Paul Lambert is about to cross the great divide and, in the eyes of some Norwich supporters, will commit the most heinous of footballing crimes – becoming the manager of Ipswich Town.
But strip away the rivalry, and there’s not much newsworthiness other than the obvious factor of a new manager being installed at a football club.
Lambert arrives at Portman Road with a sizable task on his hands – to revive a football club that even Town legend Terry Butcher scathingly described as ‘a shambles’.
His achievements in NR1 were unprecedented. For most Norwich supporters, the name Paul Lambert is engrained in the history books. Those memorable three years under his stewardship reunited supporters with a football club that had been sitting in the doldrums; a club which, until he arrived, they simply couldn’t relate to anymore.
When Lambert brought his Colchester United side to Carrow Road in August 2009, few would have been familiar with the Scotsman as a manager, but it’s equally fair to say that they left Carrow Road fully aware of his capabilities. Too aware!
His formula was an admirable dosage of arrogance coupled with determination and endeavour.
A few days later he eventually ended up at Norwich and constructed a level of success unrivalled in these parts. He arrived and discovered a club on its knees, but ultimately dragged the club and the dressing room, to the Premier League.
There’s good reason why some Norwich supporters would have welcomed Lambert being reinstated to the City hot seat, not because of the man himself but because his deeds made his name synonymous with victory and attractive football.
However, Lambert the man is all out for himself.
His relationship with key protagonists at the football club during his time here became toxic. It’s well documented that Lambert and then chairman Alan Bowkett refused to communicate. He even flirted with West Ham United before taking the Aston Villa vacancy.
There’s an old Norfolk proverb – according to @NCFCMustard – that states the basis on which a person joins you is most likely to be the basis of which they leave you.
Paul Lambert to #itfc?
Mmm…
“The basis on which a person joins you is likely to be the basis on which they leave you…” – Norfolk Proverb. ? #ncfc— Norfolk Mustard (@ncfcmustard) October 25, 2018
City discovered that. Lambert’s stock had never of been higher prior to his Villa move and although the gloss was wearing off, he still had the support of fans in Carrow Road.
When you consider the direction of Brendan Rodgers’ career in comparison to Lambert, it displays quite how far he has fallen. In his defence though, he did a better job than he gets credit for at Villa, he stabilised Blackburn under their rancid ownership and was cast aside at Wolves for a more lucrative candidate in Nuno Espirito Santos.
And Stoke appeared already doomed. Whether they could have been saved had they opted to employ anyone other than Lambert is purely hypothetical.
Lambert has clearly failed to replicate the success he had at Norwich, but he appears, on the surface at least, to have mellowed. He appears less confrontational these days, but that may be in part due to the lack of success he has mustered up since departing the Fine City.
What is worth noting is the type of players who were donning yellow and green in that period – a concoction of lower league players and those who were looking for a second chance in their career.
Enter Ipswich Town.
Paul Hurst’s appointment was packaged and marketed as a ‘#NewEra’, but he struggled to form a side who could compete in the rigours of the Championship. It appeared as if his playing cards were all being thrown continuously in the hope of just landing in a winning order.
No plan, no recruitment policy and no investment.
Hurst spoke publicly about entrusting younger, lower league players and making them competitive with a playing style that would ingratiate itself with the Ipswich fanbase, which had been thoroughly apathetic and depressed by Mick McCarthy’s front-to-back shoestring football.
The lack of a plan is pertinent, Hurst spoke of this but then proceeded to sanction the signing of 35-year-old Jon Walters – a scattergun approach if ever there was one, rather than the model of a meticulous transfer policy in line with the philosophy and ethos of the club.
Butcher also spoke, at the Norwich City Fans Social Club quiz, of how Ipswich fans are ‘envious’ of Norwich at present.
So, come a club that won the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and Division One title is now envious of little old Norwich?
Well, a fish rots from the head down.
Marcus Evans refusing to invest, not just in the playing squad but also the infrastructure. Ipswich no longer have a community football scheme and they possess a quota of young operators who aren’t being given game time.
Evans’ secretive exploitation of Ipswich Town merely for tax benefits is abhorrent, regardless of any yellow and green bias, and it appears the foundations and character of a once well-supported and historic football club is being eroded year after year.
His lack of presence, lack of financial backing and lack of care for the trail of destruction he’s left behind illustrate graphically the problems at Ipswich Town. Along the way, he’s lost staff who cared deeply and passionately for the club.
