I know there was talk of this a few weeks back, but the story seemed to peter out and nothing really came of it.
The Telegraph seem to have got their hands on something a bit more concrete though and they’re saying that the club have sounded out Paul Lambert and he’s receptive to signing to signing a new three year deal on improved terms.
Whatever you think of this, two things cross my mind.
The first is, what’s the rush?
Lambert is contracted until the summer of 2015 and unless you’re a club who wants a manager whose seeming best ability is to run a club on even less than a shoestring, I don’t exactly see anyone queueing up to acquire his services.
The second is, this has to be an indicator that either Randy Lerner or Paul Faulkner are ecstatic about Lambert’s performance. Well, similar to my first point, it can only be about money.
It certainly won’t be our style of football, after all, will it?
So, we’re going to be stuck with what we have now, it would seem.
A third point has just crossed my mind.
Is looking to extend the manager’s contract, when there’s no pressing need, really something an owner who is looking to sell would do?
Or is it maybe just a smokescreen to deflect away from that story?
While I can understand the club wanting stability, I can’t say I’m exactly elated about this story and I’d have left it until nearer this time next year, when we’ll be able to make a better judgement.
What price we extend his contract and are even worse next season?
Would that scenario really surprise anyone?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/10615174/Aston-Villa-ready-to-offer-manager-Paul-Lambert-a-new-contract.html
seeing swans play this season and last from the cup win onwards I have seen nothing to suggest that they play this awesome fantastic football, what ive seen is very poor performances for quite some time.
and of course I don’t like hoof ball, who does.
and he bought shelvey a bigger spunk bubble of a player you’d be hard pressed to find and the 12 mil on boney hasn’t looked too sharp either.
imo of course 🙂
Bony has done ok and Michu is a big muss
agreed tbf to bony and of course no michu has been massive.
Plus they’ve been in Europe a poisoned chalice if ever there was one
Paul Lambert really does split opinion, doesn’t he?
I knew this subject would cause a good debate and so it’s proved, with good points on either side.
Me, I really don’t know what to think, as I can see a bit of both sides.
I’ve just read Matt Kendrick’s opinion article and noticed this paragraph;
“Paul Lambert, who by common consensus has had the hardest part of the claret and blue credit crunch to deal with, has still been afforded a net transfer spend of £40 million spread across two seasons. There is a willingness from the board to continue this kind of outlay on transfer fees in future windows, while each target’s wage demands will be decided on an individual basis.”
Thanks Randy, that’s big of you given the club will receive an EXTRA £30 million per year from this season!
I suspect that is nearer the reason for the position we’re in.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/mat-kendrick-comment-aston-villa-6669384
I’m in total agreement with n m laudrup would be an unmitigated disaster at vp.
Bad enough getting that lot down there to run round for 90 minutes and then simply pass the ball to someone in a claret and blue shirt is beyond them most weeks, heaven forbid they try something more demanding.
Laudrup? Thanks but no thanks (perhaps in the summer and then only if Randy’s going to throw about £100m at it).
unfortunately theres absolutely no reason why randy would give laudrup or anyone else who comes in any more money than he gives lambert.
hopefully if we do spend 20/30 mil in the summer we will be spending it on 2/3 players max not 23 players.
Agree totally mate and if the fellas such hot property why’s he holding his p45?
Not convinced with his credentials anyway, Swansea, a project started by Martinez continued by Rogers and under laudrup the wheels have come off.
Bet the LEMMINGS are happy at this news.Sir Oohah we won;t be able to shut them up now look out for them holding a street party to celebrate.
???
TJ…street party?….great idea mate. Post your address in the space below! 🙂
ahh ive just realised wtf the TJ comment is about, its his template ready for when we beat west ham at the weekend 😉
40 mil…should make us really competitve…as long as its spent wisely of course. I would settle for Bertrand, Vlaar and Benteke staying, Okore fit plus 30 mil. I think that would be fair. But will Randy go that extra mile or is it still a ‘transitional period’?…god, how I have come to detest that phrase. We can then judge Lambert fully this time next year.
Laudrup spent £25m on Pablo Hernandez, Bony & Shelvey,
Take Michu away from the Swansea side of the last season or two, and they are very ordinary. They only won the cup because they had their ballmen wasting time and getting opponents sent off.
