Lambert ... what makes him so good ..?

[Big Duncs Bloody Shirt 0]

Much has been said and posted about PL’s undoubted knack of getting pretty much everything right … This can most definitely be said of his dealings on the pitch (which is there for all to see with one glance at the league table) but can clearly also be said for most of his dealings off it. Even the way he ‘played’ the media, Burnley and all of us a week and a half ago, had a touch of genius about it (IMO).

Amongst many qualities, the one that I’ve admired the most to date has been the way he unreservedly protects the players from criticism and unnecessary pressure. His post match interviews, and the way in which he ends up saying really very little, are turning into an art form, and you have to feel for Goreham and co when encountered with quizzing PL about another ‘terrific performance’. I’m sure I’m not alone in admiring particularly the way he deliberately never directly criticises individuals (totally unlike messrs Grant and Roeder) and only seeks to praise. You can see that from a player’s perspective this only serves to further enhance their desire to give the bloke ‘110%’, although you can also be sure that behind closed doors he gives it to them with both barrels if he see’s something he’s unhappy with.

What intrigues me most is how he’d react when faced with a stinker of a performance from which we end up getting thoroughly outplayed and beaten (it surely must happen at some point?) and whether, when faced with ‘no positives’, he would betray his mantra of no criticism?!

Before anyone responds with examples of $hit performances, I can’t recall one to date that hasn’t been laced with one or two positives on which PL’s been able to latch, usually in the form of ‘the lads gave me everything, and I can ask no more’.

I guess it’s all part of PL’s genius that he rarely funds himself in the position of having to defend the type of gutless, half-hearted performances that were all too regular under recent regimes…

You’ll have to forgive the gushing tone of this post but there’s just nowt to be unhappy with at the moment is there? (unless you sit in the River End!) … even a lack of investment and the continuing financial constraints can’t take the creepy and slightly unnerving smile off my face!

OTBC

[Lambert is King 0]

A lot of the top mangers just seem to have that little extra luck. Strange things happen in a match and for no apparent reason something unusual happens to get a positive result. Lambert has his good share of luck but of course that is helped at times by big gambles. A couple of good examples that seemed a bit lucky were McNamee in 2 games came on, crossed and did not reach our player but defender managed to score. Another one was the Sheff Utd game. We were in trouble he brought on Hoola we get a dodgey penalty Hooly gets a hat trick, brilliant substitution I think because we learn later Fox was injured so maybe Lamberts hand was forced or maybe he was going to make the change but he normally does that 10 mins into 2nd half as he likes to see if his rollicking works .

Like I said a manager that is organised, has players prepared to die for him and then has that bit of luck gey to the top. Unfortunately as O''Neill has shown when this type of manager leaves your club your whole club can fall apart. 

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,749]

Lambert is clearly a private man and gives very little away in front of the media, so very little conclusion can be drawn I feel as to what it is about his personality that makes him succesful. It would be fascinating to see exactlky how he operates on the training field but even more so in the changing room before and at half-time during a match. I would imagine our pre-conceptions about him might be rather different were we ever party to this, especially if he was ever to be required to give the ''hair-dryer treatment'' to anyone!. We seldom see any extremes of emotion from him which in itself maybe a key to his success but behind the secenes it would be interesting to see how he expresses both anger at defeat and delight in winning??

[Yellowfuture 71]

He is a winner and that rubs off on everyone around him.

[Robert N. LiM 4,342]

PL''s usual routine after a defeat is to say something like "I''m not going to criticise the players because they''ve been brilliant for me, top class, they really have." In other words, he uses previous good performances to exonerate the bad one.

Completely agree with the OP''s view that this 100% support for the players in public is exactly how it should be done. Both Ferguson and Wenger are prepared to look ridiculous themselves, Fergie criticising referees and Wenger ''not being able to see the incident'', rather than say one bad word about their team. As a result, their players worship them and give them 100% week in week out. Compare this to the massive insecurity of Roeder who constantly had to remind his players that he was top dog. His public humiliation of Cureton for winning the golden boot was the worst example, but it summed up his appalling man-management.

In my view, Lambert''s greatness in terms of man-management can be summed up by his handling of Otsemobor. It must have been immediately obvious to him that Semmy wasn''t up to it, but he never criticised him publicly. When he signed Russell Martin, he played it very much as being cover in a position where we were short on numbers, again, never saying that he was looking to replace Semmy. Eventually he got rid of the useless waster to Southampton, again praising his contribution and saying that he had never let him down. Absolutely textbook case of how to do it.

Clearly behind the scenes he has done great work with Wes and Russell Martin, who have improved massively as players in the last year. I love Wes but was worried whether he would have an impact at Championship level. PL has shown huge faith in him, got him to work his socks off and turned him into a proper attacking midfielder rather than a luxury player. And the transformation of Martin from solid but unadventurous full back to essentially a wing back who can add as much to attack as to defence: well, that''s just stunning. It has to come from confidence: Martin knows that he has licence to go forward, that PL backs him and will not bawl him out if once in a while we concede because he has gone forward.

You could argue he has been lucky, but then you think of the injuries we have had this season. All hail PL. We''re damn lucky to have him.

