Norwich confident they can hang on to Lambert

Norwich City have vowed to do everything possible to keep Paul Lambert at the club next season.

Lambert is one of the most sought-after young managers around after leading the Canaries’ from npower League One obscurity to mid-table in the Barclays Premier League inside two years.

Some Norwich fans fear the former Celtic captain will be lured away from Carrow Road this summer but, speaking to tourism business leaders during an event at the club’s stadium, chief executive David McNally said: “Paul is happy here. It’s his football club, he’s been accepted by the great people of Norwich and Norfolk. He’s hugely ambitious. We haven’t let him down yet – we have matched that ambition having gone from 69th position to 12th. We will do all we can to work together for the long term.”

McNally also said Norwich’s success owes much to joint majority shareholder Delia Smith and, revealing the Canaries’ ambition to go from the 12th best-supported club in England into the top 10, McNally claimed the fame of chef Smith and director Stephen Fry would help.

He said of Smith: “She is truly one of this country’s A-list celebrities. Hopefully, she will always be in charge of this football club. Certainly, that’s her intention and, for those of us who are currently custodians of this football club, it’s certainly our intention. Whoever has been the manager or players over the years, the most famous person at the club is Delia Smith.”