Reflections on Lambert and the state of the club over past decade by jasondozzell 29 Nov 2020 10:33
I really liked Lambert when he came in. He has to be given credit for recognising how low morale and enthusiasm around the club was and he did a lot to try and improve things. It may well have been dismissed as simply good ‘PR’, but inviting the ex players back to training, improving the look of the ground and training ground, meeting Blue Action, talking about the support, even showing a bit of passion at Carrot Rud (better fighting them than giving us two fingers!) was much needed after the acrimony at the end of Mick’s time.

The football improved too. We played some good stuff initially and we were unlucky not to take more from some games. Reading away sticks in the mind for some reason - Sears was v good that day. I think Lambert had the right philosophy and it was much better to watch than the football we had to endure towards the end of Mick’s reign (I liked Mick, but he had to go).

The trouble was that for all his enthusiasm (and it was nice to see Lambert so active on the touchline) and his desire to see us play good football, it became apparent that when this didn’t succeed Lambert didn’t quite know how to respond. He’s an experienced manager, but it increasingly looks like the ‘Culverhouse was the tactical nous’ theory may be correct. We went down playing some good stuff but not being able to take chances. Don’t forget that he did inject some pride back though. WBA away in the relegation season was great - real defiance and the club felt together.

I think he did some good things, and I was still behind him this season, but it’s clear that the same problems are raising their heads. He has had injuries, but like last season we haven’t looked convincing for a while. He has continued to become increasingly defensive and I suspect it’s because of the pressure. I don’t blame him for trying to get the best contract etc that he can. It’s just a shame that now the wheels are falling off again it is going to get increasingly nasty. Banning Phil is a really poor move and shows terrible judgement. But I blame the club more than Lambert. Lambert is reacting to the pressure, but the club should know better. Ultimately that’s our real problem - the club has been drifting for so long that there is no real structure or control from the top. Evans doesn’t want to be involved, everything is done on the cheap, there’s no heart anymore.

The club could be doing so much more, but I think the truth is that Evans has accepted we’ve fallen and is more or less happy to keep us going on a reduced budget and hope for a miracle.

It’s been grim watching this over the last decade. Barring a good couple of years from Mick, it’s been woeful really. I’m not convinced that a change of manager is enough. We need the whole club to change. Can Evans do that? Has he got the stomach for it? Sadly the current evidence suggests not.

We’ve got some really promising young players but If we don’t get back up this season I really worry that we’ll be stuck down here for the long term, with the wage cap essentially relegating us to position of one of those clubs who will always be a shadow of their former selves. It’s so depressing.

I’d be all for Burley now. It may not be realistic but he should be given a chance if he still wants it. The trouble Iis can anyone see Evans acting?