LAMBERT WILL OVERCOME POOR START

The Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has said that he is confident that the team can overcome the poor start in that they have made to the new season and comfortably avoided relegation. Aston Villa were recently held 1-1 by Paul Lambert’s former club Norwich city at Villa Park. This poor result once again meant that Aston Villa are no closer to improving than they were under Alex McLeish. Despite the ongoing troubles, the manager Lambert has backed the players to deliver the performance in the upcoming matches. He has said that Aston Villa will get enough results to get them out of the relegation trouble.

It was only a few years ago that Aston Villa were challenging in the European spot under the former manager Martin O’Neill. However, the tightening of the purse by the owner Randy Lerner has subsequently resulted in the team’s quality decreasing considerably over the years. Despite this, Lambert reckons that he has a good squad at his disposal. Christian Benteke scored the opening goal for Aston Villa, but they were held to a draw following the equaliser from Norwich city. Norwich then could have easily gone on to win the match had it not been for the narrow escapes.

“I know the stats. We have to try to win games. But I have a real faith and trust in these players. I have great belief in them. I’ll stick with them. They will be fine. I’ve not been long here and we just need to keep building and building and keep doing our best. In terms of the league, there is nothing in it (points-wise). If the lads keep the effort and commitment going, then they will be fine,” said Lambert after the match. Chris Hughton was delighted with the first point away from home after a long time.

LAMBERT HAS TOUGH JOB

The Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has said that he has a tough job on his hands when it comes to making Aston Villa successful once again. Aston Villa spent a lot of money under the regime of Martin O’Neill in the efforts to qualify for the Champions League. However, that dream never materialised and Martin O’Neill left the job soon afterwards due to the lack of support from the board. Aston Villa have since cut their investment in players and wages due to the spiralling debts caused by the regime of Martin O’Neill. It has also subsequently been reflected in the league position in the last couple of seasons.

Paul Lambert was recently appointed as a replacement for Alex McLeish, who had a very disappointing season with Aston Villa last season. Many were expecting the former Norwich city manager to instantly make an impact at the club. However, Aston Villa have made a slow start to the season and Paul Lambert has acknowledged that it is certainly not going to be easy for the club to be challenging for the top honours once again. He has said that there is a massive rebuilding job ahead of him if they are to return to the glory days.

“I know the job is huge and we’re trying everything we can to sort it. It’s a massive club. The fans were willing us to do really well, but we just never did it. That’s my problem. Owner Randy Lerner, myself and chief executive Paul Faulkner will sit and see what’s going to happen. If something comes available and I think it’s worthwhile, then you can look at it. It’s a really young side and sometimes you need a little bit of help,” said Paul Lambert after the 3-1 defeat at the hands of Everton.

Want to win a David Beckham signed photo? Send us your score prediction for the next match via twitter, and you might win! 🙂

LAMBERT LOVING VLAAR

The manager of Aston Villa, Paul Lambert, has said that he is quite impressed with Ron Vlaar’s performance in the match against Nottingham Forest. That was the first match of Vlaar for Aston Villa. Nottingham defeated Aston Villa by 3-1 in the match. As per Lambert, though the team was not able to win the match, but, Vlaar’s performance in the match was a big positive for Aston Villa. Vlaar has signed for Aston Villa this summer. He has joined the club on a contract of 3 years.

Before joining Aston Villa, Vlaar used to play for Feyenoord. He had been playing for Feyenoord since the last 6 years. He joined Feyenoord in 2006 and in his very first season for the club, he started getting chances to feature in the first team. But, during his tenure with Feyenoord, Vlaar struggled with injuries a lot. In the 2006-07 season, he had to miss a large number of matches due to foot injury. In the next season, he injured himself again and he had to go through a surgery. Due to that, he wasn’t able to play in the later part of 2007-08 season. In the last two seasons, he played without having an injury and his performance was quite good in the last season. He decided to move to Aston Villa this summer.

Lambert said that Vlaar would become very popular among the crowd in the upcoming season. He is technically very good and he has got a fantastic temperament as well. On being asked about the defeat of Aston Villa against Nottingham, Lambert said that he doesn’t give too much importance to these pre season games. Winning the league matches is more important for the team. As per Lambert, he doesn’t want to think too much about this defeat. He has full confidence in his players and hopefully, they would do well in the upcoming season.

BENT EXCITED AT NEW SEASON

Aston Villa striker Darren Bent has said that he cannot wait for the new season to start. The England striker missed the large portion of last season due to a major injury, which also forced him out of the Euro 2012. Now, he is fit and ready and is taking part in the pre-season with the new manager at the helm. He has said that he is extremely looking forward to the start of the new season since it would give him with a great opportunity to prove that he is the best striker at the club. He has also said that he hopes that he is injury problems have finally disappeared.

The 28-year-old moved to Aston Villa from Sunderland in an ÂŁ 18 million deal and has scored almost a goal every other game. He made 41 appearances in his first season with the club and scored 19 goals in the process. However, he was not able to repeat the same feat as he was injured more often than not. Further, the major injury suffered in the second half of last season meant that he made only 22 appearances for the club last season. The former Spurs striker has said that he is hoping that his injury problems are behind him and cannot wait for the new season.

“I probably got the injury because I haven’t really done anything for four months. It’s just been good to be back among it after my time out injured at the end of the season. In the first session in pre-season I was absolutely buzzing. My main problem was the ankle but that’s completely healed now. That feels great and I am raring to go for the season,” said Bent in an interview given to the Sun. Bent has made 403 career appearances to date.