Paul Lambert's "boring" football

[Holtcantshoot 0]

I was slightly surprised earlier this evening when listening to TalkSport to hear an aggrieved Aston Villa fan cite Paul Lambert''s "boring" style of football to be one of the major reasons that they want him to be sacked. Having watched him manage Norwich for 3 years it certainly wasn''t an accusation I would ever expect to be thrown at him.It has has got me wondering whether, with all 6 teams below Aston Villa having sacked their managers as well this year, this is just the depressing state of affairs for small (not billionaire backed) clubs in the Premier League. The rewards for being in the league are too large and the lack of rules on excessive transfer budgets, salary caps and loanees (with Chelsea loaning out what appears to be at least 5 players to every top flight team in Europe) mean teams at Norwich''s level are doomed to do little more than bore their fans into submission desperately trying to keep hold of their premier league status with a stuck together team of overpaid foreign mercenaries.The Premier League has now got to a point that the "big" teams such as Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal barely register an English player yet alone home grown talent (the only two being Terry and Gerrard who are both nearing 40) and Chelsea aside have all floundered in European competitions. I can''t help feeling it''s time for the FA to take some action and begin to create an even playing field for clubs in English football by spreading revenue more evenly through the leagues.However, as a competent progressive FA is always going to be a pipe dream is it really such a bad thing for us to return to the Championship? Villa''s concerns suggest that even an attacking minded manager such as Lambert would return dull football at this level. Does it really matter if our striker is a Dutch international and earning £40k a week if we draw 0-0 every game? I much preferred watching our own home grown talent like Smith, Martin and Adeyemi in League One than the current squad of stars.

[lake district canary 4,531]

Imo, Lambert has been found wanting.  Unable to look after his bigger names at Villa, he has not had the positive influence he had when he came to CR. We were rock bottom and he couldn''t fail, especially as he had Grant Holt here.   He brought in players he could influence and it all worked. 

The big players at Villa have done for him.  It was fairly obvious to a lot of people his success would depend on how he could manage the big egos when he went to a "bigger" club.   He tried to lay down the law with Bent - that didn''t go well.    The only way Lambert''s way would have worked is if he got rid of the lot of them when he went to Villa and started again - but then they would probably be in an even worse position now.  At Norwich he had two years of success at a lower level before pitching in at the top level. At Villa - and as Hughton had to do too - they had to hit the ground running.

    

[Mr Jenkins 0]

He is an excellent lower league manager and the momentum we developed and togetherness of the squad kept band wagon moving. A unique set of circumstances were created.

Trying to recreate that from cold at a new club is a completely different story, and he cant do it.

[Holtcantshoot 0]

[quote user="lake district canary"]Imo, Lambert has been found wanting.  Unable to look after his bigger names at Villa, he has not had the positive influence he had when he came to CR. We were rock bottom and he couldn''t fail, especially as he had Grant Holt here.   He brought in players he could influence and it all worked. 

The big players at Villa have done for him.  It was fairly obvious to a lot of people his success would depend on how he could manage the big egos when he went to a "bigger" club.   He tried to lay down the law with Bent - that didn''t go well.    The only way Lambert''s way would have worked is if he got rid of the lot of them when he went to Villa and started again - but then they would probably be in an even worse position now.  At Norwich he had two years of success at a lower level before pitching in at the top level. At Villa - and as Hughton had to do too - they had to hit the ground running.

     [/quote]I suppose that''s the question though. Is it actually the fact that Ian Holloway, Paul Lambert, Chris Hughton, Michael Laudrup, Martin Jol, Paulo Di Canio and Steve Clarke all failed or is it the no win situation that small clubs find themselves in at this level? It seems to me that all these clubs are doomed to mediocre underwhelming seasons each year in this league. Managers such as Tony Pulis can survive but that''s it, entertainment is too much of an ask.

[Waveney Canary 0]

He was a square peg in a square hole at the carra. He will realise it return and all will be well in the canary world.

Adams out Messiah back

[ZLF 271]

With the budget he has he should be pushing for europa league yet has bought poorly and his side defends appallingly - has been saved by agbonlahors pace and a fortunate signing of benteke; progressed none of their players and finding that attack at all costs does not equal tactical accuity.

We had the best of him. Cheers and thanks for all the fish

[Beefy is a legend 224]

He''s had quite a tough task at Villa IMO, having to dramatically reduce the wage bill yet contend with fans'' expectations that Villa should be a top half club.

What it does show is that the grass isn''t always greener. He had created an enormous well of goodwill that meant that NCFC fans would not have turned on him anywhere near as easily as Villa fans have.

All in all, his departure hasn''t worked out that well for us or for him.

[The Messiah 0]

[quote user="Waveney Canary"]He was a square peg in a square hole at the carra. He will realise it return and all will be well in the canary world. Adams out Messiah back[/quote]

He won''t return, he has Celtic written all over him.

As much as his game is about his final 3rd, when he gets there, his achilles heel is the back 3rd. Awful. Dreadful even for us in next two tiers. Never solid and why he fails as a manager yet would reap the rewards at Celtic. That will be his next club, so stop living in a ''Those Were The Days'' world Waveney.