14 games each - Lambert vs Zenga

[TornadoTed]

Zenga started strongly but it headed down hill and was deteriorating by the week, both results and morale around the club.

We still have largely the same players and problems, defenders prone to individual errors, a central midfield that can't control a game and strikers who haven't scored for 6 months.

However I feel far more confident that Lambert will get enough from them to stay up and then rectify the problems in the summer than I ever did with Zenga. I couldn't see a Lambert side capitulating like we did at home to Barnsley under Zenga.

While the Stoke and Liverpool games have been brilliant for the fans I can't help thinking its been a bit of a distraction and caused more rotating than perhaps we should have had. I think once we go out of the cup the league form will pick up.

 

[Mugwump]

I suppose on a forum you will always get a few different camps.I think we have 3 on here with Lambert. We have a few good results, and people come out crowing about how brilliant he is. We have a bad result, and its doom and gloom for some people, and we have the camp which i would class myself in, which is the yet to be convinced either way group.

I want to see a hell of a lot more improvement before i think Lambert is the man to take us forward. We are still 18th in the league. That has to change because if we stay around that position until the end of the season, i think he should be sacked. He is the manager, and i dont believe he has rectified our glaring weaknesses and he has hidden behind us having a big squad as an excuse for it.

 

[Tring Wolf]

Considering the opposition, I didn't think we played that poorly yesterday. What's far more concerning is that it came on the back of 2 (and a half) pretty awful performances against Norwich, half at Barnsley and Burton.

I think Poole makes some valid points around some of the comparisons with Zenga (particularly around rotation and the ongoing midfield conundrum).

The biggest issues for me, however, (excluding the obvious striker problem) are that we look unbalanced as a side without Cavaleiro and that neither Zenga nor Lambert have managed to devise a system that gets the best out of us when the onus is on us to break down sides.

We look far better as a counter-attacking unit which is reflected in the disparity between our home and away form.

 

[Ponty]

They should have added a decent striker in January. Joke they didn't. Very poor management when there is an obvious weakness in your team so you try to fix it by signing an unfit player in a position you dont really need urgently you could have got for free in the summer.

Ive been saying it for a while, but those cup wins masked a lot and gave us a feel good factor that gave us a bit of hope. I fell for it to a point I'm sad to say. We have been bang average, we need some wins now.

I think it was a case of thinking we'd get better options in the summer and we could use the remainder of the season to see if Dicko or Bod can improve. I hope we don't regret not trying to bring someone like Matt Taylor in. I agree re Marshall coming in, I do wonder what the thinking is given other players such as Saiss and Roman are available and not getting opportunities.

 

[Surrey Wolf]

the saddest thing is we've spent nigh on 25M & last seasons 14th place finish seems quite aspirational at the moment

 

[goldeneyed]

We are better organised in defence under Lambert but the midfield is still a shambles mainly and of course bar Costa our attack is utterly toothless. Weimann is a handy addition on loan but Marshall who is obviously unfit adds nothing in the short to medium term. Not bringing in a striker even on loan is simply barmy. Ditching Prince and Tex having barely seen them and now possibly ignoring Saiss on his return point to a myopic approach that could cost us dear.

We are 18th and the FA Cup results against weakened Premiership teams cannot hide the fact that results have remained mainly poor and performances have been all over the place. Once Chelsea have booted us out of the Cup we are in a relegation struggle unless we can win three or four in a row which seems highly unlikely. Lambert may be able to mount a challenge next season with a couple of quality additions. But the same old failures in central midfield, the same dependence on Dangerous Dave points to more failure/inconsistency imv with Lambert struggling to survive beyond next season. If he can't even keep us up this season he hardly deserves to stay in any case but surely there are three worse teams than us? Of course we all hope he will succeed but there are very mixed signs at the moment and his tendency to exaggerate the team's quality of performance after a match does not make you warm to him.

 

[Bill McCai]

Were Stoke weakened?

 

[goldeneyed]

Were Stoke weakened?

Yes.