Paul Lambert

At 54 years old, Paul Lambert has this physical status:

Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who plays for Ipswich Town. Lambert began playing as a midfielder and lifted the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-old, the UEFA Champions League with Borussia Dortmund, and all the Scottish domestic titles with Celtic.

Lambert earned 40 caps for Scotland and appeared in the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals. Lambert achieved success in England's lower divisions and led Norwich City to English football's Premier League with successive promotions in 2009–10 and 2010–11.

He took over Aston Villa for three seasons after keeping Norwich in the Premier League in 2011–12.

Lambert was appointed Blackburn Rovers boss in November 2015 before leaving the club in May 2016.

Lambert became the head coach of Wolverham Wanderers in November 2016, but was fired at the end of the season.

Lambert was appointed manager of Stoke City in January 2018, but he was unable to prevent relegation and left the team shortly thereafter.

Lambert was appointed as the head of Ipswich Town in October 2018, but was unable to prevent relegation.

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Club career

Lambert was born in Glasgow but he moved to Linwood, Renfrewshire, as an infant. Before entering the professional game with St Mirren in 1985, he played for Linwood Rangers Boys' Club. Lambert, a 17-year-old Lambert, won his first senior medal courtesy of the 1987 Scottish Cup Finals; Saints defeated favourites and Dundee United, the third team to play entirely Scottish players, in what turned out to be the last time the Scottish Cup was won by a team entirely made up of Scottish players. Because of his age, boss Alex Smith was forced to bring the child home early from the alcohol-fueled celebrations. Lambert was with St Mirren for eight years, suffering relegation from the top tier in 1992.

Lambert was signed by Tommy McLean for Motherwell in September 1993 for a fee of £250,000, a transfer move that culminated in Jimmy Gardner's move to St Mirren. The club finished in 3rd position in the Scottish Premier League during the 1993–94 season.

Lambert and Motherwell were one of the best finishing league runners-up after Alex McLeish replaced McLean for the 1994-95 season, the club's highest finish since 1933–34. The club also qualified for a place in the 1994-95 UEFA Cup. Motherwell was drawn against German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, managed by Ottmar Hitzfeld, after destroying Faroese opponents, HB Tórshavn. Motherwell lost in the first leg to Andreas Möller's solitary goal in the 58th minute. Motherwell were still in the game when Karl-Heinz Riedle scored twice in ten minutes in the second leg.

Lambert was named as the club's Supporter Player of the Year in 1996, while also being shortlisted for the SPFA Players' Players Award in 1996. Following the Bosman's decision, he left Motherwell at the end of the 1995–96 season under freedom of employment.

With PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund, an agent arranged trial spells for Lambert after leaving Motherwell. PSV did not sign Lambert because they were looking for a winger, but after a pre-season tournament, he signed for Dortmund. Paulo Sousa, a Portuguese national, had also signed for Dortmund in the summer. Sousa had been intended to play in Lambert's role, but the team's captain did a good job in early Bundesliga games and held his place in the squad.

In the previous two seasons, Dortmund had been the German champions in the previous two seasons, but in 1996–97, the club lost its ability against Bayern Munich. Dortmund also advanced as runners-up in the UEFA Champions League from 1996-97. They then advanced to the Champions League final against Juventus against Auxerre and Manchester United. In a 2–2 draw at Widzew ód, he had scored one goal during the group stage, the first in a 2–2 draw. In the autobiography of United midfielder Roy Keane, his participation in Manchester United's semi-final defeat was lauded later.

Lambert played in the Champions League final as a defensive midfielder, putting Juve's French playmaker Zinedine Zidane's influence into question. Dortmund beat 3-1, and Lambert's cross set up Karl-Heinz Riedle's opening goal. Since being lauded for his contribution as a Man of the Match player, he has been lauded for his efforts. He was the first British person to win the European Cup with a non-UK squad, and the first British person to win the tournament since its inception as the Champions League in 1992.

Lambert's last game in European club championships, against Parma, was announced on November 5, 1997. He had been ranked 23rd in European club tournaments. He was given a rousing welcome by the Dortmund supporters and returned with a banner thanking the Dortmund supporters. During his time with Dortmund, Lambert scored one domestic league goal against Bayer Leverkusen.

