and he has wasted it on rubbish bar the beast this is the worst villa side in over 100 years and managed by the worst and most boring manager since Mr McGregor was in charge every fan has to blog and shout get him out .
    on another point this guy Fox is no better than the last clown as he approved Lambert’s new deal yet again another waste of money on a dud

  48. frem- I agree mate we don’t but on the other hand we are so poor we can’t afford to carry anyone. you need a good solid base and players that can teach the youngsters on the pitch we haven’t got that its all hands to the pump.

    I like johnson I do think he could do well for us, he doesn’t seem as headless as some and I believe his preferred position is as a 10 🙂

  49. League position after 20 games

    •2013/14 – 11th
    •2012/13 – 17th
    •2011/12 – 13th
    •2010-11 – 17th
    Conceded total after 20 league games

    •2013/14 – 23 goals, 6 clean-sheets
    •2012/13 – 39 goals, 5 clean-sheets
    •2011/12 – 26 goals, 5 clean-sheets
    •2010/11- 37 goals, 4 clean-sheets
    Aston Villa’s 2012/13 signings – figures are approximates

    •Christian Benteke – Genk (£7.5M)
    •Ron Vlaar – Feyenoord (£3.5M)
    •Matthew Lowton – Sheffield United (£3.5M)
    •Joe Bennett – Middlesbrough (£2.5M)
    •Karim El Ahmadi – Feyenoord (£2.5M)
    •Ashley Westwood – Crewe (£2.5M)
    •Yacouba Sylla – Clermont (£2M)
    •Jordan Bowery – Chesterfield (£500K)
    Aston Villa’s summer signings – figures are approximates

    •Libor Kozak – Lazio (£6M)
    •Jores Okore – Nordsjaelland (£4M)
    •Aleksandar Tonev – Lech Poznan (£3M)
    •Antonio Luna – Sevilla (£1.5M)
    •Nicklas Helenius – Aalborg (£1.5M)
    •Leandro Bacuna – Groningen (£1M)
    •Jed Steer – Norwich (undisclosed fee)

    I could spend better than this fella along with many actual managers

  50. john doyle- thats interesting about grealish I feel for the lad if thats true. Lambert hasn’t had anywhere near £80 mil more like £42 ish (minus whatever he got from selling players) over 3 seasons and 5 transfer windows that about £8 mil a window. haven’t seen you on here before mate welcome

  51. Pathetic,I know all signings are a gamble,but of those listed,only 3 are 1st team players.Vlaar,CB and Westie.Lowton is in and out.Bacuna has faded away,I thought we might have a player there.The rest are gone,on loan or injured.Abysmal calibre of football signed by Lambert

  52. runtingz- its not the fee its the wage, last season most of our squad was on between £5000-15000 with vlaar and benteke, delf and guzan on more. they are youngsters wages if you can get prem quality players in to a sinking ship like villa on those wages I’ll put your name forward.

    koeman was replacing 4 players they had sold for £120 mil? how is that the same situation mate? considering southampton are a vastly superior side to us anyhow.
    the only team I can think of that changed as many players as us in 2 seasons is QPR and they went down. I wish you would put up the stats for them as theres nothing to compare. the likes of swansea added Bony for £12 mil and all the other players were up in arms about wages . add to that in lamberts second season we were paying a third of our wages to the bomb squad who we didn’t play thats how crazy villas situation is there is nothing to compare it to and probably a big reason why we couldn’t attract a decent manager.

    one other consideration is I doubt the bomb squad or any of our high earners had relegation clauses in their contracts as we were shooting for champs league, after houllier nearly relegated us and mcleish continued the good work, Lerner probably shit himself. you only have to see the long list of released players to realise that something was very wrong at villa

    http://www.transferleague.co.uk/premiership-transfers/aston-villa-transfers.html

    http://www.transferleague.co.uk/premiership-transfers/aston-villa-transfers.html

  53. JD
    Great post, it’s the most depressing period in my memory, and that includes the relegation in the 80’s. Lambert makes my piss boil, he is a complete imbecile, who is arrogant , being that stupid and that arrogant is a very dangerous combination. He has been shite from day 1 and will take us down.
    I was at the game yesterday , there was nowhere near 32k inside VP, empty seats everywhere, there were points when the atmosphere picked up , but the nervousness and knowledge that Spurs would eventually take the jam out of our doughnut, was overwhelming. Spurs were no great shakes, but we are in the position we are in because year on year Lambert creates, the worst Villa team in living memory possibly our entire history( the negative records seem to back this up). We cannot survive as a club under these carpetbagging scum. They are destroying an English institution that means so much to so many, they are killing the club in front of our very eyes.
    Tonight will see us drop to 16th, we are plummeting rapidly, it’s soul destroying that Pulis is now seen as a saviour, this shows how far we have fallen. For me we should go for Howe, Laudrup, Moyes, Zola , etc before yet another long ball defensive merchant.
    I’m hoping and praying that yank retard sells up soon, Lambert goes and we can actually rebuild the squad rather than this bunch of Raggy Doll misfit wage thieves.
    Lambert Out

  54. I know we have signed some shite but when you show it all like that, it’s actually painful.

    It’s sad what’s happened to this club.