However, if you sit back and analyse the appointment of Paul Lambert, it’s clear to see why he is Town’s chosen one.
Rumoured dressing room division, an inability to impact games offensively, but also players who are yet to prove they can make their mark. Sound familiar?
Lambert loves sticking two fingers up at anyone who doubts or, sometimes, even those who do rate his ability. For a man who was the self-proclaimed king of Carrow Road, self-confidence won’t be in short supply.
And if Ipswich need anything at present, it’s confidence. Chutzpah. Call it what you like.
Their squad of players are untried and untested, a group of lower league underdogs. Lambert has experienced working with that type of squad, most noticeably at Norwich, but also during his stabilisation of Blackburn.
And they aren’t getting humiliated either. Leeds aside, they haven’t lost many games by more than a two-goal margin. If he can source some offensive productivity whilst retaining that defensive resilience, or even improving it, then Ipswich will survive.
Goals have been hard to come by – there’s a statistic doing the rounds on social media regarding Timm Klose’s goal tally in comparison to Ipswich’s. This displays the problem.
For Lambert, it makes sense.
If he relegates Ipswich Town, not only does he cement his place in Norwich City folklore but he has the excuse of a lack of funding and it not being his squad.
But, by contrast, if he does manage to ensure Ipswich prolong their stay in the Championship, he will be branded as a saviour and his appointment a stroke of genius.
He now has the opportunity to increase his own stock, and in his mind, the most important thing to Paul Lambert is Paul Lambert. Whether you care about the appointment or not from inside the Norwich camp, it’s going to be hard not to cast more than the occasional glancing eye.
Norwich will now fear the derby come February.
Lambert is renowned for getting his teams up for big fixtures, Grant Holt said as much.
It’s an intriguing appointment for Ipswich Town, and one that will hurt Norwich supporters to an extent, but without Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa – should they not re-join Lambert in Suffolk – huge question marks remain. He isn’t someone who will coach but is instead the archetypal manager.
It appears ex-Canary Alan Irvine could be his deputy.
If things do turn sour, those connections to Norwich City will work firmly against him though.
Legacy tarnished, possibly, but for most the vitriol he received when he walked out of Carrow Road was the firm closing of that chapter.
Do we wish him well?
No.
Money talks and BS walks and PL is a sack of it. He’ll save Ipswich but he won’t save the opinions of the die hard City fans – but then he wouldn’t care about that anyway. I just hope FarkeLife kicks seven shades out of them when they turn up in Feb. Prove to Lambert he’s gone AND forgotten.
22 wins in 4 years – says a lot about Lambert’s recent managerial ability!
The difference between cameron jerome and paul lambert ?! Well you would of thought they both enjoyed their time here …and you could say that paul had a big ideas for himself ….But does this have a smack of desperation about it from ipswich and paul ?
I will never forget what he done for us and also that game against villa and how he then left us so mixed feelings really .
Yes, I was thinking about the difference between Cam and Lambert too. One has principles and cares for the team more than just himself, the other doesn’t.
I don’t wish Lambert well at Ipswich. He will probably try and rope Culverhouse back, since he is not half as good manager without him, and don’t know how much Culverhouse has in the way of principles either, considering he was a long serving City player too. If I was him, I wouldn’t touch this one, too toxic.
As for when Ipswich visit us in Feb, no Connor, City will not ‘fear’ the derby at all. Indeed the reverse, they will look forward to it and have extra motivation for beating the sh*t out of Town. And yes Gary G, with all your superstition about this derby, it is time Lambert lost one too.
And one really good thing if Lambert does sign on with Town, is that there will be no more City supporters pining for his return to us, ever.
Compared with Farke, as a personality Lambert doesn’t hold a candle. I prefer Farke’s football too, without any diminishment of what Lambert did achieve with us. But that is indeed history.
Good piece Connor, although my information is that he did more than flirt with West Ham and that there was definitely some pretty heavy petting.
As a manager he was all about his own success, he was full of self confidence and had a huge desire to succeed. I’m not sure he has that same fire in his belly any more, which is what he despised in some players.
Most importantly he hasn’t had the same success since the Lambert / Culverhouse partnership. He’s not had a consistent lieutenant and that’s shown. He’ll get some results but he better do it quickly because the pressure will be huge.
I live in the future not the past, and Farke is doing just great.
