Season 2012-13

Well, football forums wouldn't be what they are unless there was gossip going on, would they?!

Looking around I see that there's still talk of Randy wanting to sell-up, that he's not backing the manager and that the squad isn't good enough. And we haven't yet even seen the team that Lambert wants to play!! He's brought in four very useful players but they've not yet all come together.

Let's take the "Randy selling up" idea. I've seen an article written by a guy who is part-owner of a successful company that employs over 100 people. He says that what has been going on in the past 2 years all points to Randy readying the club for sale. I have to agree that is one take that could be had, but perhaps the last 2 years was more to do with Randy just getting his finances sorted out and has now done so through making a bomb out of the Browns? That is, that one of his sports enterprises had to go, and he's chosen it not to be Villa. That Randy is, after all, what he said on the tin - he's in it for the long haul so far as Villa is concerned.

It seems to me that Paul Lambert is the kind of manager that most Villans wanted in, so let's give him the chance of setting out his stall. He's surely already recognised where the defensive weaknesses have lain and has done something about it. He's even brought in a good link man to work with Ireland, someone who seems to have a bit of bite, and that has to be good.

On the question of whether the squad is good enough well, again, it's a question of seeing how the first few months of the season goes before we can judge how good it is.

To me, the one critical factor is Paul Lambert himself - how good a motivator is he? Will he get the best out of Ireland, Clark and Gabby and everyone else? That to me is the critical issue that will determine how good Villa's squad is.

I am sure that the squad as it is is not going to be good enough to compete for the CL, but I believe it has every chance of forming the basis for a good future. Let's give it a fair chance.

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