The dreaded vote of confidence

Poor Paul Lambert. It's hard to not sympathise with the former Norwich City boss. The Scot continues to work on a shoestring budget at Villa Park and, to make matters worse, has recently received the dreaded vote of confidence from Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner, despite crashing out of the Capital One Cup and FA Cup at the expense of Bradford City and Millwall, respectively.

As any devout Football Manager player will tell you, the vote of confidence is all but a death warrant for the gaffer. It's effectively saying “We believe you're the right man for the job, but if you don't win your next game; you're out on your a**e”.

There are those that are hoping Lambert is giving his marching orders sooner rather than later after a poor run of form that has left them languishing dangerously close to the relegation zone. Since the 3-1 win over Liverpool midway through December, their form has been on a cataclysmic demise, culminating in the defeats to lower league opposition over the past seven days.

However, sacking Lambert now would be more detrimental to the club than good. Villa are in a perilous position, that's a certainty, but with the Scot being the club's fourth manager in four years, the need sustainability is massive.

Lerner's vote of confidence may well spell trouble for the former Champions League winner, but it's vital they keep hold of Lambert rather than hand him his P45 or run the risk of fading out of the catacombs of the Premier League for the foreseeable future.  

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