In the wake of Paul Lambert publicly stating that he does “not think that we get the credit at times”, the question is: do the Villans deserve more respect?
Aston Villa – a club that has lifted the European Cup, the FA Cup seven times, the League Cup five times and won the First Division seven times – has been heavily criticised by the media in the past couple of years and the manager claimed that “they [the players] have been knocked unfairly in certain aspects, but they have been excellent for me.”
It is rare to see a journalist write a positive piece about Villa yet there is a wealth of negative material. However, it seems that this negativity is something Lambert disagrees with: “People think we are doing poor and we are sitting tenth – it’s really, really incredible, the perception of it. We have kicked on in a lot of aspects like our goals record, the way we play. Everything goes against us. This time last year we were right down.”
Lambert, talking to Sky Sports, admits that “Criticism is part of the game. You take it on the chin and you try and move on and learn from it. You stay level, which is important.”
He may use criticism as part of a learning curve but how exactly is Aston Villa Football Club perceived?
When Lambert was appointed in July 2012, he said that the Villa team was going to play football the “right way” and that there would be a “fresh start” at the club. His new philosophy saw young and hungry footballers arrive in the midlands while older players departed. This seemed to be the right thing for Lambert to do for a club that had been screaming out for a fresh start since O’Neill left.
Fans saw the arrival of Lambert as an opportunity to regroup and there was excitement beginning to develop. Some media outlets wrote about how the powers that be at Villa were doing things the ‘right way’ and used the club’s approach as a model for others.
Last season, with the team struggling, Lambert came under fire from the fans and the press when things began to look bleak in B6. Many ignored the fact the youth and inexperience of the team. Many fans called for Lambert’s sacking after a poor December in 2012 with losses against Bradford and Wigan but the club chairman stuck with his man – and I believe that it was absolutely the right thing to do.
There can be no doubt that it is tough for young players to come to such a big club and perform consistently every week and Lambert has publicly backed his players many times. Equally, there have been times when the team has been a real pleasure to watch – in a 3-1 over Liverpool at Anfield, beating Manchester City at the Etihad in the cup and, of course, smashing six past Sunderland.
Once again, last summer, Lambert purchased inexperienced, young players to add to the existing squad and stated that “we are half-way there” in terms of the plan that he has in place. Does Lambert deserve more credit for bravely introducing and implementing his philosophy? Has he done the right thing by purchasing young players and exporting the experienced ones?
Currently, Villa sit tenth in the Premier League table, which is a massive improvement from this time last season. Have people amended their views on Villa accordingly? Will Lambert and his players prove their critics wrong? Will Lambert’s philosophy pay off and lead to the Villans lifting some silverware?
I don’t think anyone, including most villa fans, gives PL the credit he deserves. The rebuilding job that had to be done when he came in was absolutely massive. We didn’t have a first team, let alone a squad. He has done the first part of the job, he’s built a decent enough squad. Decent enough to survive in the EPL, but not to do more.
I have always been a fan of PL and think long term we will be ok. But simple facts is this season (league table aside) we have been poor. Liverpool (and last 15 mins Vs Arsenal) showed we can play, however performances overall have been well below acceptable.
Hopefull now Benteke is fit again we will revert to playing football like we did at the end of the 12/13 season and in many aspects how we started 13/14. Saturday we set up to play the ball on the floor and moved for each other, this is something that just had not happened for the last 10 or so games.
The doom and gloom mongers calling for PL’s head need to get a grip, simple fact is we sack him we go down! At this moment in time AVFC would not attract a quality manager who would produce the results that I feel Lambo will long term.
If PL and Villa want respect though I’m affraid we need to change. Ugly football and poor form is not a good combo. While we are in a 10th (better than last season) we lose against WBA next week and other results go against us we are bang in the middle of a relgation scrap again. So we need to attack that game like we did against the Scousers, and we need VP to be bouncing.