    Looking at Palace line up, the have wingers, two of them and playing 442. That’s the system I like

  55. looking through the transfers over Lamberts time there is only WBA, stoke, palace who have spent less, WBA and palace not by much. burnley and leics have too but are newly promoted. what Is most noticeable is we have made naff all in transfer money whereas most other teams have recouped a fair bit of dosh.
    mark hughes at stoke has done a remarkable job while changing their playing style for next to nothing

  56. that last article shows why bent and the bomb squad had to go as they are roughly a third of the wage bill with little effect except hutton, villa can’t grow and increase our wage bill without bringing in more money from other sources, bigger stadium, worldwide fan base etc. heres another FFP site

    http://www.financialfairplay.co.uk

  57. sorry in my point earlier i meant to say Lerner has given the last 3 managers 80mill on top of the money he gave mon as for what i said about Grelish it is spot on he could have gone to 8 other prem clubs but Lambert gave him the same bull shite he gives us after every game and he foolishly believed him as for the style of play it simply stinks would rather lose 6 4 every week than watch this boring rubbish Lambert should walk but he is so big headed he actually thinks he is doing a great job and he thinks he is getting the best out of the players surely in any other job he would be certified as insane and taken to broad moor and can any body on hear tell me what Kean is supposed to do as if he has an input into the way we play then he is as bad as Lambert i think the only option left is the prayer mat

  58. Just seen how bad Villa have been at doing business in the transfer market, not just now but for the years going back to 2000. How you pay £5million for Crouch and then sell him for £2milion, and he is still playing, is unbelievable, and many more like Collins, Dunne and many more.

  59. We played really good football that would have torn some teams apart on Sunday (until the sending off)
    If only we could do that every week I would relent and buy a half season ticket at least
    Jury is out though. Let’s see how we do next week (albeit without Benteke. . . sigh)

  60. Frem
    You ask how we can lose 6 games in a row
    In fairness to you, you predicted it at the start of the season so I am quite sure it’s no surpise to you at all.
    In fact, we are doing much better than you predicted so I am sure you are pretty happy about that.

  61. Welcome JD

    I don`t doubt you for one second re Grealish.Nothing and I mean Nothing would suprise me at AVFC anymore.It-the club-just exists for bebefit of other clubs,we provide all comers with 3 points.The last 4 years have been a daily drip of bad news,waste of transfer funds,and loss after loss.Sorry to state the blimmin obvious again.

  62. jd- I know it seems a lot but its only 16m a season and we recouped by selling our best players in the first 2 years. people keep saying how much we have spent but its no different than most teams in the last 3 seasons and less than most. I repeat It is the wage bill that they were trying to reduce due to FFP. leicester and QPR could be looking at £50 mil of fines. If the bomb squad had been offloaded things would of been better sooner, they were not. thats not to say I think Lambert should stay or spend more I’m just pointing out how hard it was to do and that as we are spending £74mil on wages a season compared to £16mil on transfers. so transfer funds get limited and players won’t come as we can’t afford £40,000 + wages

  63. Paul: How you pay £5million for Crouch and then sell him for £2milion, and he is still playing, is unbelievable…

    Especially when he got sold onto Liverpool for £4m (or was it more?) a year after we selling him for £2m.

  64. RoBBo,
    Just a guess, is your fave film Twelve Angry Men and your’e taking on the Henry Fonda role, ignoring all the evidence and defending someone who’s obviously guilty ? I’ll save you the trouble of watching till the end, he was guilty.

    JD,
    Hello mate, you’ll find this site slightly more intelligent than TVB and definitely more humorous, just ignore Mark King, i’ve met him and he’s dafter in real life than he is on the blog.

  65. Apparently the lame duck has two games left to save his job until the next crisis, c’mon Spam & Saints save our club because neither Lerner nor the attendees seem to want to.

  66. Brilliant, Steamer, bringing back memories of the file “Twelve Angry Men”. That film was used for management training when I was at Chrysler in the early 70s. In black and white, but still absorbing.

