Paul Lambert

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Paul Lambert
PaulLambert.jpg
Paul Lambert at Carrow Road, August 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-08-07) 7 August 1969 (age 43)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Aston Villa (Manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1986–1993 St. Mirren 227 (14)
1993–1996 Motherwell 103 (6)
1996–1997 Borussia Dortmund 44 (1)
1997–2005 Celtic 193 (14)
2005–2006 Livingston 7 (0)
Total 574 (35)
National team
1990 Scottish League XI 1 (0)
1991–1992 Scotland U21[1] 5 (2)
1995–1996 Scotland B[2] 2 (0)
1995–2003 Scotland 40 (1)
Teams managed
2005–2006 Livingston
2006–2008 Wycombe Wanderers
2008–2009 Colchester United
2009–2012 Norwich City
2012– Aston Villa
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Aston Villa.[3]

Lambert won numerous honours as a player, winning the Scottish Cup with St. Mirren as a 17-year-old, the UEFA Champions League with Borussia Dortmund, all the Scottish domestic honours with Celtic and 40 caps for Scotland.

He achieved success managing in England's lower divisions and guided Norwich City into English football's Premier League with successive promotions in 2009–10 and 2010–11.

Contents

Club career [edit]

St Mirren [edit]

Lambert was born in Glasgow, but moved to Linwood, Renfrewshire when he was a child.[4] He played for Linwood Rangers Boys' Club before entering the professional game with St. Mirren in 1985. With St Mirren the 17-year old Lambert won his first senior winner's medal courtesy of the 1987 Scottish Cup Final. Saints beat favourites and that season's UEFA Cup Finalists, Jim McLean's Dundee United, in what turned out to be the last time the Scottish Cup was won by a team composed entirely of Scottish players. Lambert played with St Mirren for eight years.

Motherwell [edit]

In September 1993, Lambert was signed by Tommy McLean for Motherwell for a fee of £250,000, in a transfer move, which saw Jimmy Gardner move to St. Mirren.[5] The club finished third placed at the end of the 1993–94 season in the Scottish Premier League.

With Alex McLeish replacing McLean for the 1994–95 season,[6] Lambert and Motherwell went one place better finishing league runners-up, the club's highest finish since 1933–34. The club also had qualified for a place in the 1994–95 UEFA Cup. After eliminating Faroese opponents, HB Tórshavn, Motherwell were drawn against Borussia Dortmund, managed by Ottmar Hitzfeld. Drawn away in the first leg, Motherwell lost to a solitary goal by Andreas Möller in the 58th minute.[7] In the second leg, Motherwell were still in the contest, until Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice in 10 second half minutes.[8]

Borussia Dortmund [edit]

In 1996, Lambert was signed by a manager and club he had played against for Motherwell in the UEFA Cup, Ottmar Hitzfeld of German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund. Hitzfeld deployed Lambert as the team's defensive midfielder. In the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final against Juventus, he played in midfield to quell the influence of Juve's French playmaker Zinedine Zidane.[9][10][11][12] Lambert's cross also set up Karl-Heinz Riedle's opening goal. Dortmund won 3–1. Lambert's contribution has since been suggested as a man of the match performance.[13] He became the first Scottish player to win the European Cup with a non-UK team, and the first British player to win it since its reformation as the Champions League. Lambert had scored en route to the final with a group stage goal, the opener in a 2–2 draw at Widzew Łódź. Lambert's performance in the semi final elimination of Manchester United was praised in the autobiography of Roy Keane.

Lambert only scored one league goal with Borussia Dortmund, in a game against Werder Bremen.

Celtic [edit]

In November 1997, after just over a year playing in the Bundesliga he was signed by Wim Jansen for Celtic for a fee in the region of £2 million. Lambert made his debut on 8 November 1997 when he came on as a substitute in a league match at Ibrox against Rangers. Three weeks later on 30 November 1997, Lambert picked up his first winner's medal as a Celtic player when he came on as a late substitute in Celtic's 3–0 win over Dundee Utd in the Scottish League Cup Final. Thereafter, Lambert became a regular in the starting line up and scored from 25 yards in a 2–0 win over Rangers at Parkhead in the New Year game.[14] Lambert went on to help the Scottish giants win the championship that season, their first in ten years and halted Rangers' run of nine consecutive titles which had previously equalled the nine in a row achieved by Celtic in the Jock Stein era.

