By Chris Kemps
Queens Park Rangers didn’t offer the change of fortunes Villa fans were hoping for, but teaching moments are everywhere. Lesson one: don’t talk to your wife if it can be misinterpreted.
LOW POINT
Matthew Lowton didn’t have a great game against QPR. Further reinforcing the fact Alan Hutton was the best right back at the club all along.
Lowton struggled with his defending and couldn’t find a decent cross. At the final whistle, it seemed to many fans he can committed the cardinal sin of telling the away support to get back to Birmingham in a particularly vulgar way (according the social media right after the game). But PL along with Lowton’s wife Abi cleared up any confusion: he was just telling his wife to go home.
Lowton has a lot of work to do to reclaim his place (but less than Bacuna, it seems). This kind of mix-up is the last thing he needs to help his case or win back the supporters missing Alan Hutton already. But after such a frustrating performance, any kind of gesture to the Villa fans other than applause is going to be twisted, social-media inflated and bingo: our back-up right-back is telling the traveling support to meet him outside for a punch-up.
That said, cooler heads have prevailed and while that doesn’t forgive a pretty tepid performance, it doesn’t mean Lowton was obviously insulting the away fans. This wasn’t Alpay in front of the Holte End.
IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED…
… Keep doing it anyway. And why not? The ink is barely dry on Paul Lambert’s new contract so his job is safe despite the run of five games without a point and new all-time Villa record of five defeats in a row without scoring a goal.
Lambert’s game plan was predictable last night – and so was the response afterwards. Once you get past the “we looked really threatening” and “we started really well” and even the “it was poor defending from us” and “we’ve got to be more clinical” comes the “They’ll come out of the traps on Sunday”, “We didn’t play particularly badly” , “I know we’ll be all right in that department” and the old favorite “We will regroup and go again on Sunday.”
What can we learn from this? He’s actually right! Villa were the better team, but QPR made the most of their chances. Rob Green had a blinder. It was poor defending. We do have to be more clinical. And there’s no way the team doesn’t come out and give 100% against Spurs.
But what isn’t he saying?
Where’s Grealish? Picking more carrots for the AVFC public relations office?
Okore is considered fit, but not ready, while Benteke is considered ready, but unfit? (“He might have to wait six or seven games before he’s really up to speed,” says Lambert).
N’Zogbia is frustrating, but listed in PL’s post-match comments once again as a player who can score and could offer a role as a genuine wide player ahead of Agbonlahor or Weimann – but can’t get on the field?
Why does he insist on the same tactics week-in, week-out, that have seen record lows over the last two-and-a-half seasons?
Villa’s last goal, and high point of the season so far, was 531 minutes ago. Last night Villa had more possession (65%) than their opponents for the first time in many, many games and they created a whopping (by recent standards) 15 shots and SIX shots on target. Is there nothing to be learned from that?
NUMBER 24
Carlos Sanchez is coming to terms with the English game, but feelings over him are still mixed. He certainly got stuck in… sometimes. And his passing was clean and accurate… sometimes.
And his defending… well, he has to take some of the blame for the first goal. But the one positive of Delph’s injury is that Sanchez has the opportunity to make his mark on the team.
As a big-money (£4.7m) signing at a time when Villa are more prone to snapping up out-of-contract veterans, if he doesn’t come good enough to either make it as a first team regular or prove good enough that we can at least get our money back on his when he’s sold, he’s going to be another transfer gamble that hasn’t paid off and Villa can’t afford too many more of those.
UTV
first time on this blog and cant believe how positive alot of people are about Lambert, surely he is not good enough ? How long does it take ? Ive never known Villa flirt with relegation for 3-4 seasons on the bounce, or am i missing something ?
your missing something ! the club nearly went bust attempting to get CL using over paid players and that left Lerner with 2 choices
1 ) throw more money at the problem in a vain attempt to succeed
2) Clear the books and start again
Clearly he chose the later route but
the Prem is not an easy place to do that and avoid relegation especially if the manager only has a limited budget & with a CEO doing the buying of players who it would seem???prefered to buy the cheapest options.
Also there are 3 sorts of cheap players those with limited ability, young players with potential and those with injury problems &/or are nearing the end of their careers .
Buying young players is a risk some will reach their potential whilest others will flop
Equally buying injury prone players is also a risk as some will stay fit & others will be be a liability
These are the sort of players Lambert has had to mould into a team and more importantly avoid relegation
Unforteatly many of the younger players have struggled and injuries have also blighted the squad . So of course we have struggled . But it would seem we have a better squad than in previous seasons
That was Lerner’s decision to naively throw money at the CL push, with little or no regard for the consequences of failure.