He was signed by Wim Jansen for Celtic in November 1997 after just over a year playing in the Bundesliga and appearing in 44 matches. Lambert made his debut in a league match against Rangers on November 8, 1997. Lambert earned his first winner's medal as a Celtic player three weeks later in Celtic's 3–0 victory over Dundee United in the Scottish League Cup Final three weeks later on November 30, 1997. Lambert made a return to the starting lineup and scored from 25 yards in a 2–0 victory over Rangers at Parkhead in the New Year game. Lambert went on to help the Scottish giants win the championship for the first time in ten years, halting Rangers' run of nine consecutive titles that had previously tied the total number in the Jock Stein period.

He won four Scottish Premier League titles, two Scottish Cups, two Scottish League Cups, and was named Best in the Year by the Scottish Football Writer in 2002 (also nominated for the SPFA Player of the Year award). Lambert captained the team in 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville, drawing 2–2 after 90 minutes, but after losing a man in extra time, they forfeited a third and vital goal to José Mourinho's Porto.

International career

Lambert represented Scotland at every age group level. Lambert was involved in a memorable Under-21 match against Germany during his international career. In the 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship quarter-finals in Bochum, the young Scots defeated the Dutch 1-1. Germany were two up after 40 minutes in the return leg at Pittodrie, Germany, before Duncan Ferguson ordered Ray McKinnon to pull one back before halftime. Germany scored a third on the hour to seemingly put the tie out of reach. However, Gerry Creaney rode past Stefan Klos for 68 minutes before Lambert himself equalized ten minutes later. Alex Rae scored two minutes from time to clinch the game 4–3.

Lambert earned 40 caps, scoring one goal as a complete Scotland international. He captained the team 15 times in the second half of his international career. Craig Brown praised him in the 1995 Kirin Cup against host country, Japan, on his first international appearance. Lambert's second game in the tournament was against Ecuador three days later.

Lambert began to appear as a regular while at Dortmund and during the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Lambert was in the 2–0 win in Latvia in October 1996 as a 46th-minute substitute after missing the first game of the campaign against Austria. He was also in the starting lineup for the next game against Estonia in Tallinn four days later, but the home team's decision against a rearranged afternoon kick-off time was postponed, and the game was postponed at kick-off time, leaving no caps to the Scotland players. He was back in the 46th minute of a 1–0 home win over Sweden as a replacement in the upcoming qualifier. He was promoted to the starting lineup for a 2–0 home victory over Austria in the qualifier. Lambert's only loss of the season was the 2–1 reversal in Gothenburg against Sweden, followed by two victories against Belarus and a second 2–0 win over Latvia clinched qualifying qualification.

He appeared in all three of Scotland's games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, including a 2–1 draw against Brazil in the tournament's first match, a 1–1 draw against Norway, and a 3–0 loss against Morocco.

Lambert was one of Scotland's side to beat Germany in April 1999 with Don Hutchison's goal. Lambert and Scotland qualified for a play-off spot in the 2000 European Football Championship qualifying round, but Lambert missed the play-offs against England due to an injury in the Old Firm game the weekend before. Since Craig Brown planned to deploy Lambert directly against Paul Scholes, the scorer of both England goals, Craig Brown cited Lambert's absence as crucial to England's progress at Scotland's expense.

In a Euro 2004 qualifier against the Faroe Islands, Scotland defeated Scotland 2–2 draw, he scored his only goal for Scotland on September 7th. In a 1-1 draw with Germany in June 2003, Lambert was named Man of the Match. In a 2–1 loss to Germany in September 2003, his last cap cap came in a 2–1 loss. The match was played in Dortmund, where he had enjoyed a tremendous success with his club work.

He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame on November 15, 2009.

Managerial career

Lambert began working with Livingston on June 1, 2005, assisted by Norrie McWhirter, who underwent qualifications in football coaching. Despite he did not want to play for his new club, Lambert turned up in late August 2005 to compensate for any injuries. His playing career came to an end in February 2006 after only winning two league games since taking over the job.

Lambert was appointed manager of Wycombe Wanderers' English team on June 30, 2006. After losing to Premier League opponents Fulham and Charlton Athletic, he led Wycombe to the League Cup semi-finals. Wycombe held Chelsea to a 1–1 draw at Adams Park in the semi-final match against Premier League champion Chelsea before losing the away leg. This was the first time a fourth tier team in over 30 years had qualified for the League Cup at this level. Following the club's exclusion from the League Two play-offs by Stockport County, Lambert resigned as Wycombe manager on May 20th.

