Lambert - It’s Cup Final Time

Yay and we all know how well we’ve done in the cups, we’ve got 13 more of them now following the excellent performance against Hull City last night.

I did see this last night but thought better of it.

I’m going to change tact here, I’m beginning (long have been!) to sound as much of a broken record as our poor out of depth manager with his after match wibbles, so instead of overly commented or being sarcastic – otherwise known as my usual self – I’ll just bold bits I have an issue with – it’ll save all of us hours!

Cliche and repeat caps on folks!

Source – Official Site.

‘I probably can’t describe how low we’re feeling right now, as a group we’re down, flat as you’ll probably get it. I just told them we’ve got thirteen cup finals and we have to win these cup finals that are coming out way. I’ve just said to the lads there are two ways you can go about it. You can meet it head on or you buckle under it, and you make sure you don’t buckle for your own career. You’ve got to go into the next game and win it. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You’ve got to pick yourself up and you’ve got to go again.’

Lambert goes on to say that we won’t be the only team battling against relegation this season, as there will be a ‘few’ others in that fight as well – our problem is we keep losing to them.

‘You have to make sure you’re out of that bottom three.’

And we’re now in it.

‘This football club is a great club, it’s huge. The supporters expect a reaction. They have the biggest thirteen games of their careers coming up. I still believe 100% I still believe that the club will be fine.‘

Without meaning to, Lambert seems to agree with Mourinho.

‘There are good players in the dressing room. There’s no two ways about it. We’re just missing that little bit in the final third. We have thirteen cup finals on our hands, that’s the big thing. But I still believe 100% that Villa will be fine. Everyone will have to show character. From me right down, big players always rise to it anyway.‘

So we’ve gone from confidence and belief being fine, to the dressing room being as ‘flat’ as it can be, and we have good players not performing, but a belief we have that character that will rise ‘anyway’ when it patently hasn’t so far – other than credit where it’s due our defence this season.

Sounds an awful lot like Hull DID define our narrative Mr Lambert – either that or the club continue to believe people are daft enough to think the bubble has suddenly burst now and everything was rosy beforehand, when it’s barely been blown since the day you came in.

‘This will be a big test for everybody but, as I said to them, a lot of teams are going to be there with you. That’s going to happen so you have to be ready for it. We have got to win ugly now.‘

Win ugly NOW! Well, shall we list the games we genuinely were ‘excellent in’ because it’ll be a bloody short list. We’ve only really ever won ugly and we need to start doing it now? What about hanging on by a thread and taking a fluky one nil victory when it wasn’t deserved but we actually managed to put the ball in the net on the one occasion we hit the target.

That’s winning ugly.

‘This is not the time for playing pretty football. No matter how you do it, you have to win. We try to play the game the right way. Now you have to win ugly to get points.’

There was a time for pretty football – did I not bother watching the right narrative…sorry games this season? As for playing the right way – as opposed to what water polo? A nod to our history and running out with a rugby ball?

‘I have no doubt we have enough leaders. There are big characters in the dressing room to see it through.’

As for the game itself.

‘The first goal was really disappointing as we were on top and started the game really well. The ball has travelled 60 or 70 yards from their goalkeeper. We never dealt with it, that goal gives their stadium a lift. We’re chasing the game from there. Even the second goal is a short free kick that went into the box and we never dealt with that particularly well. We had enough of the ball to do better than we did in the last third. If you look at the players we had on the pitch, we had Gabby, Carles and Joe – you’ve got so many options attacking wise. Tonight it didn’t go for us but we went with an attacking line up. That’s not just labelled at the forward lads. Collectively as a group we never did enough.’

It hasn’t ‘gone’ for us since day 1 apart from a few minor signs every now and then, Hull was no different to the tripe we’ve seen all season bar a game or two.

Oh well at least he never said they were a good bunch of lads or we had four forwards on the pitch – I suppose that’s something.

Vital Villa on: