Lambert right man for Villa

To borrow a phrase from the club, Aston Villa stand ready to embark on a vibrant new era and Paul Lambert is the right man for the job. For some, Lambert may feel like second or third choice. After a very public flirtation with former Manchester United forward and current Molde FK coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and another go at Wigan’s Roberto Martinez, Randy Lerner selected Lambert for the position. All three seemed in the mix and its hard to interpret through press reports who was preferred and when.

Villa need someone to consolidate the club in the top half of the Premier League table and push on for European places. When Lambert assumed the managerial position at Norwich City, the club was in shambles. The League One side quickly ascended to the Premier League. While Villa are not in complete shambles, its very clear the club need someone to initiate an upward trajectory.

Consider what Lambert has done for Norwich and compare his performance to Martinez’s stewardship of Wigan and Solskjaer’s brief tenure at Molde and a clearer picture of why Lambert is right for the job emerges. Using the Euro Club Index as a ranking of club’s relative strengths at a given point in time, one can compare the how a manager has moved a club forward or backward during their tenure. The three graphs, sourced from the Euro Club Index website, tell the story:

 

Norwich City

Wigan

Molde FK

Consider fan favorite Roberto Martinez. It’s easy to be allured by the attractive football played by Wigan and the romantic notion of football being played “the right way.” But Wigan have never really advanced since Martinez took over from Steve Bruce, battling to stave off relegation in the past two seasons. Most seasons include long runs of winning football followed by long stretches of poor performances. Given Wigan’s limited resources relative its Premier League rivals, it can be said Martinez has done a fantastic job keeping the team in the Premier League.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer presents an interesting case. OGS has overseen the improvement of Molde this past season and looks capable of pushing the side to even greater heights. However, he’s done it outside the Premier League and with only a single season under his belt. His appointment most likely would have been high risk-high reward, a creative hire demonstrating Villa’s ability to think outside the box to gain an advantage over wealthier Premier League clubs.

It’ll be difficult for Lambert to maintain his rapid ascent, but Villa certainly have room to grow. And at the very least, return to a competitive place in the Premier League after a dismal season under Alex McLeish.