Will the club and supporters ever lose patience with Lambert??

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

He is the best manager i can ever remember us having and his achievements have been second to non. His star shines very brightly and rightfully so. The big but for me is that all the body language and rumour suggests that he will jumo ship as and when a bigger club/offer comes up. On the one hand we keep his excellent services but on the other we wait to be dumped at any time of his choosing. This does not make for an easy marriage between manager club and supporters. I have not heard an open word of long term commitment from him which is a concern. He may or may not go to Villa if he does not then it is probably because he was not offered the job rather than a desire to stay. I do not think that the long term future of the club can be run like this it gets in the way of player recruitment and stability of the squad and all around morale. We may not have the biggest transfer fund around but neither will we have the smallest. There is sufficient money at the club now to give him a very lucrative long term contract which should include draconian levels of compensation in the event of him moving on to say a top 6 club. I think this path should be pursued but if he is not willing to commit then the club identify a good long term replacement at a time of their choosing. Brendan Rogers is equally as talented as Lambert but in sharpe contrast he has committed to that club and openly turned down approaches from other big fish. We would not stand for this constant uncertainty from a player why should we from a manager What do people think ?

 

[kick it off 2,062]

I won''t lose patience with him, the sacrifice we make is a bit of uncertainty and in return we have had by far the most enjoyable few years since finishing 3rd and Europe.It''s the same as Dean Ashton, we all knew he was destined for bigger and brighter things (unfortunately that didn''t work out for him though) and we all knew he''d leave at some point. As long as when Lambert leaves us, he doesn''t disrespect the club and does it with dignity then I don''t see how anyone could complain.

At the end of the day, the bloke has worked miracles for us, and saved our beloved club from years of desperate times (see Leeds when they went down to League 1 for example) and I for one, will be eternally grateful to him for having spared us from a similar fate.

I have 100% trust in McNally to get the right man in when Paul does leave.

[AJ 1,358]

It is inevitable that Lambo will leave us at some point, and I think everyone is just about ready to accept that. He would never dedicate himself to the job too closely because he wouldn''t want to deter clubs from coming in. Whilst McNally has said we will fight to keep him, if a massive club comes in for Paul and he wants to leave, I''m pretty sure McNally would not stand in his way for too long.

That said, I think we''re safe for keeping Lambert for another season yet, but his own successful could be our downfall unless we carry on climbing the table into the top half. He''s a manager of the highest quality, and he deserves to be managing a top, top team. Currently he''s managing the 12th top team in England, so as long as we continue to match his strive for success, I think he''ll be happy to stay here for now.

And KIO, I agree, McNally knows what he is doing. I''m sure he''d bring in a perfect replacement when the time comes.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

So if PL stays, and if next season starts poorly and in mid-December we''re firmly in the drop-zone and performing badly.  Would the club persevere with Lambert regardless ?  I don''t know, but it wouldn''t be surprising if they changed manager in time to give the new guy long enough to try to turn things around.  That''s football.

 

So I can fully understand PL weighing up his options (if he''s actually been approached).  I will wait and see what happens before passing judgement.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

[quote user="Yorkshire Canary"]

He is the best manager i can ever remember us having and his achievements have been second to non. His star shines very brightly and rightfully so. The big but for me is that all the body language and rumour suggests that he will jumo ship as and when a bigger club/offer comes up. On the one hand we keep his excellent services but on the other we wait to be dumped at any time of his choosing. This does not make for an easy marriage between manager club and supporters. I have not heard an open word of long term commitment from him which is a concern. He may or may not go to Villa if he does not then it is probably because he was not offered the job rather than a desire to stay. I do not think that the long term future of the club can be run like this it gets in the way of player recruitment and stability of the squad and all around morale. We may not have the biggest transfer fund around but neither will we have the smallest. There is sufficient money at the club now to give him a very lucrative long term contract which should include draconian levels of compensation in the event of him moving on to say a top 6 club. I think this path should be pursued but if he is not willing to commit then the club identify a good long term replacement at a time of their choosing. Brendan Rogers is equally as talented as Lambert but in sharpe contrast he has committed to that club and openly turned down approaches from other big fish. We would not stand for this constant uncertainty from a player why should we from a manager What do people think ?

[/quote]

Any manager we have who does a good job (which we all want) will be desirable to other clubs - that is the reward of success. I would rather have a manager other teams look at, rather than one so hopeless we are constantly hoping they will be poached (i.e. Peter Grant).