  67. Mark NO southampton have got them selves ahead of villa like almost every other club in the prem has —-=– 3 seasons ago they were miles behind us — due to being run extreamly well with mostly acadamy players they have gone to the next level — always employing good managers and style of play has also benifited them greatly

    what i am saying is there is no excuse -you can pluck as many figures out of the air as you like but wse are crap because we have been run crap and our managers have been progressily crap

  68. A lot of teams have overtaken us in the last few years, teams like Man City and their massive wealth, understandably so, but the disappointing thing is teams like Saints, Swansea, Hull, West Brom, West Ham, Newcastle etc etc who not that long ago were one or more divisions below us, have come up steadied the ship and kicked on whilst we have gone from regular top 6 to constantly finishing bottom 6 in a relegation battle. This is down to a combination of Lerner and his appointed cronies, this includes Lambert and now Keane.
    Lamberts stats are terrible in the extreme, it beggars belief he is still employed, it is bordering on Criminal he actually got a new deal, rewarding abject failure. My only hope is that Fox sees the millions of pounds in list revenue , and talks RL into getting shot of the imbeciles running the first team. If not we have to put pressure on the club, let them know our true feelings, the media sharks are slowly catching on and smelling the blood of a story, let’s chum the waters and get these vermin removed.
    As for a replacement, Frank de Boer( long shot I know), Michael Laudrup , David Moyes, Eddie Howe, Gianfranco Zola, Tony Pulis( although not my preferred choice, as after 6 months we will want him gone too) plus many more, I don’t trust Lerner but surely Fox has some decent contacts

  69. Since Swansea and Southampton have been mentioned, if Southampton & Swansea are well ahead of Villa on and off the pitch – and I don’t think anyone could dispute the fact that they are – what a damning indictment of Lerner and the imbecilic way he has run this club. Southampton were in the Third Division as recently as May 2011 and Swansea have only had 3 seasons in the top division in their life.

    Just as painfully, clubs that weren’t a fraction of the size of Aston Villa either have or threaten to eclipse us, season after season. Who’s next – garbage like Leicester, Palace and Hull City? Hull f***ing City!! Then you have fans saying we can’t compete with the likes of Southampton – a club with no historical pedigree who spent six seasons outside the top division. Well, we certainly can’t compete if Lerner won’t.

    Someone above mentioned Graham Turner above and this has the feel of that time to me as well. A failure to learn lessons from a steep self imposed decline and lucky escape from relegation, a succession of dreadful bargain bucket signings, a chippy lower league manager promoted way above his pay grade, a failure to sack the clown until it was too late and a blithering idiot of a chairman/owner interested only in himself.

  70. ” We want are Villa back”
    ” What the fuck is going on”
    ” we want Lamberk out”
    ” You don’t know what your doing”

    Hopefully the Away fans will sing that on Sat when WH beat us.

    Steamer- If he has two games to save his job, then like you, I hope we lose both if it means he finally gets the sack

  71. Steve W.

    I compared the GT era with now.It feels just as helpless,we can see what is happening ,but are powerless to change it.Swans and the rest have clear identities and the football is their priority.Villa`s priority has been to halt the bleeding of money to the Warnocks and Dunnes of this world and reduce the debt.Now that has been dealt with we still don`t seem to have the footballl side of things as our priority.The names have changed,the coaches have changed but the results haven`t .We at least,are consistent,we lose to top teams,mid table teams and bottom teams.Dire football,losing football.We are like Ikea furniture in reverse.Concede a goal and we are in pieces.To add insult to injury Lambert`s contract is extended,you couldn`t make it up.

  72. I wish I could believe Lambert only had two games. Here’s what the Telegraph’s Midlands man said last week, which contradicts that:

    “Tom Fox, the club’s highly-regarded new chief executive, was on the front foot last week and while the briefings were off-the-record, the message was clear: Lambert is not going anywhere soon. He signed a new four-year contract in September – Villa have not won a game since – and the buzz word for Fox and chairman Randy Lerner is “stability”.

    Lerner, meanwhile, is understood to be re-energised and “engaged” with all things Villa, despite putting the club up for sale at the end of last season. While they are effectively still on the market, Lerner is more hands-on than he has been for years and speaks to Fox and Lambert every other day.

    But there remains a feeling with some fans that all the key people at the club are walking around with blindfolds on.”

    The key sentence is the last one.

  73. Prandelli`s time could be up at Galatasary,he`s a Villa fan too.But hey, we are Aston Villa and employing quality is not what we are about.
    If I hear that patheic excuse” stability” word again I will scream.

  74. “I’ll have to have a long hard look at myself in what I am doing in my particular job at the moment. I am not getting as much as I should from these players.”

    Comment from Crawley Town boss John Gregory after a run of one win in six matches as he considers his own position.

    How refreshing to hear a manager with a bit of honesty and integrity, always had a soft spot for JG if I am honest.

    AVFC RIP

  75. Steve W,
    Excellent posts. That rumour was off a bookie who’s odds on the boot are 6-1, i don’t think he’ll go personally.
    You’d have thought that with the club appealing for more support that they’d have improved PR, under Chubby we hardly heard a word and Fox seems the same, what is going on ? any tiny piece of information is denied us, just the obvious lies designed to increase attendances get through and that is so obvious that it produces a negative reaction.
    Several posters have commented on the recent results of the u21’s and other Villa teams. This is a clear indication of our decline, contrary to belief, the reserve teams ARE the responsibility of the first team manager, even if he doesn’t pick the team he selects the coaches, something that’s happened from at least the 60’s. Saunders had Leonard, Taylor appointed McAndrew etc, same with scouting, Saunders relied on Barton. We don’tseem to have any talent at all in these departments, Karsa’s remit was connected to recruitment, who’s replaced him ? who are these young stars who will suddenly replace the current failures ? As Frem mentioned, we won the elite youth tournament for Europe a couple of years ago, where are they now ? on loan to lower division teams, the entire club is rotten to the core.