As some have said this will finally put the PL return to City DEAD at last yes gone but not forgotten for all the good he did at city.
Looking at the problems Lambert had a Villa and how quickly he got shot of both Culverhouse and Karsa I very much doubt if either would work for or with him again.
Ipswich supporters took along time to accept big Joe Royle as manager as he was an ex city player I don’t think they would have the same problem with PL having only managed us.
The litmus will be once it is confirmed he has taken the job, but as people say it is all about him, he nolong has trusted coaches that have gone from club to club with him so whom ever gets thst gig will have to learn his way of working, if it is Irvine will he jump ship if Moyes come calling.
Speculation but at least Paul Hurst got out with a nice payoff you would think
Will he be a success at Ipswich? What he did with us was take a failing squad, shift some on ruthlessly and got the rest playing better, he then added some new faces to move ahead, these were British players who were top performers in the League below. Since then the transfer window rules are tighter and British players are more expensive. I have no issue with him joining them, I just don’t want him to succeed. Any rift between Bowkett and Lambert is to mind still a rumour
In PL’s last few games at CR, I think he managed fewer than 10 points from almost as many games, as he realised that other managers had worked out how to play against his team. I remember another fan commenting after a game as to how PL would cope dealing with players with egos – that was well and truly answered when he was at Villa!!!
I can see why Marcus Evans might want PL as their next manager and I can’t believe there would be too many ex managers needing to be interviewed.
I’ve seen comments elsewhere that Culverhouse was the key person in his managerial time at NCFC and it’s very unlikely that he’ll be following him to Suffolk, so it will be interesting to see how that works out. It will certainly be a challenge for him and will add extra ‘spice’ to the match in February.
PL was the right manager for us at the time, but we’ve moved on and all credit to young Tom who I believe was primarily for suggesting we go down the Sporting Director/head Coach route and it’s certainly paying dividends at present and IMO, will continue to do so.
Just latched on to your article Connor – brilliant assessment and good to see you back on MFW.
We all knew something was seriously out of kilter when the Villa joined in with “one Paul Lambert” at the end of the final match of that season.
Our Robin is spot on about his flirtation or heavy petting with WHU – heard that myself from an excellent source at the time but I’ve never mentioned it online before.
It’s not just the alleged fall-out with Alan Bowkett that contributed to Lambert’s departure from NCFC. There was a significant other “personal issue” as well, trust me. Far more significant really.
He is no longer the messiah he is a very naughty boy!
So the Pink’Un says Lambert has been negotiating to take two other members of staff with him. And no I would not be surprised if it is our two. I’m sure Lambert knows full well by now that Culverhouse is a better coach than he is. But it will be interesting to see whether Culverhouse has any more concern about his City reputation than Lambert does.
And it’s Marty Gill that has followed him there, which is a surprise, and not Culverhouse. I guess those bridges are well and truly burned.
Paul Lambert was a great manager for us. We did also have players such as Wes Hoolahan, Grant Holt, John Ruddy, Russell Martin, Andrew Surman, to name but a few. Does the current Ipswich squad consist of any players of equivalent standing? I’m sure there are two or three names that can be given but not much more.
Excellent analysis at the state of play but I still think if he does managed to drag them by their boot laces from the bottom of the Championship he will do it by taking points off teams around us which will work to our advantage as well.#NCFC
The Lambert years were undoubtedly some of the most exciting times I’ve had as a Norwich fan. He was fantastic for us, but equally we were great for him.
When he left, I likened it to a painful relationship break up. He cheated on us & then left us for someone more flash but ultimately less substance. We had to make do with the nice, safe but much duller Hughton while Lambert & Villa rubbed our noses in it as they publically gallivanted around, He hurt us & if we couldn’t have him back, we wanted him to hurt too. Sure enough Villa treated him badly as they have done to managers before & after. We tried to move on however the thoughts & memories were never too far away. In time that love began to die & instead of seeing him as a cheating lover, we remember the better times. We look to make it a more amicable relationship as we feel sympathy after a number of one night stands. In truth, the stench of desperation is so great that while it’s not comfortable he’s about to get into bed with someone you know is a complete waste of space, you accept it as part of life & in reality, you don’t really care anymore.
I feel that Lambert has no case to answer.
He is the past. It was great while it lasted – at least on the pitch – but it came to an end.