He then goes onto make a crazy appointment with McLeish.
Then you have a manager who chose to not use a bunch of players the club were paying good money to, only to reinstate them a year later.
It’s the tip of the iceberg. If Lerner and Lambert walked tomorrow, not many of us would bat an eyelid, because at the moment, based on their track record, it’s a massive gamble having them as custodians of our great club going forward.
I’ve been willing them to turn the corner now for ages, while they have embarrassed the club.
I still hope they can do it, as everyone likes a Hollywood ending, but it’s a pure horror show at the moment.
The strange thing about the so called big gamble is that it’s Lerners money that is at stake not that some could care a jot and in fact some of the former share holders would be in ectasy if he lost the lot . As for being embarrassed the sad thing is that is the biggest joke amongst fans of other clubs but those who constantly harp on about how hard done by our club is are only drawing greater ridicule . Laugh and the world laughs with you but cry and your alone as nobody loves a crybaby !
So what that Lerner has behaved like the rich kid who has collected up his toys coz he got tired of the playground bullies trying to make him do as they want and not what is best for him . . And if fans want to apportion blame look to the bullies who are jealous of what he has got .
And ask your selves would the bullies be as generous , or would they be more like Scrooge or worse ?
Never mind the mistakes let’s look forward to a brighter future !
Welcome Robin. I think the slack some people cut Lambert is because they are punch drunk from what his team has been serving up and are now numb to it. Others simply think that any questioning of the manager (despite humiliating the club with his home record in the past two seasons) means you’re ‘negative’ or ‘don’t support the club’ Zzzzz. Lambert certainly has to pull some rabbits out of the hat before Christmas, as patience is reaching breaking point.
I just hope something clicks and the team finds its identity and pushes on swiftly. Then we can all look back and laugh at our tough fixture list at the start of the season, while we make our way to Wembley for the FA Cup final.
(I maybe have been asleep dreaming when I wrote this…)
Very good post Chris
I thought Sanchez was best player on the pitch for an hour then looked knackered
i thought sanchez was the best player on the pitch,,, with time he is going to be a key player
and lowton still has lots to offer if he can just raise his game
trouble is many of our squad are injured, sick, recovering, low on confidence, new to the team etc
i said 5 games ago it may take us till xmas to really get going,, and i think that will hold true
but,,, gabby was really poor,,, just horrible to watch,,,
its easy to bash lambert but players have to take responsibility for there ineptness
vlaar lowton sissoko guzan clarke sanchez hutton all made errors leading to recent goals
this is not lamberts fault,,, and clarke , richardson, weinman should have scored in the last 5 games
and last night we should have had a couple,,
dont get me wrong,, there are times i want to strangle lambert,,, but there all culpable
we cant score from corners, free kicks or when we are pressing the opposition
its counter attack or bust,,,, and there all wising up to it
it has to change and soon,,, even if we go 442,,,
football is a funny game,,, i cant see us winning any of the next four games,,, so we will probably beat
spurs and draw with west ham,,
Of course you have learnt nothing Teri coz despite all your years supporting Villa you evidentally still dwell in the past
Let’s look at that, what is now the club motto? “Proud History Bright Future” But you want to disregard the past successes as if they never happened? And, please tell me where the bright future is with this manager? Can you not see any wrong in his managership?
Of course our Proud history of success but all you seem to want to recollect kranky are the failures . As for the future that also looks far brighter than you want to admit . After all when was the last time Villa had a proper DM let alone a World class one which we have in Sanchez or rather will have once he’s adapted fully to the vagries of playing in the prem . . We need a few more players up to speed and given a few more matches they should be . And then we can look forward to a bright future !
Terri you really do need to talk to somebody about your paranoia about relegation . Or perhaps you should join a knitting circle I’m sure you’d get on with a few washerwomen types and it might help to take your mind away from your worries about Villa . Who will get over this bad patch they are going through and finish higher than they have for some time
Gale force seems to have a lot of bluster… and doesn’t like other opinions to air.
Bluster MOMS ? suprised I have not been banned as that seems the order of the day for those who do not want the motives of those who constantly drive on the critism of how Villa is run questioned !
But how about some honest debate without the name calling that it would seem is all some can do . After all whilest there are problems with the way the team performs as not only I have said there are also good points to ponder . But it would seem all some can do is sneer and snarl at the club and how it is run and attack those who try to take a balanced view !