  76. Read Gregory’s book and you can see the passion he has for Villa and our fans, then look at Lambert and Keane looking vacant on our bench. The worst part is even if Lambert was booted Lerner would look no further than Keane for a replacement.

  77. swv john gregory and brian little two villans through and through that would not allow thenselves to manage a club if they didnt think they were a benifit —– propa old school boys –lambert proberbly things the shower at villa is not down to him but one of the many excuses i keep hearing

  78. Lads and Lasses I think those ships have definitely sailed as far as we are concerned, BFR, Gregory, Little and Cowans are not the answer anymore, I think we need a new broom to come in and take the club in the right direction, Koeman is showing at Saints that you need not have an affiliation to the club as long as you can manage players in the correct fashion, as suggested before a DOF is also needed to be a go between the manager and the board, how many games can Lambert go without a win before the trigger is pulled, even Lerner knew when it was time for McLeish to go but having said that it was after a major backlash by the fans, somehow Lambert seems to be getting a very easy ride by the fan base which I find incredulous to say the least.

    AVFC RIP.

  79. Andrew
    l’d take Fucking Little & Large over these pair of twats ,, when the cameas pan on keane any mind reader would be able to read he’s looking into his hands thinking “where the fucks my mobile ? l could be on level 1 of Angry Bird !” rather than watching this Dirge ,
    lv just got in from town and met an old mate Gerry and he pleaded with me to have his ticket for the wham game , seat ,coach, and he’d throw in the taxi home from town and a curry , , tempting ?? …..was it fuck , and were on page 11 of the birmingham mail saying how rubbish we are , Marvellous !! , how fans can be defending the ejit is beyond me ,

    Hiya JD , make sure you come to the meet up if it happens , could do with a chat about the old days as theres fuck all to talk about these days down the park ,

    hiya Jenny xxxx

  80. Bearing in mind the majority of dross in that first season Lambert certainly got a remarkably easy ride from a wide spectrum of Villa fans. That has changed as more of his supporters realise he is incapable of getting us out of the tailspin he and Lerner have put us in.

    I could understand everyone being relieved at escaping relegation but a lot of people lost their minds on this forum. Lambert was being praised in such a ridiculous over the top fashion it was almost as if there was some weird cult around him. A rare win was all down to Lambert and apparently showed the critics how wrong they were, a far more common series of defeats down to somebody – anybody – else.

    Excuses made for him: His legion of terrible signings were all O’Neill’s fault. His terrible tactics and collapses to Chelsea, Millwall, Bradford etc etc were down to poor players he signed, which was O’Neill’s fault. The young and hungry policy which Lambert championed, but let’s forget about that, was Lerner’s fault, (but really O’Neill’s fault). The bomb squad he cooked up with Lerner was totally Lerner’s fault which by association means it was O’Neill’s fault. Literally nothing was down to Lambert.

    If my fairy godmother gave me the choice of getting rid of one of Lambert or Lerner today I would choose Lerner. Because the first act of any new owner would surely be to show Lambert the door.

  81. Runtins
    l texted MOTD saturday complaining about that , , l asked if there was a throw-in , pass-back , ball-boy ,pie ,Anything – Of The Month we may be considered to be entered into,

  82. ST75,

    Hello bellend long time no abuse, what the feck was you doing in town I thought that ankle bracelet of yours confined you to within half a mile of Chelmsley hospital, anyway how is one looks like they have connected your dial up interweb, we will have to sort the meet out so I can hand deliver your xmas card you cheeky peeky blinder.

    AVFC RIP

  83. blimey tough audience on here today 🙂
    JD- carry on and listen to guru swamy steamer just don’t lend him £20 and don’t go to his day center to meet him.

    runtingz and co- the point is all of these teams we now see as better run than us got relegated and rebuilt over a lot of years whilst in the lower leagues, they came up with half decent squads on lower wages and then got prem money which allowed them to push on. they also had to look at ways of competing without fucking up their financials and employed a philosophy. unless these teams get more funding they will hit a ceiling as they don’t have the support or history. southampton were very close to fucking themselves up recently but sold half the team and got the extra sky money which saved them.

    whereas we are recovering from Lerners push for the champs league still!! we had a squad full of overpaid players that never saw the first team plus quite a few on big money who were over the hill but on long contracts, guess what? we couldn’t sell them we had to give them away!! now I don’t know about you but if I employed a manager and he wiped the price off of most of my goods i’d sack him, Lamberts still here because he did whilst Lerner wanted, got them off the wage bill.
    we sold all our decent players to pay debt and lower how much we were spending thats why MON fucked off in the first place because he wouldn’t do it . After the chuckle brothers had a go we got Lambert in to basically sell the rest of the high earners and start from scratch whilst staying in the prem and further lowering the wage bill simple as.

