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Norwich prepare for Lambert fight

Norwich manager Paul Lambert is a prized asset for his current club © PA Photos

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Norwich City chief executive David McNally has issued a clear message that the club will fight tooth and nail to hold onto manager Paul Lambert.

The Scot, who has led the Canaries to the Premier League from League One with back-to-back promotions since taking over in 2009, has been installed as the bookies' favourite to replace Alex McLeish at Aston Villa after his compatriot's dismissal on Monday.

Norwich secured 12th place in their first season back in the top flight with a 2-0 final day win over Villa on Sunday, and McNally says that, while he acknowledges Lambert's appeal to other clubs, the East Anglia outfit have a project in which the 42-year-old is a key part.

"We would not welcome any enquiry for our football manager or any of the club's football players," McNally told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"We will do everything we can and fight this as hard as we have ever fought."

McNally continued: "If I was at another football club and I was looking for another manager he'd be top of my list.

"In any business you need to look at what might happen - the what ifs.

"But we are focused on keeping our manager and the footballers he wants to retain at the club and to bring in better footballers to complement the club.

"I want other clubs to covet our manager and to want our players, because if they do that means we're doing something right.

"It is almost obvious, isn't it, that clubs would like to have them at their football club."

Lambert, who signed a new deal with Norwich in May 2011, said of the club's meteoric rise from the third tier: "It has been unbelievable what has happened here in three seasons - it is never easy to get one year of success, let alone three.

"Every year has been a challenge since I have been here - getting out of League One was with how far we were behind the top two, then there was a challenge to stay in the Championship, let alone get out of it because of everything which had gone wrong, the club was at its lowest ebb.

"To do what they have done in three years has been too quick to do it, but we did and have been brilliant.

"You are always playing catch up because of what has happened - the chairman said we would have to stay in the Premier League again for another year before things start to build.

"Nobody expected this within three years. The club gave itself seven years to get in the Premier League, and that was allowing to be relegated again, so the rise has been huge."

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