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Paul Lambert Can Have No Complaints With Aston Villa Sacking

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Paul Lambert before being sacked as Aston Villa manager

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In what is a rare occurrence in the modern game, Aston Villa sacked their manager, Paul Lambert, on Wednesday with full justification. In an era where managers are always just one rocky spell away from potentially being relieved of their duties, Villa owner Randy Lerner gave Lambert a sufficient amount of time before finally pulling the trigger.

Lambert leaves Villa with the club now having a huge battle on their hands over the next three months to avoid relegation and remain in the Premier League next season. The Villans currently sit in 18th position — the third and final relegation spot — due to goal difference as a result of being equal on 22 points with Queens Park Rangers.

After an initially positive start to the season with three wins in their opening four EPL games, Villa quickly fell into a negative pattern of losing games. The run eventually spiraled out of control, and the last time Villa actually won a league game is now more than two months ago, with just three draws from 10 games to show for their efforts in that time.

Performances can sometimes be better than results tend to reflect, but that cannot be argued on behalf of Lambert’s men this season. Many of the performances have been befitting of a team not worthy of a place in the EPL, and if they continue in the post Lambert era, that could soon become the reality.

Lambert’s second to last game in charge of the team proved a significant one, not because the team won, but because they actually scored a goal! Villa had not scored a single goal since a 1-1 draw with Manchester United back in December, when Jores Okore finally netted in a 2-1 loss to Chelsea in Week 24.

The run lasted for a six full games — technically seven games with a total of 659 minutes having passed from goal to goal — and it is impossible to avoid relegation when a team has to put so much effort in just to simply score a single goal. If it wasn’t for a half decent defensive record in that time, Villa would be cut adrift from their relegation rivals already.

Very few of Lambert’s signings have worked out also, with Christian Benteke being the outstanding exception. But even Benteke has struggled mightily this season, with the Belgian only mustering a paltry two goals in the EPL so far. Lambert will no doubt argue that he never had the kind of money to spend to really progress at Villa, but the Scot knew the restrictions of the job when he accepted it.

Lambert’s last game in charge was against Hull City, a game which the Tigers won 2-0. It was a swift return to the team’s non-scoring ways once again after a one-game hiatus and a mere continuation of their inability to win no matter what. The loss proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Lambert, but in truth, it could well have been any one of the numerous hammer blows over the last few months instead.

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