Lambert OWED us one more year

[JuanVelasco 27]

The more I think about it, the more that I realize why I am angry with Paul Lambert.

Yes, he saved this club (along with McNally), yes he has done fantastically to get us where we are. Yes, he has left us in good shape on the pitch, financially, and yes he will be remembered now as an all time Norwich great.

I just don''t feel like his job was done here, I feel like he bottled it, he didn''t finish the job, and the reasons are really very simple.

Last year he wrote off the League Cup in order to win league points. He took a huge gamble in the FA Cup which failed to pay off. He effectively threw two cup games.

I didn''t mind, I assumed that in his second year he would have given them another go, that''s the only reason why I didn''t (at the time) get angry about the f''in money and time I''d wasted to go and watch a shower of sh*t lose to inferior teams.

I assumed that he would give both of the cups a good crack in his second year, just like Martin O''Neill took Leicester to Wembley a few times.

Cardiff went to Wembley.

He now leaves several of HIS signings in complete limbo. Not the people that he signed at the start of the year, but the people that he signed in the middle of the year.

Daniel Ayala, Johnny Howson, and Ryan Bennett. For me, those three deserved a second Lambert year. They would have joined because of Lambert.

I feel sorry for those three lads.

Lambert said that he couldn''t take us further. That was a lie, he could have taken us further. Perhaps not in the league (bar +/- a couple of positions), but he could have had a real go at the cups.

Lambert could have taken us to Wembley for the first time since 1985, and if he had have done he would truly have left this club as a legend.

Martin O''Neill never achieved any better than mid-table with Leicester, but he is a pure legend there for his cup runs.

So no Lambert, you weren''t stuck with mere consolidation at Norwich, yes you could have taken us further, you just bottled it.

Cardiff got to the FA Cup final last season, Birmingham City WON it the year before.

You are the first Norwich manager that I have ever known to have purposely f''d up in the cup. Generally they f''d up because they were simply rubbish, but they tried.

You bottled it because you were scared of second season syndrome. You bottled the two cups last season.

Thanks (and I genuinely mean thanks) for getting us where we are, but it is in our best interests to get somebody with the mental strength and desire to take us to the next level, and that means keeping us in this division while building on our very proud history in the domestic cups.

1962 League Cup Winners

1972 League Cup Runners Up

1975 League Cup Runners Up

1985 League Cup Winners

We are desperate for success, we want nothing more than our fifth cup final at Wembley, 27 years of hurt.

If you don''t have the bottle to take us there, then we need a man who does.That man is Malky Mackay, he has shown us that this year at Cardiff.

F*$k the fight between 15th and 12th, f*"k the £750k per place in the league, you bottled the FA Cup.

I will always remember you as the great manager who bottled the League Cup and bottled the FA Cup.

And in all honesty, I would love nothing more, absolutely nothing more, than for us to get a day at Wembley next season, to stick two fingers up at you and Grant Holt.

But good luck at Villa, you are whether of that and I can''t wish you ill.

Step forward Malky Mackay.

[JuanVelasco 27]

*worthy of that

[Bury Yellow 2]

Just a couple of points.a) wait and see the outcome of Holt before bad mouthing him and b) Just what has Malky done to make you think he is the messiah. If he hadn''t played for us would you be thinking this way?

I appreciate it''s your opinion but I just can''t see where this Malky support comes from.

Let''s face it we are all guilty of getting into a lather about the events this week. I do hope that whoever we get sends a signal out to the EPL that we mean business and the nasty Norwich image continues.

Hell is that the time? These Jubilee celebrations are knackering

[JuanVelasco 27]

Hardly gone in hard on Holt there have I mate!

Malky has over-achieved for two consecutive seasons with two different clubs.

Both times having to rebuild a team which needed to drastically cut expenses. Cardiff lost Bellamy, Bothroyd, and a few other good first teamers... their fans were expecting mid-table at best.

He signed 11 players, to replace 12 that left, and 8 of those were freebies.

To achieve 6th was an astonishing achievement considering the circumstances.

At Watford they were dead certs for relegation, he led them to mid-table playing a bunch of 17 year olds..... he was left with a few senior players and a youth team.

The man is a class act and his players love him.

And he got Cardiff to the FA Cup final for christs sake! Incredible achievement considering the players that he lost and the budget that he was given.

With all that said, I would be 100% happy with Hughton too.

But could do a lot worse than Malky, trust me.

I''m petrified that we will end up with Steve Bruce, that scares me.

Tim Sherwood is a worrying one too, he has NO managerial experience, could potentially be our next Peter Grant.

Malky is a safe enough bet for me.

[Jacko 0]

I reckon he probably owed some of the players another year. He has let down Howson in particular for me. Howson made a brave decision to give up the captaincy of the club he has supported since childhood and to come here to test himself with Norwich when we are not an established top flight team. Admittedly the hike in salary would have been a large factor but I bet the Lambert factor was a significant part of his decision as well. Now 6 months later the rug has been pulled out from under him. But Lambert has form for this from his Colchester days. He signed David Fox who dropped down from the Championship to join Colchester. One game into the season and Lambert had abandoned him. He was effectively left to rot in the reserves for a year by a manager in Boothroyd who did not appreciate his qualities on the ball.

 

As for the question of whether he owed the supporters in general another year. I am going to be controversial and say no. He was a very private man and a very quite man. He never really integrated into the local community and by his own admission never really went out a lot in Norwich. He never pretended to have a deep passion for the club, the area and its people. This is perhaps why Swansea can feel slightly more cheated by Rodgers who played all those PR cards during his time. There was talk of a 7 year plan at Norwich but Lambert I think even said himself it was not necessarily his 7 year plan and so it has proved. If it is true that Lambert had a clause which allowed him to speak to other clubs then that is the clearest indicator that Norwich was just a stepping stone to where he wanted to be one day. The board must have known that when they sanctioned such a clause. What he did owe us though was little bit more respect over how he has handled his departure. We have been good for Lambert as well as the other way around.

 

 

[Shankslad 0]

Just as important, I think he owed HIMSELF one more year at Norwich

 

If it''s true he said he feels he''s taken Norwich as far as he can, that''s some admission of limitation and my reaction is that if he believes that is the case, how the hell can he think he can do anything with the likes of Villa?   I think the reason people are so disappointed is that he has left in mid stream, has not fully explored his potential with the club and left with unfinished business.   Plus there are certain problems occured which the next manager will have to clear up very quickly and get the dropped morale and spirit back up

 

Paul is a young up and coming manager who still has much to learn.   Norwich wouldn''t mind him learning from mistakes but will other clubs mind?   Will other clubs afford him that privelege?   As he says himself, he''s always just 3 games away from the sack - he may come to realise just how true that is

 

Everyone knew he would leave one day - that was an accepted fact - but the sour taste it''s left behind suggests it really happened too soon and was done in the wrong manner.   At least when Shankly left Huddersfield he got everyone together and explained what was happening telling them "I am going to a place from here where like me, they live football, eat football, breathe football.   I am going to Liverpool"   (That''s as close as I recall his speech).   What I''m saying really is there is a way to do things in these situations and the way Paul has handled it shows to me he may not yet be ready for this move.   Any future failure will diminish his past successes - it''s a risky old business.   But like everyone else I wish him every success at Villa except against Norwich and Liverpool !!!   I want Norwich to finish next season at least 3 places above Villa!!!