Lambert, not a nice bloke?

[canarydan23 4,060]

This is going to sound like a typical message board rumour from a fan toeing the bitter "I''m glad Lambert''s gone, he was a nob anyway" line.However, my source, who shall remain nameless, was a "nearly-man" for Norwich a few years back who trained with the first team and was named in the 18 man squads that go to games and travel to matches, but never made the subs bench and was soon released. Anyway, he has stayed friends with some of the boys, including a certain Adam Drury.So, this source told me that Drury had to beg Lambert to allow Huckerby to play in his testimonial. Lambert did not want him involved because he represented "the past" and felt the club should only be looking to the future. He also pressed for the Huckerby club to be renamed for the same reason. As has been mentioned here already, he confirmed that Lambert kept himself very distant from the players from a personal point of view and that he was not popular with a large section of the squad. He did say that to a man every player had massive respect for his management but as to whether they "liked" him as a manager, a large number of players would say no.It might just be his managerial style and no one can say it has not been successful, but it could also suggest that Hughton is not going to have the problems winning over the players that some people are hinting. There are a large chunk of players who will be pretty pleased that they''re is a new man at the helm.

[morty 0]

In some ways though, in management (and this counts in any profession) you do have to keep a professional distance. Can you see Alex Ferguson being matey with everyone?Its a very tricky thing to get right with everyone, some players will need shouting at, some will respond better to having an arm put round them, a truly great manager of men will know who needs what, and when, and adapt his style accordingly.But no, I don''t think Lambert was ever teh friendly, approachable type. But he was succesful, so whatever he was doing, it worked.

[Branston Pickle 3,656]

I guess the proof of the pudding is in the results, clearly something worked well at our club (we may never know precisely what ''it'' was). That is not to say it always will, though - there''s numerous examples of guys who don''t manage to repeat success elsewhere. Time will tell whether he is a success at Villa; I don''t really care whether he is or not tbh.

[Supermarket Prodigy 0]

I''ve heard the same about Lambert, I guess you don''t want your manager to be your player''s best friend. I mean look at Terry Connor at Wolves, training got easier apparently and they called him TC.

But if what you''re saying is on the money, not doubting you at all, then I''m a little unimpressed.

Ah well, now Lambert is NCFC history!

[ricardo 7,384]

It matters not if they liked him.It was enough that they played for him.

[Ruddygore 0]

I saw a comment from another poster saying that they felt that Lambert was very "driven" but with no sentimentality which I thought was probably about right.

Probably not a "nice bloke" but no reason to dislike him. Personally I like someone to be a bit more "human" and open but if you want "firm but fair" he''d also fit that bill.

[Shyster 0]

A good manager will command the respect of his players - he doesn''t want to be on their birthday card list.

[PurpleCanary 5,557]

I think all managers need to be a bit of a b*stard, and this is my only worry about Hughton - that he might be too nice. This piece in The Mirror refers to that but says he can also be tough:


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/what-norwich-fans-can-expect-866548

[nutty nigel 7,531]

[quote user="Shyster"]A good manager will command the respect of his players - he doesn''t want to be on their birthday card list.
[/quote]

 

 

Ha! Do you get birthday cards from your staff Shyster[:^)]

 

 

[Shyster 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

[quote user="Shyster"]A good manager will command the respect of his players - he doesn''t want to be on their birthday card list.[/quote]

 

 

Ha! Do you get birthday cards from your staff Shyster[:^)]

 

 

[/quote]

Rarely - sometimes from female members of staff, but only the attractive ones for obvious reasons.

[Shyster 0]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"]I think all managers need to be a bit of a b*stard, and this is my only worry about Hughton - that he might be too nice. This piece in The Mirror refers to that but says he can also be tough:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/what-norwich-fans-can-expect-866548[/quote]

One thing''s certain about Hughton, he''s left-wing and will never admit when he''s wrong.

[Jacko 0]

The results speak for themselves. So he does not need to justify his methods. Two promotions and 12th place in the Premier League last year do all the talking for him. For the record Terry Connor seemed like a thoroughly decent man, but ultimately I am afraid it doesnt get you any points and he was utterly hopeless. I think as the OP as done to be fair Norwich fans must differentiate between Lambert, the manager who was unreal for us and Lambert, the man who wasn''t quite as impressive.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

I heard similar from a gym instructor who''s mate was a performance analysis with Norwich whilst Lambert was in charge. He said that, whilst Lambert was always respectful, he wasn''t particularly approachable and came across as quite cold.