    now whether you hate Lambert and his football or not It was a difficult situation to come into and far from the position Mon had when he came. could someone else have done it better? I have no doubt they could have. Does anyone know who this person is? no. because unless they actually did the job we have no idea what could or would of have happened, we could of been down for all we know whilst playing some lovely football. Plus where were these fantastic managers clamoring to take on this clusterfuck? we don’t know how many Lerner spoke too as he never says fuck all but I’m willing to bet that quite a few got tapped up.

    what have I learned from this? Lerner couldn’t run a tap. Lambert is a busted flush and now the man who couldn’t direct his piss at the toilet is going to pick us another world beater with still no real direction or long term strategy. In all my years of watching villa and football I have never seen such a monumental fuck up as Lerner has created. Unless lerner is extremely lucky with his next choice we will still be in the shit, maybe we won’t go down but we still won’t be the Villa I knew

  84. Mark — i read the first line of your reply to my posts today and to be honest i had to stop there as again you seem to try your best to deflect from how poor of an excuse of a manager we have with all this stuff i will never agree with —- saying that it is a blog which is about opinion — mine and yours a light years apart
    VTID

  85. SWW
    ya Nob , you got no chance coming to the next meet up , why dont you do one yourself and take mark with ya , and the lad l met in town Gerry needs a mate , l’ll give him ya number ,

    lv got this feeling Prox has won the Irish lottery and is going to surprise us all saying he’s bought a box at the park for us all , l’ll go for the free beer ,

    JL , dont worry we will pick you up if needed for the meet-up , l need someone who talks some sense this time . you’ll understand then the bollox some of them put on here , mind you the cider helped and dont bring any money , you’ll be our guest of honour mate ,

  86. Pink boots, that why we’re tripe, as BFR said “if you wear white boots you’ve got to be good” our mob wear pink and their certainly not any good.

  87. runtingz- sorry mate i’m not trying to wind you up. I definitely know how poor a manager Lambert is but you cant ignore the circumstances under which he has managed, better players may have been able to play the way he wanted which lets face it is the same as mon but with cheap players.

    you wrote this
    “I am am sick to the back teeth of PL not having money as in reality he has spent more than most in the lge.
    Southampton .swansea ect are fine examples that show its not all about money but more to do with swred management , propa tactic ans a focus on positvie play”

    thats what got me looking deeper into it and others have commented about how much we have spent, it just isn’t true we haven’t spent more than most, in the last 3 seasons there are about 3 teams in the prem at the moment that have spent less and not by much. so i presented some facts and found out a lot myself about our dealings compared to other clubs some of it shocking and I now understand how FFP affects teams

    again didn’t mean to cause offence I’d like to see decent football as much as you

  88. Mark you present a solid enough argument about the finances…..but…………..look what he has spent in isolation,not on a comparative basis,compared to X,Y and Z.He has still spent a lot of it on tripe,and wasted a lot.Not much compared to some clubs,but although he has a pittance(some might say)-he has still wasted a lot of it.Sylia,Bowery,Bennett,Helenius,Luna etc,etc.Yes,small salaries but still a waste.

    Vlaar is a liability in terms of injuries yet he never adressed the CB issue until he got Okore(another sick note) and Senders,in his 4th or 5th window-unsure of my facts there.He perservered with Clark and Baker even though we are getting smashed up every week,and goes and buys Kojak,another sicknote.

  89. steamer did you used to go and watch villa in the 3rd div on the coach from the hole in the wall i used to go to every game in fact i did not miss a game home or away in the old 3rd div good old days whats happed to Reggie ray do you rember boots god rest his soul

  90. mark
    lambert has spent almost 50 m on top of houiller mcleish spending almost 45m plus who ever signed ireland
    gk given steer
    fb huttonstevens lowton bennet luna cissko on loan walker bertrand
    ch vlar okore sendross
    mf makoun holman westwood kea bacuna sylla sanchez cole richardson ireland on loan cleverly
    st bent benteke bowery helnius tonev kozak zog on loan keane dawkins holt
    28 full time plus5 on loan along with players that where ther pre houiller
    guzan clark baker delph gabby wiemen grealish that are part of most match day squad of 18

  91. mark king hi i know you are trying to defend Lambert with the money he has had to spend but i have to say he is simply un defend able the reason being the way he sets up the team year in year out we have had 2and a half years of this dross from him and 2and a half years of him telling us he building for the future it is simply utter dross i personally do not go to many games any more i went to Liverpool this year we won but where dreadful it is the way he sets up the team that just stops me going i just cannot have his 10 man defense no matter who we play
    he let the schakels off a little on sundry but not enough i was always taught the best form of defense is attack and that will never change we might as well play 4 forwards every week as the way he plays not to lose we still lose so lets see a few goals and have a go it is the complete surrender attitude he instills into the players , its like he says to them don,t attack as we aint good enough and that is the way the players play with no confidence and like complete strangers thats why he must go and the sooner the better he has only on way of playing and that is the wrong way

  92. Jd
    yes we did , reggae still about but on sticks , great bloke and the oldest punk l saw , still miss my HERO Boots , saw a pic of you on mo collins F/b the other day and were your ears burning sunday as we were talking about you , great days in the hole and on the coach , like you never missed a game and even if we lost you knew the players had a go , not like the shits in the premiership now , some of the games away we go down the king george 5th in sheldon mateif yu fancy it , we have wizza as the entertainment )) , good to hear off you mate and see you soon ,

    Mark , what affair ???