Look at Saints, £40m for Wanyama, Osvaldo & Lovren, five goals between them. Kozak & Bacuna have four each ! People were whingeing that we were being left behind by both of these sides in the Summer, not really.
I’m not totally sold on Lambert, well let’s be honest, some of the, sorry, nearly all of the football has been turgid, but he must have something, surely ?
Back him for another season or so and see where we are. I wouldn’t want any other Premiership manager outside the top seven.
Too much moaning, and no alternate proposals offered.
Take benteke out of our side last season and we’d be down
Possibly but we won games this season without him.
My best case scenario for this season was eighth and that’s still technically possible. Newcastle and Saints will fall away.
How will we fare ?
i think 8th is optimistic for me.
but now that cabaye is gone form nufc ..
it could be game on
But the point is Lambert DID buy him so how’s about a bit of credit when it’s due?
Fair point.
And he kept him against what seemed all odds in the Summer too.
take benteke out?
didn’t he try to leave .. i wonder who stopped him
Well yes, but Bony was looked at as well. If we didn’t sign Benteke, we had other alternatives.
Shelvey controlled the match against us not seen any other Swansea games, Laudrups problem was not the football but the fact none of his strikers could finish.
Bony has got to be the over rated buy of last summer.
He could be the anti thesis to spending money! what did he cost 12m or something?
he had 30 odd goals last season in Holland
then Osvaldo – 15m
pape cisse 10-12 m half season wonder!
plenty of duds out there.
when we want our club to spend figures like 40m etc in one summer. too often we don’t take account of the dud that happens almost every year to every club .. how much are we willing to lose each transfer budget to the dud? to the 1 in 3 that fail?
lots of our signings could be duds but then they cost peanuts comparatively speaking to today’s prices. so they won’t prevent us from spending in future.
Of our most expensive buys according to the table some one provided earlier
Benteke – 10m ( it really was more like 7m but whatever)
Okore 4m injury means we can’t say this was a bad decision yet
kozak 5m – had 4 goals for us before he got injured same as benteke had at the time but from less games
then you have lowton, Vlaar and bacuna on 3m mark ish
Vlaar is success for me
Bacuna -still not convinced he is a failure – he needs a consitent position.
Lowton – could well and truly be a one season wonder.
you can pull
guzan ( probably the best signing we have made with benteke – all Lamberts doing too)
Helenius – not played enough to judge as a waste of money yet.
Steer – tribunal fee
but not a waste of money, merely long term youth keeper
If you were to call the rest failures
have we done that badly?
if the idea was always to completly rebuild the squad ..
reduce wages etc
i don’t see our transfer strategy to be as bad as all that.
still not risk free .. but possibly a lot less risky than the big 10-15m signing
i was one them (holds hand up) i definitely thought and posted. swansea are streets ahead of aston villa, i did mean football played not size of clubs
Off the subject, Fulham look shit here against the Blades.
They’re going down I reckon.
What a bloody disaster that was losing to them, the cup is opening up nicely with the draw.
vaze and Langford, agreed guys.
Laudrup would do a fine job at Villa. We have the players who can play good football. Funnily I think Lambert can pick a good technically gifted player but knows fuck all about how to play them. Laudrup would know exactly how to utilise our current players ie Helenius/Bacuna/Sylla, and has also proven shrewd in the the transfer 2mil for Michu was THE purchase of last season.
See i don’t see the inherent benefit to laudrup over Lambert MD8
Laurup has michu yes.
but you don’t think guzan or benteke were equally as good of signings?
nice football argument- i understand fully
but where as for most they have seen enough i think i am more patient and willing to bear the shite football at times this season if we still manager to get results and still manager to climb table in the hope that we will become a better team to watch.
we haven’t always been bad under Lambert. but still i understand this argument and its valid.
but for all the nice football why are Swansea still lower in the table and why is laudrup sacked?
I think all in all the one team that have the same or less budget than us, and that play better football than us are Saints right now.
for all that just 8pts ahead.
we can still reel them in
Problem with Laudrup is the problem with Lambert last season. Defensively they are pathetic, fully fit defense, half injured defense… They can’t defend, much like we couldn’t last season.