[Harry 0]

[IMG]http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/barclayendchoir/god.png[/IMG]

[alysha 0]

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]Lambert is clearly a private man and gives very little away in front of the media, so very little conclusion can be drawn I feel as to what it is about his personality that makes him succesful. It would be fascinating to see exactlky how he operates on the training field but even more so in the changing room before and at half-time during a match. I would imagine our pre-conceptions about him might be rather different were we ever party to this, especially if he was ever to be required to give the ''hair-dryer treatment'' to anyone!. We seldom see any extremes of emotion from him which in itself maybe a key to his success but behind the secenes it would be interesting to see how he expresses both anger at defeat and delight in winning??[/quote]

Behind the scenes no one knows, but on the touch line he definitely express a lot of emotion

[Carra Rud 0]

No-one can access what goes on behind the scenes, how he man-manages the players, his motivation techniques, training and all the rest of it.Lambert is great because he is always positive and always throws the new players in at the deep end.

[Big Duncs Bloody Shirt 0]

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]Lambert is clearly a private man and gives very little away in front of the media, so very little conclusion can be drawn I feel as to what it is about his personality that makes him succesful. It would be fascinating to see exactlky how he operates on the training field but even more so in the changing room before and at half-time during a match. I would imagine our pre-conceptions about him might be rather different were we ever party to this, especially if he was ever to be required to give the ''hair-dryer treatment'' to anyone!. We seldom see any extremes of emotion from him which in itself maybe a key to his success but behind the secenes it would be interesting to see how he expresses both anger at defeat and delight in winning??[/quote]

I agree that PL is no doubt more than capable of giving it the ''hairdryer treatment'' and am sure does so frequently, but I''ve no doubt he does it in such a way that he still commands the repsect of the players. Also agree that it would be fascinating to be a ''fly on the wall'' and see exactly how he operates.

It''s clearly a powerful cocktail of things that makes PL such an inspiration, coupled with one or two bits of good fortune along the way.

Also worthy of note is Mick Dennis'' summary of the AGM ... its even more abundantly clear now that without the combination of Bowkett and McNally, PL wouldn''t have had much of a club to work his magic with! ... and for that we should all be hugely grateful.

OTBC

[Syteanric 1]

Paul Lambert is a winner.. 2nd place will never be enough for him. if we get promoted then as far as Lambert is concerned we wont set out to finish 17th, we will set out to win the premiership.. of course we wont do it but its that winning mentality that makes him so good.

[Cantiaci Canary 557]

A very simple answer for me.

He only selects players who fit into his system.

He transformed our effectiveness the moment he arrived because he laid down a clear formation and strategy and then trained the players to fit that model.

Because he wins far more than he loses (thanks to this system) the players do what they are told and perform to their potential because they are desperate to retain their place.

It will be a sad day when he inevitably moves on to a more lucrative post.

[blahblahblah 2]

Just about every player he has brought in seems willing and capable of playing for 90 minutes.  We seem to score loads in the last 5 or 10 minutes - this is because he sets out to win every game, never plays for the draw.  Sometimes, like in the Sheff Utd game I think, he tries something and it goes wrong.  Some managers would stick with it in the hope things will improve, just ask the team to sit tighter on their opponents and make the middle harder to get through.  Lambert, and his players, seem comfortable with changing their shape mid-way through games if things aren''t working out.

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

Good post, OP. Another couple of great managers, Wenger and Fergie, are the same inasmuch as they never criticise their troops, so maybe Lambo has just sought to emulate them. They are certainly not bad as role models! I can see Paul Lambert having a long successful managerial career. Let''s hope the majority of it is spent at Carrow Road.

[improper fraction 0]

Paul Lambert knows what he needs to do to motivate the team and he can express those methods clearly for those around him to understand. He sets himself high targets and expects the same commitment from everyone else. Ultimately he does what he does because he is Paul Lambert.

[Old Shuck 183]

He''s turning Russell Martin into the Gareth Bale of the Championship!

[BobbyLo 0]

He''s absolutely, positively, entirely, unfathomably rubbish.

(Come on guys. Ssshh. We don''t want to alert managerless clubs...or, even worse, the National media!) [;)]

[I am a Banana 0]

Ian Culverhouse

[vos 155]

I think his man management is very good because he clearly has no favourites and certainly is not interested in any "fancy dans". His philosophy is to pick up young hungry players and he - or more likely Ian Culverhouse - knocks them in to shape.It is really very noticeable how players will put every ounce of effort in for him. Watching the half hearted contributions of people like Crouch, Arshavin, Bendent etc over recent games I am sure Paul would have hauled them off well before half-time. In public he is always 100% behind his players. You can see he is very focused on what he has to do. At the AGM you could see he was not really interested in all the financial pronouncements as it was not his department. I suspect he was mainly thinking about his lineup for Saturday.

[Europe_93 11]

He is a good judge of player and character.

He / his team work their socks off.

Keeps things simple and positive.

He has a good relationship with board, players and fans.

Excellent man manager.

He''s a clever guy.

If you are all of the above, you are bound to be lucky.

[kdncfc 27]

I don''t think good is the right terminology to use when describing Lambert, the guy has been absolutely awsome since day one for me. I think because he''s been there and done it he commands respect from the players and when he talks they listen. I just hope he stays here for a long time yet, the thought of him going doesn''t even bare thinking about.

[Ernie 0]

Simply put, he gets the best out of every player, gets them playing for each other and as a team, believing in themselves and what they can achieve and in turn they will run through brick walls for him.  In one word he''s a "Winner"