However, what cannot be denied is that however Lambert acted in the dressing room was effective and got the players on his side.   

[nutty nigel 7,531]

[quote user="Shyster"][quote user="nutty nigel"]

[quote user="Shyster"]A good manager will command the respect of his players - he doesn''t want to be on their birthday card list.
[/quote]

 

 

Ha! Do you get birthday cards from your staff Shyster[:^)]

 

 

[/quote]


Rarely

[/quote]

 

[:-*] They probably don''t like you then.....

 

I do though[:$]

 

 

[Shyster 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="Shyster"][quote user="nutty nigel"]

[quote user="Shyster"]A good manager will command the respect of his players - he doesn''t want to be on their birthday card list.[/quote]

 

 

Ha! Do you get birthday cards from your staff Shyster[:^)]

 

 

[/quote]

Rarely

[/quote]

 

[:-*] They probably don''t like you then.....

 

I do though[:$]

 

 

[/quote]

I like you too, Ed [img]http://services.pinkun.com/forums/pinkun/cs/emoticons/emotion-1.gif[/img]

[Ruddygore 0]

Sheesh - get a room while you''re at it.

[Icecream Snow 761]

There''s a difference between a management style and the human being. Lambert is heavily modelled on Martin O''Neill, who in turn was heavily modelled on Brian Clough. Leaving someone else to do the training, and maintaining your distance from the players so that when you do say something, it has a greater effect.But then Martin O''Neill is naturally quite a likeable and charismatic guy, hence his occasional media punditry. I genuinely think Lambert is a very private person who doesn''t like people getting too close to him.

[nutty nigel 7,531]

[quote user="Ruddygore"]Sheesh - get a room while you''re at it.[/quote]

 

His room''s the kitchen[pi]

 

 

[Mister Chops 7]

Lambert got the best out of his players, likeable or not.  Something Roeder, someone else reputedly "not nice", never ever managed.  So I don''t care really.  I have worked for a number of managers in my career, some of which I liked and some of which I thought were absolute bell-ends, but I wouldn''t say I tried harder for any of them.

[Lets be aving you! 0]

Just because a football manager is nice doesn''t mean he can''t get results.

 

Both Mourinho and Bobby Robson are often cited as having been universally liked by players they have managed.

 

There''s clearly no single, unique approach that works, but a variety, hence the variety of managers who have been successful.

 

Lambert got results for us, whether or not he was "nice". Hughton appears to have been reasonably successful in his limited time as a manager, most recently in exceptionally difficult circumstances.

 

One good thing about Hughton is that he appears to have less of a problem with commitment and joint project, and possibly less likely to be constantly wanting to move on to the next opportunity, than our previous "very driven" incumbent.

[AndyCanary 0]

I definitely can believe what the OP has said. No matter how successful PL was for us and no matter how grateful I am I always found it hard to have a warmth for him.I think that''s partly how Glaswegians are, but I don''t think he ever had any real affection for the club. Just a stepping stone, as will be Villa.

[tom cavendish 0]

Hucks made a point of thanking Lambert for allowing him to play so it could well have been a close thing.

[Mister Chops 7]

To be honest, I like the idea of managers not getting emotionally attached to the club in the way fans do.  Emotional attachment can mean you start making poor decisions based on loyalty or skewed perception.  Give me a realist and rational thinker every time.  If it means the club is a "stepping stone" then so be it - players and managers alike will come and go as their careers develop for better or worse.That''s partly why I don''t get the hatred for Lambert.  We were just a job to him, and he did a great job.

[......and Smith must score. 1,341]

[quote user="Shyster"]One thing''s certain about Hughton, he''s left-wing and will never admit when he''s wrong.[/quote]So a bit like some right-wing posters on here then ......[;)]

[......and Smith must score. 1,341]

[quote user="Shyster"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]I think all managers need to be a bit of a b*stard, and this is my only worry about Hughton - that he might be too nice. This piece in The Mirror refers to that but says he can also be tough:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/what-norwich-fans-can-expect-866548[/quote]

One thing''s certain about Hughton, he''s left-wing and will never admit when he''s wrong.[/quote]Sounds like his relationship with our Tory star striker is likely to be a short one then.....