Not really sure whst to make of the contract discussions. I suspect its normal.
At this moment in time Lambert has probably reached a number of targets on and off the field and so in the eyes of the chairman he has succeeded in the task he set out to do.
I also think with all the rumours of us being sold, offering a new long term contract to the manager shows some kind of long term commitment.
Lamberts term so far offers mixed feelings in most fans, my feelings atm are if he stays i will support AVFC if he goes i will still support AVFC.
The football this season at times has been awful to watch, but then we played Liverpool. The West brom game was fantastic too watch and created a great atmosphere at VP. We are mid table but in some ways the games i have watched the only reason we got points was because the other team failed to take advantage of chances given to them than our defesive excellence.
It looks like Lambert is here for a while, the squad has been filled out and we have cover in most positions, it is now time to bring in some more experience and proven quality.
This season i see 12th-14th
I will say this though about this piece of news
Has Lambert signed a new contract?
What are the conditions of that contract.
some argue we should be chasing a europa league spot or not chasing a europa league spot but playing better football or chasing a europa league spot while playing better football after the mcleish relegation battle nearly 2 seasons ago.
this is what Lambert has achieved on paper.
Mcleish -16th 37 pts
Lambert 12/13 – 15th 41 pts
Lambert 13/14 YTD – 10th 27 pts
wages significantly cut.
– points to remember
the awful football at times
the hammerings
the embarrassing exits to lower league teams in the cup
he hasn’t signed any contract yet
i think it will happen in May to be honest and this is just the negotiation period.
there could be terms on both sides
So lets put it in context
It’s amazing how other clubs don’t stand for poor runs of form, etc, just like Swansea with Laudrup.
Yet we’ve been shit from day one under Lamberk and Lerner has done nothing. What a joke club we really are. It’s almost like the two useless morons together with fatty Faulkner are trying to see how much they can humiliate us.
Still the idiot lamberk fan club must love it in a sadistic way. There are more fans of Lamberk FC nowadays than AVFC.
I think thats a veiled compliment for Lambert.
somehow we have been shit from day one but still 3pts and 2 places better off than swansea!
Lambert is a magician
That’s just the Europa League effect, see Newcastle last year for evidence
Post on Facebook 57% of Villa fans would welcome new deal for boss.Is it LEMMING breeding season must be they are growing in numbers.
£40 mill in the summer?
No chance when the board are saying they’re happy to keep up similar levels of £20 mill a season.
And if we could afford to spend that now, where’s the EXTRA £30 mill a season from next year going to go?
I keep asking that question, but no-one ever answers.
That apart, I want to give you all a pat on the back, as this has been one of the best debates I’ve ever read on here.
Very reasoned from both sides and it’s been a pleasure to read.
Nice one lads 🙂
Where do you think into their holiday fund don;t give a fuck about the fans or the club.
Test, because my previous comment didn’t go where it was supposed to.
The timing of the talks is baffling. We are not out of the relegation fight yet especially with many of those clubs below showing improvement under new managers. Surely he only deserves an extension when we are assured of safety? I was readying the humble pie after Liverpool and Baggies performances only for a dreadful tactical blunder at Goodison to return it to the freezer.
Having gone ahead we should have pressed the ball higher up the field, Everton were still fragile following the derby mauling and we were as likely to score again as they were. Failing to do that was surely Lambert’s decision.
I said in a convo down the pub about a month ago that Laudrup was off – His whole attitude and body language has been appalling over the last couple of months. Maybe he had been told there’s no more money and ended up having to settle for the likes of Ngog.
Who knows what goes on behind closed doors but that was my opinion, and I got the sacking part right.
Most managers just don’t have that knack of working with shoestring budgets, and he is one of them.
No doubt he’ll end up somewhere (hopefully not here) with an already established quality side, loads of money and will be a success…… #you’rejustashitGuardiola
One minute your wanting Villa pushing for Europe, the next minute the same negatives are blaming those very competitions for the downfall of clubs and their performances…..Cant have it all chaps, well, except if we were uber rich and spent ridiculously. But then there would still be something to whinge about
If we get into Europe we will need a bigger squad and that’s not going to happen
Something to cheer you up.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/injury-update-jores-okore-ahead-6677663?