He was named as the head of Colchester United's League One team, succeeding Geraint Williams, before winning his first game 2–1 at Stockport County on October 9, 2008. Despite occasionally threatening to play in the League One play-offs, the U's eventually finished mid-table in Lambert's first season. He began the 2009–10 season with a 7-1 victory over Norwich City on Monday. Lambert left Essex for Norwich shortly after.

Lambert took over Norwich City's management on August 18, 2009, replacing Bryan Gunn, who was fired by the club shortly after losing 7–1 home loss to Lambert's Colchester. Lambert's new side will win the return match 5-0 on their way to the League 1 crown, earning promotion to the Championship in April 2010.

He signed a new deal with Norwich on June 10, 2010 after it was announced that Colchester United were entitled to £425,000 in compensation, in comparison to Norwich City, who was fined £75,000 for two years.

Norwich's form from their 2009–10 promotion campaign continued into the 2010–11 season, the first team to win a second successive promotion at this level since Manchester City 11 years ago. Norwich did not lose two consecutive losses in the league during Lambert's first two seasons as coach.

Following Brian Laws' dismissal, Norwich refused to allow Burnley permission to seek Lambert as their new manager in January 2011. "The club will fight tooth and nail to keep Paul Lambert and his team's services during this crucial stretch of the season, and although they remain on a long-term contract," the Norwich ad says. After defeating Portsmouth, Lambert and Norwich secured promotion to the Premier League on May 2nd, taking their second automatic spot with just one game to spare. Lambert has signed a new deal to extend his stay with the Norfolk club. In March 2012, he was inducted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame.

Following Norwich's continued existence in the Premier League in 2011-2012, Lambert resigned on May 31, 2012, but the club did not offer it.

Lambert was confirmed as the new boss of Aston Villa on June 2nd, replacing Alex McLeish, who had been fired just two weeks before. Lambert's first competitive match as Aston Villa's new owner came on the first day of the Premier League season, losing 1–0 at Upton Park to newly promoted West Ham United. He won his first Premier League victory at Villa Park on September 15, 2012, beating Swansea City 2–0. On November 21, 2012, Villa was given a one-match touchline ban for remarks relating to a penalty decision in Villa's loss to Manchester City. Lambert's first return to Carrow Road in 2012, he received mixed reception from the Norwich crowds in a League Cup quarter-final in which his Villa team defeated 4–1.

Villa lost 8–0 at Stamford Bridge on December 23, 2012, the club's first defeat in top-flight football. Villa lost 4–0 to Tottenham Hotspur and 3–0 to Wigan Athletic, putting more emphasis on Lambert's position. Villa Park hosted Bradford City in the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals on January 22, 2013, defeating the first round tie 3–1 at Valley Parade. Villa was up 21-0 on the night, giving them a 4–3 aggregate score.

Despite the poor start, Lambert remained employed as the team celebrated with the relegation places continuously over the next two months. Villa did however win for the first time since May 2011, defeating Reading and Queens Park Rangers, which were relegation rivals. Villa defeated Sunderland 6–1 in what was the club's biggest win since 2008. Villa finished 15th in the Premier League with the youngest starting eleven, prompting praise from pundit Alan Hansen, who said Lambert was "a contender for Manager of the Season." Among the year's highlights were Lambert's summer acquisition of star striker Christian Benteke, Villa's Player of the Season, goalkeeper Brad Guzan, and securing Villa's spot in the Premier League for the 2013–14 seasons.

Lambert's Aston Villa team started the season on a high note by defeating Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on August 17th. Lambert's performance worsened dramatically, particularly home form, toward the end of 2013, and many fans and pundits chastised him for leaving out a counter-attacking team with no plan B. In several games, including at home to Swansea, Possession statistics were biased in favour of the opposition; Villa had less than 30% of possession in a game that ended 1–1. Lambert made news by saying that "many Premier League clubs could do without the FA Cup's distraction if they were being honest" in January 2014. Villa lost 2–1 at home to Sheffield United, a team two divisions below them, marking the fourth year in a row that Lambert has been barred from the FA Cup by lower league opposition. Lambert defended his remarks later, alleging that they were "taken out of context."