 

I don''t mind Lambert''s non-commital stance, as even if he said things like ''I''ll be here forever'', ''I''ll never leave Norwich'' I wouldn''t believe it for a second. Brendan Rodgers didn''t turn down an offer from a big club, he turned down the oppertunity to be placed at the bottom of a shortlist and never given a big job - if Liverpool phoned up Swansea to tomorrow and asked to be allowed to appoint Rodgers he would be kicking down the door to the chairman to let him go.

 

If you read Rodgers statement he says if Liverpool consider him good enough they should make an offer, not just want to talk to him. What are they going to ask him in an interview that they don''t already know from watching Swansea play? Most football teams don''t mess around with an interview process, Norwich didn''t when we went for Lambert and even England didn''t when they appointed Hodgson. You identify your man and make the move - it''s no wonder everyone is saying ''I don''t want to be considered''.

 

No manager in the world, especially if they are on the way up, would sign a contract with ''Draconian levels of compensation''. Why would they?

[Aggy 944]

But couldn''t that argument be applied for everywhere It''s character forming?

If he is doing badly here come christmas, then yes his job may come under a bit of pressure. However, it will be far less than if he was doing badly elsewhere. If he moves to Villa and doesn''t meet their expectations, then he''ll be out quick. If he doesn''t meet our expectations, he''s likely to be given a bit of leeway to take into consideration what he has done for the club so far, certainly more leeway than he would get elsewhere.

[Irn Bru Canary 0]

Lambert is far more tactically astute than Rogers as he proved this season by his half time changes allowing us to dominate the second half. That is what will make him a great manager. We have seen him change his tactics/formations several times during the same match and not always using substitutes. Swansea play the same way every week and have no plan B. A bit like Barcelona against Chelsea and that was their undoing.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

[quote user="Aggy"]But couldn''t that argument be applied for everywhere It''s character forming? If he is doing badly here come christmas, then yes his job may come under a bit of pressure. However, it will be far less than if he was doing badly elsewhere. If he moves to Villa and doesn''t meet their expectations, then he''ll be out quick. If he doesn''t meet our expectations, he''s likely to be given a bit of leeway to take into consideration what he has done for the club so far, certainly more leeway than he would get elsewhere.[/quote]

 

Aggy, yes I''d agree that Lambert would get more leeway here than he can expect if he moves.  But my point is that next season, our 2nd in the Prem, if we''re struggling the Board could well decide to sack him in time to get someone else in with a chance to save us.  So I think it works both ways - we can''t expect Lambert to close his eyes to opportunities that come up (if indeed they do).  I''m sure he has a lot of affection for City and would think carefully about moving on.  But he knows full well that loyalty from the club to him only goes so far, and that works both ways.

 

So in answer to the OP''s question, I''m not losing patience with Lambert and I''ll wait to see how this all pans out before passing judgement on hi.

 

 

[AndyCanary 0]

In a word yes.

I''ve seen fans on here and in the stands moaning about Lambert at the first sign of anything not up to his usual incredible standards.

If we have a poor start next season it will only take 4 or 5 games before the usual tubes start moaning, and questioning his ability to lead us forward.

[lake district canary 0]

I don''t see that there is any evidence to suggest that a Paul Lambert team would not be competetive and doing well.    Alot of people seem to assume that we will be on a downer at some point - but the evidence is not there to support that view.   There may be odd blips but in three years we have been consistently competitive.   There is no reason to assume this will change.   People will only lose patience if we hit rock bottom - and I just don''t see that happening under this manager.

 

 

 

As for  clubs touting around for managers, it strikes me as the height of arrogance by some of these ''big'' clubs to start ''talking'' or ''inviting'' other managers.  If they have any idea about football they should go after the man they want - head hunt him.  Make it known to that person - we want you for this job.   Anything else is just insulting to other football clubs and their supporters.    ''Inviting'' a manager to go and talk about a job is embarassing.     Either head hunt or ask for applications.     Liverpool and Villa were great clubs.   Not any more.     Rodgers had it right - told them where to go.        

 

 

 

Lambert is his own man and has his own way of dealing with this kind of thing.      He keeps his cards close to his chest - sure it invites speculation - but he will  know when it is time to move on.   Are we that insecure about our club that we can''t handle that?      It''s like a common law union rather than a marriage.   He is here because he wants to be here (and long may that continue).   Trying to tie him down or make him commit to some long term contract (which means little anyway, these days) would be counter productive.

 

 

I think we all need to chill, enjoy what we have achieved so far and look forward to the club progressing next season -  whoever is at the club.