Villa finished in 15th place in both of Lambert's 2 full seasons in charge and struggled regularly to avoid relegation. However despite being a failure the former Scottish international is a wealthy man with a £2 million compensation package likely following his dismissal by Villa's chairman Randy Lerner. It could be argued that Lerner should have given Lambert his marching orders before the end of the January transfer window because the new boss (Tim Sherwood) will not be able to bring his own players in. Sky Sports' so called pundit Paul Merson believed that Lambert was unlucky to lose his job and wasn't given enough money to improve his squad. This is debatable as Lambert has spent over £50 million and besides Christian Benteke and Ron Vlaar his signings haven't delivered. He was also criticised by the Villa faithful for not playing £24m striker Darren Bent and sending him out on loan.

Lambert is unlikely to secure another managerial position in the Premier League but I'm sure a number of Championship clubs would employ him if they needed a manager. I know that some Norwich supporters would welcome Lambert back if Alex Neil's career in the Carrow Road hot seat went tits up. However I wouldn't want to see him return because a manager's second spell at a club where he was successful the first time is never as good the second time, unless you hire Jose Mourinho and have lots of money.