During his time with Celtic, he won four Scottish Premier League titles, two Scottish Cups, two Scottish League Cups and was Scottish Football Writer's Player of the Year in 2002. Lambert captained the side that reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville. Lambert's team were drawing 2–2 after 90 minutes but lost 3–2 after extra time to Jose Mourinho's F.C. Porto.

International career [edit]

Lambert represented Scotland at every age group level. Perhaps the best known of the contests was against the country who played a significant part in his career, Germany. The young Scots drew 1–1 in Bochum in 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship quarter finals. In the return leg at Pittodrie, Germany were two up after 40 minutes before Duncan Ferguson set up Ray McKinnon to pull one back before half time. Germany scored a third on the hour mark to seemingly put the tie out of reach. However in 68 minutes Gerry Creaney headed past Stefan Klos before Lambert himself equalised 10 minutes later. Alex Rae scored two minutes from time to clinch the game 4–3.[15]

As a full Scotland international, Lambert won 40 caps, scoring one goal and in the latter part of his international career, captaining the side 15 times. His international debut was when at Motherwell and awarded by Craig Brown in the 1995 Kirin Cup against host country, Japan. Lambert played in a second game there three days later, against Ecuador.

It was when at Dortmund and in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign when Lambert started to appear as a regular. After missing the open game of the campaign away against Austria, Lambert appeared as a 46th minute substitute in the 2–0 win in Latvia in October 1996. He was again a 46th minute substitute in the next qualifier, a 1–0 home win against Sweden. For his next cap he was promoted to the starting line up for a 2–0 home victory in the qualifier against Austria. Lambert's only defeat of the campaign was the 2–1 reversal in Gothenburg against Sweden before two wins against Belarus and a second 2–0 win against Latvia clinched qualification.

He played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, turning in an impressive performance as the Scots lost 2–1 to Brazil at the Stade de France in the tournament's opening match and also in the 1–1 draw against Norway in Bordeaux.[citation needed]

Lambert was part of the Scotland side to win a challenge game away against Germany in April 1999 with the goal scored by Don Hutchison. Lambert and Scotland qualified for a play-off place in the UEFA 2000 European Championship qualification campaign, but missed the playoffs against England due to suffering an injury in the Old Firm game played the weekend before. Craig Brown cited Lambert's absence as crucial to England's progression at Scotland's expense, since he intended to deploy Lambert directly against Paul Scholes, scorer of both England goals. As Brown said, “The SPL went ahead with an Old Firm game a week before. I was furious because they did not legislate for a play-off, especially not for one against England. Predictably, we get a major injury and my holding midfielder, who performed with such distinction in the Champions League final for Borussia Dortmund, cannot play. Barry Ferguson played brilliantly but he was not a holding midfielder. Scholes scored two goals and that was the guy Paul Lambert was going to pick up …”[16]

His final cap with some irony was in an away game against Germany played in Dortmund (a 2–1 defeat). Lambert had been awarded man of the match in the home encounter three months earlier at Hampden Park (a 1–1 draw).

On 15 November 2009 he was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.[17]

Managerial career [edit]

Livingston [edit]

After studying for football coaching qualifications in 2005, Lambert landed his first managerial job with Livingston on 1 June 2005, assisted by Norrie McWhirter.[18] Although he had not intended to play for his new club Lambert registered as a player in late August 2005 to cover for any injury shortages.[19] His tenure ended the following February when he resigned after only winning two league games since starting the job.[20]

Wycombe Wanderers [edit]

Lambert was appointed manager of English team Wycombe Wanderers on 30 June 2006.[21] He led Wycombe to the League Cup semi-finals after defeating Premier League sides Fulham and Charlton Athletic. The semi-final tie, against Premier League champions Chelsea, saw Wycombe hold Chelsea to a 1–1 draw at Adams Park before losing the away leg. This was the first time in over 30 years a fourth tier team had reached that stage of the League Cup.[citation needed] Lambert resigned as Wycombe manager on 20 May 2008 following the club's elimination from the League Two play-offs by Stockport County.[22]

Colchester United [edit]

On 9 October 2008, he was appointed as manager of League One team Colchester United to succeed Geraint Williams,[23] before winning his first game 2–1 at Stockport County. Despite occasionally threatening to flirt with the League One play-offs, the U's eventually finished mid-table in Lambert's first season.

On 18 August 2009, he began the 2009–10 season with an opening day 7–1 win over Norwich City before leaving the Essex club less than a year after taking over.

