Sir Alex Ferguson believes Paul Lambert faces an uphill battle at Villa Park ahead of the sides' encounter on Saturday evening.
------------------------------------------------------------
Predict result and win big with Soccer6
------------------------------------------------------------
Villa have been on the slide ever since former manager Martin O'Neill's departure and find themselves just one place above the relegation zone at present.
And with the Scotsman the eighth man to have taken the top job in 10 years, his compatriot Ferguson reckons the regularity with which managers have come and gone has had an effect on the club's overall team performance.
"Paul Lambert is a new manager there," said Ferguson.
"It's a big task and a daunting one as Villa are not where everyone expects them to be.
"If you look at the team, it's a completely new team: a new back four, a new midfield and a new striker from the Belgian league [Christian Benteke].
"It does take time to change teams. When you've got that many new players, it's hard but Paul has done well as a manager and is still young.
"Villa have a great history of course, winning the European Cup in 1982 by beating Bayern Munich, having won the league the year before.
"I think it's probably correct to say they haven't matched their expectations over the years.
"When we pipped them to the title [in 1992/93], that was a good team, but you wonder if the managers changing has a big effect on the playing standards of the team. They've had quite a few managers over the years."
Post A Comment!
Be the first to post a comment on this story