Sacking at Spurs, polls and support for Paul Lambert

I'm really going to stick my neck out today because I'm going to go against my own views and also that of others, judging by the polls and what I'm seeing on Twitter.

You see, the penny dropped for me today. Paul Lambert is too similar to Martin O'Neill and when the penny dropped on O'Neill, my mind was made up and I was convinced he could only take us so far.

I wont go into the details as to why I think he's too like O'Neill, because we'll agree on some and disagree on the others. Let's just leave it at long ball football and not enough emphasis on keeping the ball. But, under Lambert it did get better last season.

But, since Villas-Boas got sacked earlier today, there have been a lot of people suggesting that time is running out for Lambert. On Vital Villa, they are running a poll and as of right now over 50% want him sacked and that is not just a yes no option.

And I've seen other sites where some uses are just giving up, accepting it as the norm. Others, that I wont name, still try to see the bright side and scrape the barrel for positives. Me, I accept it isn't good and I even hold my hands up and say that Lambert is too like O'Neill for my liking.

Change is coming, one way or another

And if things don't change, I'll grudgingly accept that he has to move on, but my heart and head right now that things are going to get better. They both tell me also that he needs more time and support.

And okay, he messed up in the summer, making too many changes, but he did it early so can be forgiven for thinking he'd get them all playing the way he should. He has to be forgiven and he can't be hung out to dry for that, it was a calculated gamble that just didn't pay off. He wont do it again.

My point is, continuity is a big factor in success. And a huge factor in sustainable success is taking a long term view and standing by it. He might turn out to not be the right man, but any sensible football fan should see that he needs more time.

André Villas-Boas was sacked earlier today but he has the best win rate of any Spurs manager since 1899 and he leaves possibly the best squad of players any sacked manager has ever left at Spurs.

And even though we'll never know, it could have come good for Spurs. Hell, they're only eight points from first place and five points from a Champions League place.

You'd not have been called mad for placing a bet on them to finish top four yesterday, even after the defeat to Liverpool. Not with the squad they have.

Lambert eventually got it right last season and I trust him to get it right again this one. I don't have the faith in him that I had in Houllier, because it was clear to see what he was doing, but Robbie Savage nailed it today and hopefully some of that will filter through, even if I've been saying it and many others, for a while.

Now is not the time to sack the manager. Now is the time to support him, not necessarily with funds, but with our voices. He's still learning his trade and faith shown now will be paid back tenfold in the future.

It took time last season and because of the sheer number of changes in the summer, we have to accept it's going to take time this one. One thing is for sure and that is there will not be as many new players next season and if they can make it click again, that should continue into next season and we'll all be happy.

As for the football yesterday; probably best forgotten quickly. I really don't want to think too much about it.