[thenorthstand 0]

Who knows? Whatever his method, it was successful, but I hope this is the case as it will at least stop any sort of player unrest at him leaving, lets hope they''re all just looking forward to working under CH

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,748]

[quote user="canarydan23"]This is going to sound like a typical message board rumour from a fan toeing the bitter "I''m glad Lambert''s gone, he was a nob anyway" line.

However, my source, who shall remain nameless, was a "nearly-man" for Norwich a few years back who trained with the first team and was named in the 18 man squads that go to games and travel to matches, but never made the subs bench and was soon released. Anyway, he has stayed friends with some of the boys, including a certain Adam Drury.

So, this source told me that Drury had to beg Lambert to allow Huckerby to play in his testimonial. Lambert did not want him involved because he represented "the past" and felt the club should only be looking to the future. He also pressed for the Huckerby club to be renamed for the same reason. As has been mentioned here already, he confirmed that Lambert kept himself very distant from the players from a personal point of view and that he was not popular with a large section of the squad. He did say that to a man every player had massive respect for his management but as to whether they "liked" him as a manager, a large number of players would say no.

It might just be his managerial style and no one can say it has not been successful, but it could also suggest that Hughton is not going to have the problems winning over the players that some people are hinting. There are a large chunk of players who will be pretty pleased that they''re is a new man at the helm.




[/quote]

It''s a bit rich for Lambert to take this viewpoint when he didn''t even want to be part of the club''s future himself!?!.  As for comparisons with Clough, Clough will go down in history at Nottm Forest because he made that clubs history for himself, Lambert ran from the chance to do that here.

[Icecream Snow 761]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]That''s partly why I don''t get the hatred for Lambert.  We were just a job to him, and he did a great job.[/quote]I don''t dislike the guy. It''s clear he''s a very driven and ambitious individual who wants to manage at the highest level, and Villa is another stepping stone for that. He''s taken us as far as he could, and currently we don''t have the budgets to be an established mid-table side.I just wish he''d been honest about his intentions, instead of the "how dare you question my loyalty" routine. It''s not what he did, it''s the fact that he couldn''t man-up and be open and honest about it.

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="Icecream Snow"][quote user="Mister Chops"]That''s partly why I don''t get the hatred for Lambert.  We were just a job to him, and he did a great job.[/quote]I don''t dislike the guy. It''s clear he''s a very driven and ambitious individual who wants to manage at the highest level, and Villa is another stepping stone for that. He''s taken us as far as he could, and currently we don''t have the budgets to be an established mid-table side.I just wish he''d been honest about his intentions, instead of the "how dare you question my loyalty" routine. It''s not what he did, it''s the fact that he couldn''t man-up and be open and honest about it.[/quote]I think that''s fair enough to a point, but if you put yourself in his position:Press conference, April:"Paul, you''ve been linked with some of the upcoming vacancies at Premier League clubs.  How do you feel about that?"Paul: "Sounds great.  I''ve enjoyed my time here and have achieved great things but this is a stepping stone for me to a bigger club capable of winning trophies."He would have been absolutely slaughtered by all and sundry, wouldn''t he?  So to an extent, he had to say the things he said.

[Icecream Snow 761]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="Icecream Snow"][quote user="Mister Chops"]That''s partly why I don''t get the hatred for Lambert.  We were just a job to him, and he did a great job.[/quote]I don''t dislike the guy. It''s clear he''s a very driven and ambitious individual who wants to manage at the highest level, and Villa is another stepping stone for that. He''s taken us as far as he could, and currently we don''t have the budgets to be an established mid-table side.I just wish he''d been honest about his intentions, instead of the "how dare you question my loyalty" routine. It''s not what he did, it''s the fact that he couldn''t man-up and be open and honest about it.[/quote]I think that''s fair enough to a point, but if you put yourself in his position:Press conference, April:"Paul, you''ve been linked with some of the upcoming vacancies at Premier League clubs.  How do you feel about that?"Paul: "Sounds great.  I''ve enjoyed my time here and have achieved great things but this is a stepping stone for me to a bigger club capable of winning trophies."He would have been absolutely slaughtered by all and sundry, wouldn''t he?  So to an extent, he had to say the things he said.[/quote]To a degree yes. The only one that really gets me is the Drury testamonial comments, the week before he went, when he must have know he was off. ...and the fact that know one really knows why he went, because he refuses to talk about it. I mean, from the comments he made in previous interviews, combined with McNally & Bowketts comments, I reckon I''m right, but it''s still guesswork.