  93. brasil- mate lets face it we haven’t got much of a scouting network. when you look at individual players helenius had scored 23 I think in the danish top league worth a punt and i think badly used. Okore looked a prospect, vlaar as you say injury prone but had just completed a season. whether Lamberts kick and rush style throws up more than its share of injuries and the training they must do to implement it is up for debate but i’d say yes in my experience.

    thing is if half of them turned out as good as benteke we would be happy but at those prices and wages its a gamble, christ mon bought some guff for much more. The truth is lerner hasn’t got the nouse to find someone to run the club properly and he seems incapable getting of getting decent advice as he knows feck all. this could of all been avoided on day one with a top DOF but Mon wanted control. I fear what’s coming next if they keep Lambert or get rid

  94. I agree with Mark on the signing front. I was excited when we signed Westy, Lowton, Helenius, Tonev etc. I have no grudges against him on that, in fact I don’t have any grudges on any of the players he signed apart from a few like Bowery, Sylla, Holt. Even Bennett at the time, the Berk can’t see into the future to see how they would turn out. He hasn’t had an endless pot of money.

    What I do hate about him though is how he used them. Tonev and Helenius are fairly young guys, attacking players but they never got a real chance. Tonev yea had a bit more game time but know where enough to really let him settle. He was quick, direct. We should have kept playing him.
    I hate his tactics, I hate his set up, I hate his anti football methods, I hate his bull shit interviews, I hate his lack of emotion in interviews, I hate the fact he actually thinks he’s doing this club good.

  95. And if we are being truthful, Lowton and Westy haven’t turned out to bad atoll for players we signed from league 1. Could they be used better In systems and be even better players with better coaches, hell yes. Just like Helenius and tonv could have

  96. JD- totally agree mate he has to go, I didn’t like the way mon played either. The only reason I mentioned the money is its a factor in the quality of player he could afford while cutting back, it would effect any manager we had brought in and has. otherwise we would of kept Barry,milner,young and downing.
    I’m not defending his tactics they are non existent. a lot of people read into my posts that i’m somehow pro Lambert i’m not , he’s had his chance, unfortunately for him it was in the strangest time i’ve witnessed at our club combined with to much bullshit one day the truth will out but i’m guessing its all about the money

  97. So here you all are !
    Welcome John D and a fine first post with great points.
    Reading the latest villa news it is clear that we are becoming more and more of an embarrassment and laughing stock. The clown club of the Midlands. All the major daily newspapers are running the “Villa have had to cancel the goal of the month competition because they didn’t score any” Yet at the same time we have Lambert saying “I thought we were excellent” and Weimann saying “we played really well – we will turn it around” when we lost at home and have our only goal threat banned for 3 games. Are they for real !

    The club have pulled off a great one – lower the fans expectations to zero and they will be grateful for anything. Since when was retaining premier league status anything to be proud of for a club like Aston VIlla. For the third season we are in a relegation fight. I believe that a better manager could do more after three seasons, with the players that Paul Lambert had when he came in after AM , the money available – not to mention the 5 transfer windows.

    I was surprised there was no discontent at VP on Sunday when we lost our sixth game . Obviously the euphoria of scoring a goal after six hours was enough to keep the punters happy. God only knows what will happen when we actually win a game – we will be celebrating like we have won the league !

    Whilst I am probably clutching at straws, I have a grain of hope left that we may see a new manager before Christmas. The media are reporting that Fox has impressed RL with his optimism that he can make more of the brand and thus increase the club’s income. As one paper said tonight “you aren’t going to sell shirt sponsorships when you lose six games on the trot” This will affect Fox’s personal ambition to impress RL and justify his wage (whatever it is) Another worrying trend for RL and F is the falling attendance . Whilst the gate money is small change compared to the TV money, it is still relevant when selling the club and for general PR reasons. Sky cameras sweeping over empty seats and photos of libraries on social media do not represent the club in a good light. And here are the facts “Our lowest Premier League gate against Tottenham has been 32,498 in August 1993 when the Holte End was being redeveloped. I Sunday’s was lower – it was 32,049 !

    There was an interesting comment made by Gary Neville last night about Newcastle’s rise. He said that they were playing a more defensive counter attacking game than they had at the start. But the telling statement was “I don’t think the fans will accept that for home games”. What have we been enduring for the last three seasons ? Low possession smash and grab football week in week out, which is why when you get Lambert followed by Weimann saying “we played really well….I thought we were excellent” that you know they have seriously lost the plot.