Norwich City [edit]

Lambert became the new Norwich City manager, replacing Bryan Gunn, who was sacked by the club shortly after the 7–1 defeat to Colchester.[24] He led Norwich to the League 1 title and promotion to the Championship in April 2010.[25]

On 1 June 2010, he signed an improved contract with Norwich City after it was confirmed Colchester United were entitled to £425,000 in compensation, in addition to Norwich City being fined £75,000, with a further £125,000 suspended for two years.[26][27]

Norwich's form from their 2009–10 promotion campaign continued into the 2010–11 season which saw them gain a second successive promotion – becoming the first team to achieve a second successive promotion at this level since Manchester City 11 years earlier. During Lambert's first two seasons in charge, Norwich did not suffer two successive defeats in the league in the same season.[28]

In January 2011, Norwich refused to allow Burnley permission to try to secure Lambert as their new manager, following the dismissal of Brian Laws.[29] The Norwich statement read, in part, "The club will fight tooth and nail to retain the services of Paul Lambert and his team during this critical period of the season and whilst they remain employed under a long-term contract".[29] On 2 May Lambert and Norwich secured promotion to the Premier League after a win over Portsmouth, taking the second automatic spot with one game to spare. Lambert signed a new contract keeping him at the club during the summer. He was inducted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame on 20 March 2012, along with players Wes Hoolahan, Grant Holt and Adam Drury.[citation needed]

Following Norwich's survival in the Premier League in 2011–12, Lambert offered his resignation on 31 May 2012 but the club declined it.[30][31]

Aston Villa [edit]

On 2 June 2012, Lambert was confirmed as the new manager of Aston Villa replacing Alex McLeish, who was sacked two weeks earlier.[32]

Lambert's first competitive match as Aston Villa manager came on the opening day of the Premier League season on 18 August 2012, a 1–0 defeat to newly promoted West Ham United at Upton Park.[33] His first Premier League win came on 15 September 2012, a 2–0 victory against Swansea City at Villa Park.[34] He was handed a one-match touchline ban on 21 November 2012 for comments relating to a penalty decision in Villa's defeat to Manchester City.[35] On his first return to Carrow Road, Lambert received a mixed reception from the Norwich City fans on 11 December 2012, in a League Cup quarter-final which his Villa team won 4–1.[36]

On 23 December 2012, Villa were defeated 8–0 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the club's heaviest ever defeat in top-flight football.[37] This was followed with two consecutive home defeats,
4–0 to Tottenham Hotspur and 3–0 to Wigan Athletic, leading to increased pressure on Lambert's position.[38][39] On 22 January 2013, Villa played Bradford City in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final at Villa Park, having lost the first round tie 3–1 at Valley Parade. The final score on the night was a 2–1 win for Villa, but this was little consolation as the aggregate score over the two games was 4–3 to Bradford, meaning Villa were eliminated from the competiton.[40] Lambert kept his job despite the awful run as the team flirted with the relegation places continuously over the next few months. Lambert did however manage to get Villa to record back-to-back wins for the first time since May 2011, as they defeated fellow relegation rivals Reading and Queens Park Rangers.[41][42] He then oversaw the club's biggest victory since 2008, as Villa thrashed Sunderland 6–1.[43] Lambert managed to steer the club to safety after their form dramatically increased in the final couple of months of the season. Villa finished 15th with the youngest starting eleven in the Premier League, leading to praise from pundits such as Alan Hansen who said he deserved to be Manager of the Season.[44][45]

Managerial statistics [edit]

As of 19 May 2013
Team From To Record
G W D L Win%[46]
Livingston 1 June 2005 12 February 2006 700132000000000000032 70005000000000000005 70007000000000000007 700120000000000000020 700115630000000000015.63
Wycombe Wanderers 30 June 2006 20 May 2008 7002108000000000000108 700144000000000000044 700129000000000000029 700135000000000000035 700140740000000000040.74
Colchester United 9 October 2008 18 August 2009 700143000000000000043 700119000000000000019 70007000000000000007 700117000000000000017 700144190000000000044.19
Norwich City 18 August 2009 2 June 2012 7002142000000000000142 700170000000000000070 700135000000000000035 700137000000000000037 700149300000000000049.30
Aston Villa 2 June 2012 Present 700146000000000000046 700116000000000000016 700111000000000000011 700119000000000000019 700134780000000000034.78
Total 7002371000000000000371 7002154000000000000154 700189000000000000089 7002128000000000000128 700141510000000000041.51

Honours [edit]

Player [edit]

St. Mirren
Borussia Dortmund
Celtic

Manager [edit]

Norwich City

Individual [edit]

