Paul Lambert

 ( 1969 Births ) 

Dortmund had been the German champions in the previous two seasons, but struggled to keep pace with Bayern Munich in 1996–97, eventually finishing third in the Bundesliga. In the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League, though, Dortmund progressed through the group stage as runners-up. They then beat Auxerre and Manchester United to reach the Champions League final, against Juventus FC. He had scored one goal during the group stage, the first in a 2–2 draw at Widzew Łódź. His performance in the semi-final elimination of Manchester United, when Dortmund were missing several key players due to injuries, was later praised in the autobiography of United midfielder Roy Keane.

Lambert played in the Champions League final as a defensive midfielder, quelling the influence of Juve's French playmaker Zinedine Zidane. Lambert's cross also set up Karl-Heinz Riedle's opening goal as Dortmund won 3–1. His contribution has since been lauded as a Man of the Match performance. He became the first British person to win the European Cup with a non-UK team, and the first British person to win the tournament since its reformation as the Champions League in 1992.

It was announced the Champions League group stage game on 5 November 1997 against Parma, his 23rd in European club competitions, would be Lambert's last before he returned to Scotland. His departure was prompted by his son suffering a febrile seizure after the Champions League final: having previously experienced this when living in Scotland, the family decided to return home to be closer to relatives. He was given a rousing send off by the Dortmund fans, and reciprocated with a banner he had prepared thanking the Dortmund fans for their support. Lambert scored one domestic league goal during his time with Dortmund, against Bayer Leverkusen.

During his seven seasons with Celtic, he won four Scottish Premier League titles, two , two Scottish League Cups and was Scottish Football Writer's Player of the Year and was shortlisted SPFA Player of the Year again in 2002 Lambert captained the side that reached the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville; his team were drawing 2–2 after 90 minutes but after having a man sent off in extra time, conceded a third and decisive goal to José Mourinho's FC Porto.

As a full Scotland international, Lambert won 40 caps, scoring one goal. In the latter part of his international career, he captained the side 15 times. His international debut came whilst at Motherwell and awarded by Craig Brown in the 1995 Kirin Cup against host country, Japan. Lambert played a second game in the tournament three days later against Ecuador.

Whilst at Dortmund and during the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign Lambert started to appear as a regular. After missing the opening game of the campaign against Austria, Lambert appeared as a 46th-minute substitute in the 2–0 win in Latvia in October 1996. He was also in the starting line-up for the next fixture against Estonia in Tallinn four days later, but a scheduling dispute meant the home team did not adhere to a quickly-rearranged afternoon kick-off time, and the match was abandoned at kick-off with no caps awarded to the Scotland players (the fixture was re-arranged for the following February, but Lambert was an unused substitute). He was again a substitute in the next qualifier which was played, coming on in the 46th minute of a 1–0 home win against Sweden. For his next cap, he was promoted to the starting line-up for a 2–0 home victory in the qualifier against Austria. Lambert's only defeat of the campaign was the 2–1 reversal in Gothenburg against Sweden before two wins against Belarus and a second 2–0 win against Latvia clinched qualification.

He played in all three of Scotland's matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, a 2–1 defeat against Brazil in the tournament's opening match, a 1–1 draw against Norway and a 3–0 defeat against Morocco.

Lambert was part of the Scotland side that won away against Germany in April 1999 with the goal scored by Don Hutchison. Lambert and Scotland qualified for a play-off place in the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying campaign, but Lambert missed the play-offs against England due to suffering an injury in the Old Firm game played the weekend before. Craig Brown cited Lambert's absence as crucial to England's progression at Scotland's expense, since he intended to deploy Lambert directly against Paul Scholes, scorer of both England goals.

He scored his only goal for Scotland on 7 September 2002, in a Euro 2004 qualifier against the Faroe Islands, which ended in a 2–2 draw. Lambert was awarded Man of the Match in a 1–1 draw with Germany in June 2003. His final cap came in a 2–1 defeat against Germany in September 2003. The match was played in Dortmund, where he had achieved great success during his club career.

On 15 November 2009, he was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.

On 1 June 2010, he signed an improved contract with Norwich after it was confirmed Colchester United were entitled to £425,000 in compensation, in addition to Norwich City being fined £75,000, with a further £125,000 suspended for two years.

Norwich's form from their 2009–10 promotion campaign continued into the 2010–11 season, which saw them gain a second successive promotion – becoming the first team to achieve a second successive promotion at this level since Manchester City 11 years earlier. During Lambert's first two seasons in charge, Norwich did not suffer two successive defeats in the league in the same season.

In January 2011, Norwich refused to allow Burnley permission to try to secure Lambert as their new manager, following the dismissal of Brian Laws. The Norwich statement read, in part, "The club will fight tooth and nail to retain the services of Paul Lambert and his team during this critical period of the season and whilst they remain employed under a long-term contract". On 2 May 2011, Lambert and Norwich secured promotion to the Premier League after a win over Portsmouth, taking the second automatic spot with one game to spare. Lambert signed a new contract to extend his stay with the Norfolk club. He was inducted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame in March 2012.

Following Norwich's survival in the Premier League in the 2011–12 season, Lambert offered his resignation on 31 May 2012, but the club declined it.

On 23 December 2012, Villa were defeated 8–0 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the club's heaviest ever defeat in top-flight football. This was followed by consecutive home defeats, with Villa losing 4–0 to Tottenham Hotspur and 3–0 to Wigan Athletic, leading to increased pressure on Lambert's position. On 22 January 2013, Villa played Bradford City in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final at Villa Park, having lost the first round tie 3–1 at Valley Parade. The final score on the night was a 2–1 win for Villa, leaving an aggregate score of 4–3 to Bradford.

Lambert kept his job despite the poor run as the team flirted with the relegation places continuously over the next few months. Lambert did however manage to get Villa to record back-to-back wins for the first time since May 2011, as they defeated fellow relegation rivals Reading and Queens Park Rangers. He then oversaw the club's biggest victory since 2008, as Villa thrashed Sunderland 6–1. Villa finished 15th with the youngest starting eleven in the Premier League, leading to praise from pundit Alan Hansen, who said that Lambert was "a contender for Manager of the Season." Highlights of the season included Lambert's summer acquisition of star striker Christian Benteke, the introduction of Villa's Player of the Season, goalkeeper Brad Guzan, reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup and securing Villa's place in the Premier League for the 2013–14 season.

After Villa's good start to the season, however, they then went on to have a five-game long goal drought, losing to Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton and QPR before scoring in a 2–1 loss at Villa Park to Tottenham. Villa then went on to gain some valuable points, drawing 0–0 with West Ham and 1–1 against Southampton. They then won 1–0 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, courtesy of a Christian Benteke goal, followed with a 2–1 victory over Leicester City at Villa Park.

On 11 February 2015, Villa announced they had parted company with Lambert after a 2–0 loss at Hull, leaving the club 18th in the Premier League table. His departure also meant that the top flight did not have a Scottish manager for the first time in 30 years. On 14 February, Tim Sherwood was announced as his successor.

On 30 May 2017 the club announced that they and Lambert had "agreed to part company following a football review".

His only permanent signing in charge was the deadline day signing of Senegalese midfielder Badou Ndiaye from Turkish club Galatasaray for a fee of £14 million. Furthermore, the club completed the signing of Kostas Stafylidis on loan from FC Augsburg until the end of the season.

Lambert was unable to prevent Stoke's continued decline and relegation to the EFL Championship, leaving the club via mutual agreement in May 2018 after four months in charge.