True narrative as Lambert’s reign at Villa is finally over
PAUL Lambert’s role as manager of Aston Villa finally became untenable yesterday evening – the club announcing his sacking in a brief statement.
Only weeks after the club’s chief executive Tom Fox described blaming the manager alone for the club’s woes as a “false narrative” the clamour from fans and the media for his removal from the role became impossible to ignore.
The final straw was the match away at relegation rivals Hull City on Tuesday. Villa managed just one attempt on target all night and lost the game 2-0.
Combined with QPR’s win at Sunderland, this resulted in Villa slipping into the bottom three with just 13 league games left to play.
The Villa statement said: “Aston Villa Football Club has parted company this evening with manager Paul Lambert.
“First-team coach Scott Marshall and goalkeeping coach Andy Marshall will continue to prepare the squad for Sunday’s FA Cup tie with Leicester City at Villa Park.
“The club would also like to place on record its thanks to Paul and take this opportunity to wish him every success in the future.
“The club will announce a new manager in due course.
“There will be no further comment from the club at this stage.”
Questions are sure be asked about the decision-making of Villa owner Randy Lerner – who is trying to sell the club – and his senior management team, including Fox.
Fans will want to know why Lambert wasn’t sacked last summer (before Fox joined) after two poor seasons in charge.
They will also want to know why he was given a lengthy contract extension in September on the back of positive results in the first few games of the season.
And they will want to know why he wasn’t dismissed before Christmas so that a new manager could have been appointed in time for the January transfer window.
Villa have scored just 12 league goals this season and haven’t won in ten league games.
The club’s final 13 games this season include trips to Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham while relegation rivals QPR and Burnley both have to come to Villa Park.
