Paul Lambert was a genius.

[Juggy 0]

And I think that is Hughton''s biggest problem.

To set up his team like he did in his final season and to get 32 goals out of Simeon Jackson (5), Grant Holt (17), and Steve Morison (10).

Who have collectively scored 3 goals between them so far this season at lower levels in a collective 35 appearances at three different clubs, who were collectively signed by us for less than £3m, none of who stayed in this division, all of whom are probably Championship standard players who punched well above their weight - even Holt.

I''m not using this as an excuse to defend the indefensible tripe that we often get served (particularly away from home, our biggest problem under Hughton), but he was never going to live up to those standards was he.

Lambert pulled off a miracle that season. To get 10 goals out of Steve Morison in one season when your centre midfield consisted of Johnson, Fox, Crofts and Hooalhan for most of the season- that was a miracle. There is probably not another manager in the land who could do that, how do you explain it?

[Buh 0]

A genius and a bottler.

Says a lot about you that you make a thread like this after we win. Did it hurt. Just a bit?

[Houston Canary 0]

And it says a lot about you when you react to an interesting premise in that way.

[Juggy 0]

Well if you weren''t so thick buh and were capable of reading between the lines you would see that my underlying point was that Hughton has been disadvantaged by the level of expectation that following a genius brings.

But I''ll forgive you on the basis that you are probably "normal for norfolk" and may have gone to one of the two city schools which spent much of the nineties and naughties in special measures. Don''t worry it is not your fault.

[Katie Borkins 1]

They were always going to be big old shoes to fill, but then I reckon most clowns I''ve seen have big old feet.

Lambert inspires, Hughton perspires.

[Guest]

He is an absolute genius. How did he get on against the bottom of the table team at home today by the way?

[im spartacus canary 0]

Lambert was a genius for us no doubt about it, the next manager after a particular popular and successful boss always has his work cut out at any club though it has to be said hoots doesn''t help himself does he... le juge is quite right but i wonder if he could have got another season out of the players he named ? i doubt it and probably so did lambert [:D]

[Zak Van Burger 0]

The thread tempted me to take stock of how Lambert is doing at Villa these days so I popped over to Villatalk dotcom and read the first few pages of the Sunderland match ratings and reaction thread. It would appear that Lambert is no longer perceived as a genius, certainly not by the Villa fans anyway. I''ve condensed the fans reactions on that thread and reproduce them below: (each line is a new poster) PatheticUtterly dreadful.What a load of tripe.Dreadful, we have problems.Poor. Defence played ok though, impressed with Clark again.Another wasted Saturday morning.Let''s sell Benteke in January and bring in someone who gives a ****. We lacked a creative midfielder to break them down, it''s what was needed in the summer.zzzAt least we didn''t lose.Shit. crock of shitUtter gash.Awful game, awful performance.Horrible.We should have bloody sold Benteke when we had the chance.A gutless performance by us.Not. Good. Enough.Pile of drossSort of really bored of Lambert in all honesty. Being a boring football team is the most annoying.Dross. Again. What the **** is going on?Boring boring boring. Sunderland''s first point away from home since August.Frankly, that was absolutely pathetic....//...under Lambert we are dreadfully one dimensional. Not very good at all. I think at some point Lambert decided he was tired of making defensive errors. As a result we now have a different style of play.It was anti-football, but look at the league table. That''s probably why Lambert is sticking to the style. Can''t help but be disappointed though.Weak, lazy, pathetic, pointless, garbage ..... and that was just BENTEKE !It''s as if lambert can''t conceive conceding because we set up with an attacking front 3 and just sat backIts just like watching brazil. .... Thats alan brazil the 50 odd year old fat presenter who likes a drink or three Has to be said were easily as bad if not worse at home under lambert than we were under mcleish in terms of style and results.

[ricardo 7,328]

He was a genius for us and that''s all that matters. What we have today would have been impossible without him.Its in the pastits gone let it go.

