Despite his incredible record at the club, few former Norwich City managers are likely to elicit strong feelings from Canaries supporters like Paul Lambert.
From 2009 to 2011, the Scot saw back-to-back promotions at Carrow Road, something that only five other clubs have accomplished. He was later inducted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame.
The situation became even more complicated when Lambert later joined Ipswich Town in 2018, becoming the first manager to serve on both sides of the East Anglian derby. Lambert would depart Norfolk somewhat abruptly.
For Norwich, Paul Lambert “gave everything”
On the first day of Norwich’s return to third division play, Lambert would have his first taste of Carrow Road while watching Colchester United demolish the Canaries 7-1 from the opposing dugout. Lambert’s presence during what many consider Norwich’s lowest point may have been appropriate.
Ten days later, Lambert would join the Canaries, stating, “It’s a big club and there’s no way we should be where we are.” This was a strange turn of events.
Despite a difficult start to the season, his Norwich team would go on to win League One.
Paul Lambert would go on to have yet another great season in the 2010–11 Championship, leading the Canaries to the Premier League and finishing second.
With two historic wins against Ipswich Town and a memorable last-minute goal from Simeon Jackson against Derby, Norwich became the first team in over a decade to earn back-to-back promotions, making it a season that many Norwich supporters remember.
During his first two seasons as Norwich manager, he brought togetherness to the team during turbulent times before his hiring, and he gained a great deal of respect.
He recalled afterwards: “We didn’t have a lot of money at that particular time but what we did have was incredible team spirit, incredible character.”
With players mostly from the Championship and League One, City managed to scrape together a competitive top flight team and finished in a respectable 12th place on 47 points in Lambert’s debut season in the major leagues.
With his sights set on Aston Villa, Lambert will resign at the end of the 2011–12 season, despite the club having previously fought hard to retain their manager by fending off Burnley the previous season. His resignation was turned down.
Lambert and Norwich leaders’ relationship rapidly soured, and they sued one another before agreeing to pay his bonuses and paying Villa a compensation fee.
He claimed to have “gave everything” for Norwich, but other Norwich supporters felt betrayed.
“I would like to think I wouldn’t get a bad reception when I go back – that would be a very sad thing, but I can’t help that,” was a second exciting line.
Paul Lambert would never reach the same levels of success.
Outside of Norfolk, Lambert was never able to duplicate his achievements.
following flirting with relegation in his third season, which he would later admit he was “delighted” with, he was fired from Aston Villa following two comparatively mediocre seasons in which he never advanced past 15th place.
His next stop would be Blackburn, although he was never able to spark much success there and left because of conflicts about transfer plans.
After failing to keep the Potters in the Premier League, Wolves followed, followed by a brief four-month stay at Stoke.
Then Lambert would do Norwich the unimaginable. In 2018, he accepted the position of manager at Ipswich, stating: “What a fantastic football club it is, and I’m proud to be the manager here.”
As the pantomime villain, a position he had grown accustomed to at Aston Villa, he would visit Carrow Road, the site of his managing career, but this time the animosity and bitterness seemed far more intimate.
The picture of Lambert being restrained by a policeman is what most people recall from that game, even though Norwich won 3-0.
The former Norwich manager didn’t hold back after the game, and any goodwill he had gained vanished when he was banished to watch the remainder of the match from the stands.
“Do I regret it?” he asked. No, I don’t. When I was here, this team was in League One. brief recollections.
Lambert’s contribution to Norwich may still be appreciated, as the team has been pursuing the one thing he accomplished that no other manager of the team has since accomplished: he got them promoted to the Premier League and kept them there.
His relationship with Norwich, however, has a Shakespearean quality to it as well. He met them at their lowest point and led them to their greatest success in recent years. He then left the team, bringing their fiercest opponents to Carrow Road years later and losing his mind in front of the supporters who had once treated him with as much respect as he could have wished.
Since 2021, Lambert has not returned to management at Ipswich. Although his experiences at Norwich and Ipswich were very different, East Anglian perceptions of him may not be that dissimilar.
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