After his first season in the Premier League with Norwich, a very successful one by all accounts, I bet Paul Lambert thought that this Premier League managing business was a doodle.
As he comes to the end of his second season in the Premier League, this time with Aston Villa, I can imagine that the pressure and stress consuming the Scotman’s life right now is almost unbearable.
I’m still not sure why Lambert left a very good set up at Norwich to join Aston Villa (money perhaps?) this past summer but it has been a difficult season at Villa Park and despite flashes of quality here and there Villa have been poor defensively and this one of the main reasons they are immersed in a relegation battle where things are so tight that any points dropped could prove lethal.
Lambert will be hoping for six more performances like the one his team put in at the Britannia against Stoke City yesterday. Having gone ahead early Villa allowed Stoke back into the game but showed real grit and determination to win a vital game late on in a hostile and difficult atmosphere.
Of course Villa fans can’t expect James Lowton to score wonder goals every single week but they will take goals in any way shape or form.
It has been a while that so many teams have been involved in the struggle for survival but Villa have just picked up a brilliant three points and will carry confidence and momentum into their next game; at home to Fulham.
With six games left the stakes are very high. Lambert and Villa fans will be preparing themselves for more tense filled encounters but ultimately I see them missing out on the drop. Just.
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