While everybody is entitled to their opinion, some of the reaction on social media has been nothing short of childish. It is like an ex going out with someone many years later and still getting the hump. Everybody has to move on, but some Norwich fans can’t accept he has to earn a living.
It should be remembered that while he was Norwich manager, behind he scenes he was never entirely settled and somewhat ‘want away’ . His ‘relationship’ with McNally was ‘interesting’ to say the least. I won’t elaborate further.
Lambert owes Norwich City nothing. Let’s just say he was exactly what we needed at the time and `I’ll always be grateful for what he achieved with very limited resources. We were a club that he happened to manage, as he has managed others.
I wish it wasn’t Ipswich Town, but he has every right to be there and doesn’t need permission from supporters from any of his previous clubs as there is a lot less loyalty in modern day football, where the past – is rightly – the past.
Excellent Connor. Lambert will love to play the pantomime villain upon his Carrow Road return – he did exactly that after winning with Villa after their League Cup win, prancing on the pitch in front of their fans. The best thing City fans can do beforehand is ignore him.
The great thing about Farke is his humility at having the opportunity to manage the Club. Paul Lambert clearly doesn’t care one iota about this.
Perhaps that’s a definition of class?
Lambert left 6 years ago, was unemployed, and as far as I’m concerned can do what he likes. Whether Ipswich fans are so welcoming remains to be see, although I suppose he cant do any worse than Hurst.
What really stinks is Matt Gill, who was still employed by us and supposedly thriving, agreeing to cross the divide to join him. That baffles and annoys me in equal measures.
At the end of the day, it’s a promotion for him to work with the first team. While frustrating, I see why he’s gone.
Something we didn’t see coming was Matt Gill jumping ship to the Blue noses, and some just might say a step up.
Gill gas been praised for the development of some youth plsyers namely Kewis, Aaron and Cantwell or the last few months and his squad are having a tough time at present I just wonder if this could be an opening for a ex city player to spet into Huckerby or Holt.
Webber will gave someone e in mind
Tarnish his City reputation, it has already rusted like a 1980s Alfa Romeo.
Lest we forget, City’s form in the second half of Lambert’s premier league season with us was nailed on relegation form as club’s sussed out how to defeat his tactics/team. Only a surprisingly good first half of the season put the shine on the season as a whole.
This is absolutely it. One if the things I repeatedly argued about with the Hughton critics at the time P was that he had been left a bad hand by Lambert. It was always rejected by the Hughton haters as the Sainted Lambert could do no wrong but like Ferguson with Moyes, Lambert left a team for Hughton that had passed its zenith and needed rebuilding
Lambert knew that and he wanted out before his star waned. Hence the way he forced his departure and his quite shameless pursuit of other jobs. Indeed one word that sums up Lambert is shameless.
I agree to a point. Lambert took his foot of the gas towards the end as he knew he would – finally – be leaving. However, as the squad needed money and that wasn’t forthcoming to any degree.
The trouble with managers who can achieve much with little is that people – and more importantly other clubs – think they can do that all the time and you become pigeonholed and stereotyped.
Ipswich will arguable be his biggest challenge.
Maybe we should also send the binners some old kit, in bin liners, to go with Lambert and Gill.
Let’s be frank. Lambert did a wonderful job here and gave us memories we will always cherish. He will always be special for that.
However, from the moment he left he has never said or done anything to suggest that he has any fondness or regard for City or the fans. Once he left we all ceased to be relevant. That’s fine if that’s how it is. He can join Ipswich and I could not care less. He’s just a manager that we used to know.
City have always had managers that got city promoted and were coveted by other clubs
Saunders went to Man city did last long but did better at Villa
Bond excellent at city for a long period went to city didn’t do that well and faded away never really got
any success after keaving city.
Walker went to Everton that went down fast then returned to city never got any success second time.
Lambert only had any real success at city when he had Culverhouse and Karsa with him, at Villa they took all the blame for bulling that went on, strange we haven’t read of any of that happening at city.
Sometimes the manager takes all the credit for what really his coaching staff are achieving, Martin O’Neil once said if it wasn’t for his 2 coaches he would not have had the success he had at club level.
Lambert has blotted his reputation with city supporters and has poached a good coach from city, this could be his last throw of the dice if he fails this time where is there to go back to Scotland or China as a last resort,
It was a great start to his Ipshite career long may it last I just hope Matt Gill doesn’t go on and prove city should have fought harder to keep him.