“But how about some honest debate without the name calling that it would seem is all some can do” Pot – kettle?
yes it might do Kranky , but perhaps I should remind you & your pal Teri that the pair of you chose to attack me in my absence . But then making acussuation and name calling are all you seem capable of or perhaps you’d care to prove me wrong by taking part in structured disscusion with out resorting to name calling
Well Colin, you do seem to be over zealous on pretty much every Villa page & forum trying to suffocate other people’s views and paint them as attacking the club. Hence, why someone called you ‘Gale Force’!
I’d prefer if you wasn’t all over everyone’s comments on here like a rash, but respect all views. We’re all supporting the same cause after all!
There’s no sneering and snarling from my point of view. I’ve been very patient, but patience is no longer the required virtue supporting Villa, a threshold for pain is!
I think the games running up to and over Christmas will be interesting, and pretty much draw the line for how supporters will react in the new year. Because one thing is for sure, things can’t carry on like this any longer. UTV
We certainly do need to progress as at present we seem to be taking one step forward and 2 backwards at present . At the begining of the season it looked as if the defensive issues had been solved but then the injury bug struck again . and that was compounded by the sickness bug that struck just before the 1st league loss and as a former health care proffessional I’d hazard a guess that it contributed to the 2nd loss although circumstances dictated I could not watch either match . The loss against ManC I did watch and thought we did OK until they delivered the Fergie style sucker punch in the final 10 mins . As for Everton contrary to the populist beleif that coz they were below use we should have beaten them it was always going to be a tough match . And it was just Villa’s bad luck that we faced them in the match when they chose to revive them selves as a top 5 team , and that several Villa Players chose not to perform . The QPR game we should have won !
Folk keep complaining that the tactics Lambert uses are wrong but are they ? It was after all mistakes and our inability to score that let us down
Some harp back to the MON days and the 5th place finishes , but it would seem nobody can explain how that was success . As forgoing back to using wingers , how will that work when our squad is not really built to use them
But to really look at what is good with the current tactics perhaps it would be good to look at my favourite grouch of the MON era and that was that we had an attack and an defense and frequently a big hole where the midfield should have been and nothing linking defense and attack .
Now that’s perhaps over stating how it was but many of the losses were to teams who chose to rampage through our midfield . That’s changed and we have a midfield that links with defense but still needs to need to better connect with attack . Now I know many would not agree that is an improvement to me it does . It also seems that Lambert is trying to improve the different aspects that go towards a complete team performance and even if events conspire to to undermine that we are moving in the right direction and 65-70% possession suggest we are . And although the losses disapoint me I’m gladdened by the thought that we might in the not too distant future have a squad from which a team capable of a complete winning performance can regulary be selected .
I could of course be wrong , but for the most part all I’m hearing is that the tactics are wrong , Lambert is rubbish , the players are rubbish , or excuses from fans supporting players such as N’Zogbia who regularly do not commit for the whole 90 mins with no real excuse whilest others carrying injuries are criticised for not performing 110%
I want Villa to start winning , but what I want more is for Villa to at the very least regularly be a top 4 team and not one who has the occasional succcessfull season as it has been in the past !
Is it possible ? —– I think it is . But don’t expect Lerner to pump massive amounts of money in as he did with MON as he had his fingers burnt doing that . But the appointment of Fox seems to signal a new era but time will tell . But the signing of a world class DM in the shape of Sanchez suggests improvements are on the way . After all it’s a long time since we had a DM let alone a decent one as the last one was McCann and he was not nicknamed McCant for nothing
So we had success under O’Neil ! Only if you think a series of 5th place finishes and humiliation in Europe is acceptable . As for MON having more money so that he could bankrupt Lerner & the club would you if it was your money Mike ?
Even if lerner sacks Lambert it will
Only come about by fans and more bad results
This chair man must trust his new CEO fox ,after
Wenger and Arsenal ,surely he can see lamberts
Needs removing .and this time bring fox. Into
Selecting a class manager from abroad ,not
More english dross please or scots
your right there my old man we are crying out for some good wingers to put some good crosses in. Bring back ashley young
why don’t villa play with wingers?The only time we had any real recent success was under Martin O’neill with Young on one side and Downing on the other,It’ all gone downhill since Martin left.Lerner should have given him more money but he had to sell our best players.No ambition at all.If Lerner is not prepared to spend some money Villa will always struggle under the present set up.
bent plays well with wingers,,,,,,
funny how downing finally playing in midfield rather than wing and looking very good
next four games with no wins and lambert will be gone,,,