See my thread - http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/144029-Lambert-staying-put re an interview with PL only last week!!!!
Hope it is just simply poor choice of words rather than any real intention to move on... Regardless, PL will be off at some point and when he does go, I for one will give him a great big "thank you" for everything that he has achieved with our club - be it next week or in years to come.
Firstly guys, Well done on a terrific season. The way you club has gone about things is the blueprint that every club in the championship should look to. On the subject of Lambert, it does seem to to be a weird thing to say (even in jest) you should be having a celebration and he then dampens the spirit. One thing is for certain, he knows when to leave a club and a contract won't stop him. Take Col Who, he knew that it wasn't going to get any better than the drubbing they gave you, so he jumped ship to further his career. 1950canary, makes a very good point that many a good young manager stays a season too long sometimes and perhaps this is going through his mind. I can't see him going to WBA, Villa are a sleeping giant so he could be tempted but my money would be on Liverpool, would he turn down a chance to work with the celtic & scottish legend King Kenny? I very much doubt it. And also what players would he prise away with him? Anyway, if the unthinkable does happen we can give you our manager and just to sweeten the deal we will throw in a teaboy who answers to the name Clegg for McNally!
oh my goodness. the panic has set in. i posted this on a different thread but i'll post it again here: please, if anyone doesn't know how paul lambert works yet then they're a fool. he's the most canniest of canny jocks. this is what he does! he knows exactly how strong his bargaining position is with us - he is able to walk on water as far as everyone at norwich city is concerned. nobody knows what will happen in football - literally anything can happen - if yesterdays events didn't help you notice that then you need to open your eyes! but he was asked a question and he gave the only answer he knows. if anyone thinks this was anything more than 'give me a better contract and give me a bigger transfer pot', just like he did last summer, oh, and the summer before that, then they are nuts. and if one person tells me he's off to villa i will piss my pants. just to add, lambert cannot definitely say he will be here next season because as guru rightly points out, should liverpool come in he'd likely be off, and who could blame him. but seriously, get a grip people - he wants more money to spend and a better contract (quite rightly). it really is that simple.
if anyone thinks this was anything more than 'give me a better contract and give me a bigger transfer pot', I hope you are right supers. But my understanding has been that McNally and Lambert have been on the same page regarding ambitions and McNally has consistently said that any spare money will be available to further strengthen the squad - he found the funds for Howson and Bennett this Summer. I would like to think the relationship was sufficiently strong for Lambert not to need to resort to coded press messages to get his way. IMO Lambert does not want to respond to speculation because to move on would require another manager to get fired, and he is not the sort of person who would wish that on anyone.
its called negotiating though. of course lambert will want as much as he can get from the board as it will only help his cause in keeping us up again! if the board give him £15m he'll want £20m. if this measure sneaks even a further £1m or £2m out of the board then i'm sure he'll be happy. he'll also want more money himself because he's now a premier league manager who has kept his team up. he has a way of responding to questions like those posed yesterday - some people clearly don't like it as it puts the wind up them but thats his way of doing things. its not a new thing, hence i can't understand why people haven't noticed him do this before.
I'm with supers on this one. People read way to much into what he said, we have seen it all before thats just the way he plays the game with the media. I'm not even convinced its about negotiating new contracts/transfer funds its just the way he is, he is just playing with the media. As I said before he was probably not happy at being asked the question at what should be a time of celebration. I'm sure he will go one day but I really dont see where that would be currently.
agree tipsy, although if he doesn't get a new contract out of it i'll be extremely surprised, even if that wasn't his intention, but i think he knew exactly what he was doing - he is so switched on. the transfer funds is a complete guess on my behalf to cover all angles.
He will be offered a new contract no doubt about that and rightly so, but I'm not sure he would say stuff in the media to influence the terms he gets, although he may well do hes a clever one. Certainly a man who thinks before he speaks and you can be damn sure he knew the implications of his comments.
absolutely! i think what he says in the media is always carefully thought out to benefit himself and his players. nothing is left to chance. and i thought his speech was a good one at the end (i could actually understand what he was saying ). summed up the last three years in a nutshell.
I'm not sure everyone notices it but he is also very sarcastic with many of his answers. So much so people take what he says as gospel. He would be an incredible poker player
According to talksport, they have heard rumours that Mcleish has left Villa this morning. IF this is true, let the rumour mill go into turbo drive.
exactly!!! thats why you cannot take his comments out of context as some do because they sound ridiculous much of the time! you have to take everything he says to the media, and i really mean everything, with a huger pinch of salt. he does his real talking behind closed doors
I dont think it would effect Lambert because of the type of person he is but do you think fans worrying about if a manager stays or not can push them away and make them think about/ want to leave? Like a clingy girlfriend really. They must get bloody sick of it anyway.
The guy has earned this club over £90m. Given that he can have whatever he wants as far as I'm concerned contract wise.
not sure. it must be really nice to feel that wanted by your own fans! i don't think he has much of an ego but it must help knowing that you're their hero. fact is, he's norwich manager until someone comes in and makes him an unbelievable offer he can't refuse. can anyone honestly see villa being able to do that? they're an absolute shambles on yesterday's evidence and a shoe-in for relegation next season. liverpool would be hard to turn down and if they're chasing martinez then lambert too will be on the radar. they are currently the ONLY club i can see him leaving for today.
Dead heat at the moment! http://www.oddschecker.com/football/football-specials/aston-villa-specials/next-permanent-manager