  98. JD your post is on the money for me , agree frem

    It is clear now that Lambert started with the wrong approach and continues that in many ways

    I was behind him at the beginning but it took me a season and a half to realise he is completly out of his depth at this club

    From day one he made the wrong decisions in how to take the club forward

    There have been so many very good players brought from all over to the prem to smaller clubs than villa so i don’t see the wage/50mil budget an excuse at all—

    saying all the as state before i too believe the player we have and had are better than we seen from them under pl —

    Lambert has been nothing but shocking for villa imo — previous managers too and the club contines to decline under long term poor stewardship

    We are one of the most successful clubs in english football with much bigger potential than most clubs above us

    it only takes the right decisions at the top to begin to realise that potential ,, will that ever happen ?

  99. Finding Benteke was a fluke IMO. He is the only really decent player he has brought in. He didn’t get the best out of the bomb squad or some of the others who showed potential. I still think Vlaar is over rated just because he had a good world cup – with good players around him. He gets an easy ride of it because fans are quick to jump on Clark and Bakers backs. He doesn’t organise our defence and shouldn’t be captain . One of our problems is we have no leaders on the pitch. Someone should have stopped Benteke on Sunday – and had a word with Weiman. That three match ban could be the difference between us staying up and relegation.

  100. steamer i would love to come but i live in a little village called Apperley the other side of Tewkesbury i just pick my games now and take the 2 lads with me now. have you heard of Garry Haddon as i aint seen him for15 years or more saw Moe a few years ago at Chelteham races as it is only down the road i dont go to watch the dross at home any more as it costs about £150 a game by the time i have brought tickets petrol and drinks and to be honest i would not go if Lerner picked me up and took me as they simply aint worth watching with this clown in charge

  101. Fine Posts and usual Jenny.

    I don’t think the away fans on sat will take another defeat as well as the home fans do. when WH do us, I think the Lamberk so songs will start.

    Neville makes a good point on the Counter. Know home fans want to see it. As you say, we’ve seen shore style for 3 seasons now

    And your right on Vlaar. Baker has actually been our best defender by far. Very impressed with him although he panics on the ball big time

    Also read the shite Lamberk and Wiemann said. Makes me angry. Wiemann is a big headed little shit anyway. Thinks he’s a class act. To say we played excellent is the usual crap from our clown in charge. We lost to team many have said is the worst spurs side in a long long time

  102. The only Improvement at Villa is the fans getting closer to the half time challenge

    Would be gutted if I won the five year season ticket

    The first chap was like 2 inches away from a holiday in the Philippines 🙂

  103. They are making themselves look even more foolish with the rubbish they come out with aren’t they Frem.

    Are they so removed from reality that they haven’t clocked the fact that Aston VIlla only have clubs newly promoted from the Championship beneath them. Burnley, QPR, Leicester and Crystal Palace. Last season Championship clubs. I wouldn’t bet on us beating any of those either.

    Do you ever listen to Tom Ross Goalzone Frem ? I know the steamers hate him – but it is really funny with the phone ins.

  104. Yes Jen, they have plenty of manure available. ( notice the manure instead of shite, manners ).

    JD,
    Saw him this morning mate, right in front of me.
    How long have you lived there ? Tewks is lovely, bit better than Tile Cross. Did you know Changs lad is a pro at Walsall ? Bump into Basil regularly, but Pussy died a couple of years ago of Motor Neurone as did Stormin’ Norman Jones. Seems everyone is pegging out, but i seem to keep my youthful good looks, like a young George Clooney. Four years since the Boot died, he’d have cracked up with this lot.
    Keep the posts coming, agree totally.

    Jen & Runts in fact everyone,
    Some excellent posts.

  105. Jenny- I don’t think we’d stand a chance against any of the 4 bellow us. QPR already beat us and we have Burnley in 3 games time. If they still haven’t won by then, we all know what helping hand Villa will do. I think we will lose our next three but if it gets Lamberk out, then so be it. If we lose to WH, then Siants beat us at VP, you would hope the fans turn. I sit in the Holte but am to shy to start the songs going 🙂

    Never heard of it Jen. Only ever listen to talk sport now and then but they speak a lot of crap really. Is it good ?

    Hahha:) One thing with Villa is the food is always pretty good. Normally just have curry and chips. I hear they do Jacket potatoes in the Trinity. Is that true? We don’t get that in the Holte. We normally win the best program’s of the year and pitch but shame we don’t have anyone who can play on it

  106. Just read the report Mark, funny, i thought we were a football club not a bank. If money is tight, why give Crappy a four year contract ? Did you see him in our penalty box for the their first goal, a couple of simple switches and the bloke he was marking had left him, he didn’t know what day it was, just stood there like the dummy he is, legend ? my arris.

