Magic McNally

[Superstitious Dave 0]

The man is a genius, he clearly worked his magic yesterday to keep lambert at the club and that is the difference between him and Neil Doncaster where he would of conceded defeat to burnley and we would of lost lambert and appointed a numpty like before.

It was quite clear from the morning press conference and after the meeting at carrow road that lambert was cagey and didn''t want to talk so I''m taking a guess that what they discussed in the meeting at carrow road was lambert basically said what they needed to give him to stay then between lambert leaving Carrow road and phoning sky sports news McNally simply rung him and said you''ve got yourself a deal now please can you put this issue to bed and give a statement saying you''re staying.

Absolutely great news, if we do end up going up obviously lambert and the players have worked wonders and will get the most credit but I think the board especially McNally deserve huge credit for refusing to buckle to burnley who now look like idiots for going public. Their manager will know he''s second choice which won''t be a great feeling. Feb 5th will be a fantastic atmosphere at turf moor bring on lambert songs galore! One Paul lambert there''s only one Paul lambert one Paul lambertttt there''s only one Paul lambertttt!

[Salopian 1]

This is one explanation, and one I find plausible and attractive. I didn''t want to believe the "we''ve-made-a-blunder, you''d-better-be-more-positive" explanation.

I was concerned yesterday in my blog about damage being done already, and I think that PL''s statement minimises the damage, and may even improve the situation. It''s well made, but why didn''t disarm all speculation at Norwich and at Burnley by saying it in the press conference, even if the press would try to get him to say it over and over again?

This is why I think that your explanation is probably right.

[Lambert is King 0]

We will never know I suppose but Lambert in public seemed to give all the signs that he was off and Burnley are either complete idiots or were told Lambert was going. In private and around the squad reports from people at Colney suggest he was his normal self and none of the squad seemed particularly bothered. McNally though is nobodys fool and Lambert or not would not have allowed anyone to walk over this club. Who knows what they agreed, but my wild guess is McNally said this is whats on the table ( or not ) to acheive your ambitions you need us we will acheive our goals whatever you decide - you have 24 hours to make a decision as I already have my next man lined up. Lambert weighed up his options and clearly will be here now until at least May. If and when he leaves I think it is fair to say he will go with everybodies best wishes. This is I must stress only my opinion and we will never know until the day he goes I guess. 

[Old Shuck 188]

I was pretty much convinced yesterday he was going.

I wouldn''t have hated him for it if he had, I wouldn''t have had a problem with Burnley either. But I would have wondered (again!) about the state of our club, the ambition, finances, bla bla bla, all the usual stuff. If he leaves for West Ham, Bolton (if, as suspected, Coyle is wanted by Liverpool), or even Liverpool themselves-and no, I don''t think that job would be beyond PL, although the powers that be at Liverpool and their supporters would probably think otherwise-go for him, yes, understandable, a blow, a bit of a bastard, but there you go, onwards and upwards etc.

I''m glad our Manager is supposedly "ruthless" and ambitious to the nth degree. Great, bring it on. If it brings out more in the players-as it seems it has-then thankyou very much, more of the same please!

The more light we give off however, the brighter we as a club and our Management and players burn, the darker the shadows that stalk us will be, and yesterday, with all the rumour, speculation, fears, even paranoia-and I was getting that wound up myself-is all part of that, and there will be plenty more days like it.

But rather that than the opposite. There was a time when no-one asked about our players, no-one was quoted as being interested in any of them, and we all struggled to think who could be sold to raise funds if needed. And no bugger was interested in any of our Managers! Give me days like yesterday to days like those anytime.

It was mad, bad, and dangerous on here and on WOTB yesterday, darkly entertaining at times, compulsive, even enjoyable. Peoples actions, reactions, claims and counter claims, giving out and getting stick and criticism. Didn''t enjoy all of it, but hell, more please, if thats what the clubs growth and gradual creep back into the eye of thes of the world is going to cause everynow and again.

Probably starting with the "Lambert to West Ham" rumours sooner or later!

[Christov 3]

I really don''t buy all these theories of Lambert using this situation to improve his transfer kitty and own contract and DM having to persuade him to stay.

The club clearly stated that they would not grant permission for him to speak to Burnley and Lambert clearly said he was ''happy'' with the club''s statement. As far as I''m concerned that was the end of it.

The meeting between McNally and Lambert before the press conference yesterday would have been McNally telling Lambert to not comment on the speculation.

Burnley''s release of the approach to the public had two purposes. 1. An amateurish way to please their fans into thinking they were aiming high. 2. To unsettle Lambert in case our board did give him permission. I feel sorry for Burnley''s next manager whoever he will be as he''s clearly not their first choice!

10 years ago there would have been nowhere near the hysteria we saw yesterday simply because the internet was not so readily available for everyone ''in the know'' to post complete and utter lies and for the rumours to spread so quickly.

I''d like to think that the club has learnt something from yesterday and that is that these things need to be nipped in the bud at the first opportunity (i.e. the press conference) to avoid a repeat of this in the future.

Anyway, back to business, lets hope for the start of a famous cup run and promotion season.

[Theres only one Martin Peters! 0]

McNally with typical modesty has previously said that the 2 most important people at a football club are the Manager and Chief Scout. I would say that the Chief Exec is a close second in importance to the Manager, this has never been better evidenced than by what happened yesterday. There must have been discussions about transfer funds and the club''s ambition taking place.

I would say to Alan Bowkett and the rest of board, make sure these 2 have got the best contracts the club can possibly afford, because they are both not going to have any shortage of job offers.

[ron obvious 1,514]

It occurs to me that Lambert & McNally might have just got a bit fed up with Burnley making unwanted overtures - & the hysterical reaction of many of the fans. Paul''s forever stating he''s not going anywhere & loves the job, so they decided to have a bit of fun winding people up - as well as concentrating our minds wonderfully about our progress since the Colchester debacle & who has been responsible for that progress.Just another possibility. I wonder if we''ll ever know the true story ..

[Bury Yellow 2]

Whilst I totally acknowledge the genius that is McNally, we must never underestimate the skill and power of Mr Bowkett.

A respected man with a great track record in business combined with a professional attitude This man is not to be messed with as some members of the board have discovered.

All hail the magnificent trio!!

[Mr.Carrow 378]

Good thread and a great post Old Shuck.

Here`s my little theory- i think Lambert resented being told that he couldn`t speak to Burnley and went into the press conference in a strop and not wanting to say another word about it. NOT that i`m saying i think he wanted to go, more that he resented being told he couldn`t speak to who he liked. A point of principal if you like.