Lambert's third season in charge saw a different change in the transfer market, with him choosing to purchase players with experience rather than the previous seasons, where the club will keep young prospects. Aston Villa won by 1–0 over Stoke City, starting the game off with a 1–0 win. This was followed by a 0–0 draw against Newcastle United, a 2–1 victory over Hull City, and a 1–0 victory over Liverpool. Alan Hutton, Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos, and Aly Cissokho's new back four were lauded by Lambert for three clean sheets out of a total of four, although she didn't gain ten points out of a possible 12.

Villa's offseason good start to the season, but they soon fell to Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton, and QPR before losing in a 2–1 loss to Tottenham. Villa then went on to earn some important points by drawing 0–0 against West Ham and 1–1 against Southampton. They then defeated Crystal Palace 1–0 at Selhurst Park, courtesy of a Christian Benteke goal, and followed by a 2–1 victory over Leicester City at Villa Park.

Villa lost by 2–0 at Hull on February 11, 2015, placing the club 18th in the Premier League table. For the first time in 30 years, the top flight also had no Scottish manager after his resignation. Tim Sherwood was appointed as his replacement on February 14th.

Lambert was appointed manager of Blackburn Rovers in the Championship on a two-and-a-year contract on November 15, 2015, with the club in 16th place after the dismissal of Gary Bowyer. With a 2–2 draw against Bristol City on April 23, Lambert secured Championship protection for Blackburn. Blackburn won two straight victories, finishing in 15th place. Lambert activated a release clause in his deal, and the club's last match of the 2015-16 season on May 7th, 2016.

Lambert was named head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers in Championship, taking over with the team in 19th place on November 5th. The team won by 2–1 against Liverpool at Anfield in the fourth round of the 2016–17 FA Cup, resulting in a dramatic victory. The team finished in 15th place in the 2016–17 EFL Championship season.

Following a football analysis, the club and Lambert revealed on May 30th that they and Lambert had "agreed to part company."

Lambert was appointed manager of Stoke City in Premier League, albeit for a two-and-a-half year, and the Potters' Chris Gray took over the following day. Mark Hughes, Stoke's current manager, was fired because of a poor run of form. In his first game as boss, he beat Huddersfield Town 2–0, effectively taking them out of the relegation positions.

Badou Ndiaye, a Senegalese midfielder for Turkish club Galatasaray, was his only permanent signing in charge, with the signing of Senegalese midfielder Badou Ndiaye from Turkish club Galatasaray for £14 million. In addition, the club completed the signing of Kostas Stafylidis on loan from FC Augsburg until the end of the season.

Lambert was unable to halt Stoke's decline and relegation to the Championship after only four months in charge.

Lambert was named as the boss of Ipswich Town in the Championship, making him the first manager to oversee both Ipswich and Norwich. He joined his new squad on a 10-year deal until the summer of 2021, with the team currently in last place in the Championship. Lambert was dismissed after a touchline bust-up with the opposing team staff during a game against former club and rivals Norwich City on February 10th. The FA had him suspended and banned from playing two match touchlines. Lambert later stated that he did not regret his conduct that resulted in his dismissal. Lambert was eventually unable to keep Ipswich in the division when relegation was announced on April 13, 2019. This came to an end for Ipswich's 17-year stay in the Championship, culminating in them playing third-tier football for the first time since 1957.

Despite the team's relegation, Lambert remained in charge and led Ipswich to the top of the League One table during the first month of the 2019-20 season, winning 14 points out of possible 18 during August. For August 2019, he received the EFL One Manager of the Month award. Lambert signed a new 5-year deal with the club on January 1, 2020, until 2025. Despite a good start, Lambert failed to advance with the team finishing in 11th place after the league was determined on a points-per-game basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was banned from directing foul and abusive words towards referee Kevin Johnson on October 27, 2020. He was also fined £1,000. Lambert tested positive for COVID-19 in December 20, resulting in the postponement of two league matches. Lambert, who won his two last games in charge of Hull City and Doncaster Rovers, has left Ipswich by mutual agreement on February 28-2021 after struggling to mount a promotion push during the season due to his inability.

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