Player
Manager

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Lambert, Paul (U21)". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  2. ^ "Lambert, Paul (B)". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  3. ^ "Aston Villa appoint Paul Lambert from Norwich City as new boss". BBC Sport. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  4. ^ Winter, Henry (27 October 2012). "Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert happiest inside the pressure cooker ahead of former club Norwich's visit". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 October 2012. 
  5. ^ "No Headline Present". The Herald. 7 September 1993. Retrieved 2 June 2012. 
  6. ^ "No Headline Present". The Herald. 14 July 1994. Retrieved 2 July 2012. 
  7. ^ Paul, Ian (14 September 1994). "Motherwell set the stage for a thriller. Moeller strikes for Germans but Fir Park side far from out". The Herald. Retrieved 2 June 2012. 
  8. ^ "Quality by a street ends Motherwell dream". The Herald. 29 September 1994. Retrieved 2 June 2012. 
  9. ^ "Paul Lambert – The Norwich wizard". espnstar.com. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  10. ^ Gordon, Phil (6 September 2009). "Norwich City manager Paul Lambert on his vision for the future". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  11. ^ Calvin, Michael (1 May 2010). "Revealed: The six British Football League managers capable of being the next Roy Hodgson". Mirror Football. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  12. ^ Layton, Peter (9 August 2011). "Mission impossible to keep new boys up". Daily Star. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  13. ^ "The Joy of Six: British and Irish footballers abroad". The Guardian (in German). 25 November 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  14. ^ Traynor, James (10 February 2009). "Premier Division: Celtic 2 Rangers 0, January 2nd, 1998". Daily Record. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  15. ^ Stirling, Kevin (5 September 2010). "Scotland U-21s at Pittodrie". afc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  16. ^ Broadfoot, Darryl (14 November 2009). "England 0 Scotland 1: Is it really 10 years since Don Hutchison’s goal at Wembley?". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  17. ^ "Eight more Scots greats enter Hall of Fame". The Scotsman. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  18. ^ "Lambert set for Livingston post". BBC Sport. 18 May 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  19. ^ "Lambert re-registers as a player". BBC Sport. 16 August 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  20. ^ "Lambert stands down as Livi boss". BBC Sport. 11 February 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  21. ^ "Lambert named new Wycombe manager". BBC Sport. 30 June 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  22. ^ "Lambert resigns as Wycombe boss". BBC Sport. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  23. ^ "Exclusive: U's Appoint Lambert". cu-fc.com. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  24. ^ "Norwich appoint Lambert as boss". BBC Sport. 18 August 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2009. 
  25. ^ "Charlton 0–1 Norwich". BBC Sport. 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 
  26. ^ "The Regulations of The Football League Limited". The English Football League. Retrieved 2 June 2010. 
  27. ^ "Lambert signs new Norwich deal". Sky Sports. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010. 
  28. ^ "Nelson deals with Norwich 'hype'". BBC News. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2012. 
  29. ^ a b "Norwich reject Burnley approach for boss Paul Lambert". BBC Sport. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011. 
  30. ^ "Paul Lambert offers his resignation amid interest from Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012. 
  31. ^ "Club statement on Paul Lambert". Norwich City Football Club. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012. 
  32. ^ "Aston Villa appoint Paul Lambert from Norwich as new manager". BBC Sport. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012. 
  33. ^ "West Ham 1–0 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  34. ^ "Aston Villa 2–0 Swansea". BBC Sport. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  35. ^ "Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert given one-match touchline ban". BBC Sport. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  36. ^ "Norwich 1-4 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  37. ^ "Chelsea 8-0 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 23 December 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2013. 
  38. ^ "Aston Villa 0–4 Tottenham". BBC Sport. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013. 
  39. ^ "Aston Villa 0–3 Wigan". BBC Sport. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013. 
  40. ^ "Aston Villa 2–1 Bradford (3–4)". BBC Sport. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013. 
  41. ^ "Reading 1–2 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013. 
  42. ^ "Aston Villa 3–2 QPR". BBC Sport. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013. 
  43. ^ "Aston Villa 6–1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013. 
  44. ^ "Arsenal 4–1 Wigan". BBC Sport. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013. 
  45. ^ "Lambo puts a spring in Villa's step". Birmingham Mail. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013. 
  46. ^ Win% is rounded to two decimal places

External links [edit]

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Tom Boyd		 Celtic F.C. captain
2002–2005		 Succeeded by
Jackie McNamara
Aston Villa F.C. – current squad
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Lambert&oldid=556738119"