[Yellowfuture 71]

He was a genius for us, everything clicked and we have to be gratefull to him for what he did.

He of course should also be gratefull to us for what we did for him.

He may never see success in the rest of his career to compare with what we gave him.

Nobody was ever going to fill his boots, CH has that mill stone around his neck, he knew that when he came, he is a big enough man to deal with it.

I hope some of our fans will be big enough to deal with it too, in time!

[crabbycanary 2]

Or another way of looking at it, was that he got those players at the peak of their respective careers. Just because they aren''t doing it now, isn''t only down to Lambert

[Dubai Mark 0]

Right now when looking back at his time with us, and on the job he has done so far at a bigger club,then I feel that he found his level and size of club with us and certainly wasnt ready to move on when he did.  He was totally the right man at the right time for us and Norwich City were most definately in the right place for him when he joined. He and his support team did a great job, and as a result the club gained some momentum and we had three great seasons no doubt on limited resources.............BUT, I have no doubt he didnt fancy that second season in The Premier League with us and as a result did all he could to ensure he moved on, rather than stay with us, consolidate for another season and then move on to an even bigger club than Villa. Also, had it not been for Benteke last season then I think he may well have been plying his trade in The Championship this season. "genius" in football terms I think only goes to the likes of Sir Alex, but for us he did a brilliant job and I for one will always be grateful, but the way he left will always leave a nasty taste as will the deliberate fist pumping that made him look frankly ridiculous and almost childish.

[im spartacus canary 0]

[quote user="Dubai Mark"]Right now when looking back at his time with us, and on the job he has done so far at a bigger club,then I feel that he found his level and size of club with us and certainly wasnt ready to move on when he did.  He was totally the right man at the right time for us and Norwich City were most definately in the right place for him when he joined. He and his support team did a great job, and as a result the club gained some momentum and we had three great seasons no doubt on limited resources.............BUT, I have no doubt he didnt fancy that second season in The Premier League with us and as a result did all he could to ensure he moved on, rather than stay with us, consolidate for another season and then move on to an even bigger club than Villa. Also, had it not been for Benteke last season then I think he may well have been plying his trade in The Championship this season. "genius" in football terms I think only goes to the likes of Sir Alex, but for us he did a brilliant job and I for one will always be grateful, but the way he left will always leave a nasty taste as will the deliberate fist pumping that made him look frankly ridiculous and almost childish.[/quote]agree about his antics when he returns here no need at all, he should take a leaf out of aaron ramseys book, ok we are not his home town club  but what a bellend...  it''s so tempting to jump the barrier and take the little tw@t out when he does that  [:@]

[The Big Bad Wolf 0]

I think that often it''s a matter of fit. I don''t think PL is a genius but he was perfect for us at the time. Sometimes things click, but you need to judge over a career. The same with Martin Jol - he has not suddenly become a poor manager, but it''s just not working for him at Fulham. Plenty of top managers have a failure here and there on their CV. When it comes to Hughton I don''t think he is a good fit for us IMO. He did well last year to get us to 11th but this year doesn''t have the same feel even after all the money he spent. We all loved Mike Walker but look at what happened at Everton.

[Dubai Mark 0]

But didnt Jol do fine initially with Fulham and was he a good fit when he was doing fine? 

As for CH being a good fit or not for us, I''m not really sure and would say that it depends on what you compare things against i.e. who was "the best fit"......John Bond?, Ken Brown?, Dave Stringer, Ron Saunders, Mike Walker? they all so very different as are PL and CH. Who would be a "better fit"? ........are talking about the style of football the Manager gets his team playing, how he comes over in the press, what he does at all levels for the club?

Now, what I ask is, how many people hand on heart think that had PL stayed with us last season he would have achieved a higher league position than CH did? .....and if he hadnt would he then have become "the wrong fit" for our club? 

In respect of "all the money", sure for us over recent years it was significant, but compared to virtually the rest of The Premier league clubs and what they have spent over several seasons to build their squads to where they are now, then its not so much, really isnt.