  107. Jd
    ok mate will probably meet up soon, yea l still see that knob and l only stop to talk to him as l like his dog and always give her a fuss ,
    watch out for the other ejit on here SWV , does my head in , ))
    all the best mate

    Hi Jennykins xxxx

  108. Mark,
    Yes mate, if he’d got pro’s in admin from day one MoN may have still been here and also some of our top players with other top additions, its that i know best attitude with Lerner when he knows F-all.

  109. steamer- one day we’ll be told how truly close the knob took us to administration I think. that arrogance is why i’ll be surprised if they sack Lambert

  110. Mark – the blog /article you put up to defend Lambert’s treatment of the bomb squad is the biggest load of tripe I’ve read for a long time .

    I quote l”Originally, I thought that this may be down to employment law and the equal pay act that is in place. However, I think the more likely reason is the bonus agreements that are written into …”

    What on earth has the equal pay act or employment law got to do with Lambert’s Bomb Squad. There are no facts other than a few figures he’s conjured up to fit his argument .

    Steamer – appreciate the manners 🙂

  111. Hahah. Arsenal

    So Liverpool play a weaker side in a tournament, to do better in another tournament to qualify for the tournament that they have just played there B team in ?!?!?

  112. jen- don’t shoot me i just thought it would be of interest especially about Lamberts low cost Norwich team wage wise, don’t forget we approached martinez who was also keeping a team up on low wages etc.
    the article alluded to potential payments of bonuses in the bomb squads contracts as possible reasons we couldn’t play them didn’t see a mention of it being stated as fact but if the wages were that tight its a possibility, the whole paying players big money but not using them never made much sense in any form. if we were running at 94% then any saving would be welcomed again is that true? its a blog and someones opinion not mine but an interesting angle all the same. as for employment law that’s your department 🙂

  113. jen- i can only think he was talking about the wage discrepancies as they were all on at least double the average wage in the squad but I agree that sounds like poop

  114. steamer aint seen chang for about 15 years to how old is is lad and whats his first name his second is Preston after the old man and where is rosco is he on here

  115. steamer yes i know about pussy and went to brett fitters funeral as well there are certainly more pegging out wher are you living now gaz and do you rember Mansfield when you run on the pitch when you thought we had won the old third div and fell on your arse and the ref had only blown up for a foul you looked a right twat happy days

  116. JD,

    That was not the first time he looked a twat I can assure you, the hole was the great days too many names and friends to mention if you have not read the book it is worth a read loads of funny stories and all true not like that shite the lulus trot out every year, I live down in Bristol so if you fancy the meet I can pick you up Steamer normally decorates the spare room with sheets from the Argus to make me feel at home.

    Boots would turn in his grave watching this lot and especially seeing those spuds fans having a party on sunday Geoff would have been straight into them, take no notice of ST75 he was brought up a stones throw from the sty, trust me he practiced every day, I am sure living next to the gypos has haddled his brain.

    Keep the posts coming it looks like the Steamers are taking over.

    AVFC RIP.

  117. JD
    and he still has that cardigan he wore ………………

    are you up over xmas/newyear , as l’v heard the Steamers may be getting together for a xmas/new year drink .

  118. JD i live in a little village called Apperley the other side of Tewkesbury

    Well, well, well … my (now) 100-year-old aunt lived in that neck of the woods until about 4 years ago. Even now she makes a yearly trip to see her old friends!

  119. vs. West Ham

    Well, last week we were versus Dunne – who put in a blinder – and this time it’s vs. Collins and Downing, both of whom have become rejuvenated.

    Alas, I feel that these two will help to show Villa how claret and blue teams should play.

    Downing, in fact, is likely to show Villa the kind of attacking forcefulness that is needed. But I suppose a Villa defender will get 2 yellows for tripping to stop ‘im from getting through.

    Oh dear, it’s difficult to think of anything +ve to say about Villa right now. Well, it’s been difficult for more than 3 years, but I suppose I’m nearly giving up on trying.

  120. JL- don’t worry mate I don’t think anyone can find much to smile about when you think of villa except the past.
    I do think mr ellis’s grubby fingers could well of had a hand in this though. i’m digging up stuff on the financials (which i’ve posted) that might suggest Lamberts reward for slashing the wage bill and a good start points wise was the 4 year contract. its also why I think they’ll stick with him unfortunately.
    there were rumours that Ireland wasn’t played due to bonuses and now i’m thinking the bomb squad was a financial decision even though we were still paying them. I think they were expected to be sold and that upset the apple cart.

    pray senderos and hutton return they are the real reason we looked tight earlier in the season

  121. Morning,
    Firstly well done to Eddie Howe, top of the championship with a club the size of Walsall, no stars, budget, or massive fanbase, he is showing, all be it on a lower level, it can be done.
    Gary Rowett hasn’t read the script, taking 4 Pts from 6 at the vermin, I want those bastards relegated so badly.
    We will lose without a whimper against the Hammers and saints, sad times.

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