CANARY chief executive David McNally today expressed his delight at unveiling the Club's number one target Paul Lambert as the new Norwich City Manager.
McNally confirmed yesterday that the Club were head-hunting their first choice for the job and the City chief explained why Lambert was the right man for the Canaries: "He was the man because we looked at the criteria that we agreed as a Board, the personal qualities we thought were important alongside ability and experience, and clearly he came to the top of the pile in terms of who we wanted to go after.
"We wanted somebody with ability, somebody who can motivate players, galvanise the team and most importantly for me, somebody who could improve the players on the coaching pitch day in, day out - not overnight, but day in, day out gain improvements in the long-term."
He continued: "Also somebody with managerial experience in the lower leagues. Experience in itself doesn't mean a lot unless the track record is good and his track record is very sound. Alongside that the personal qualities we were looking for, we wanted somebody who has the drive, the hunger and commitment to take this great Club forward and Paul fits the bill in every aspect.
"And finally he absolutely has a winning mentality - he's a bad loser and every great person I've met in this industry is a bad loser. That doesn't mean we won't be sporting, we will always be sporting and attempt to be fair. But personally I know I struggle to speak to people after a defeat and I've got someone alongside the team now who has the same mentality."
Both McNally and Lambert have connections north of the border but the former Fulham Managing Director confirmed this was not the reason behind the decision to bring the Scot to Carrow Road: " I worked some time ago as Commercial Director at Celtic and Paul was the club captain, but I must stress this is no old pals' act, this is no two old friends coming to work together. The decision has been made in the best interests of Norwich City Football Club - nothing else has come into our decision-making and Paul knows he'll be judged on results.
"We will sit down with Paul over the next couple of days and talk about the squad, the backroom staff and where we can to take this Club. He has said though that the squad of players he has here are a very good squad, it's his job now to make the most of the squad."
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