Lambert has a canary and moves closer to Villa job

Norwich manager Paul Lambert has reportedly quit the club after being refused permission to talk to Aston Villa about becoming their new manager.

The Scot reportedly flew off the handle, or to use a more relevant but more cringeworthy analogy, had a canary after officials at the club rebuffed an approach from Aston Villa to speak to Lambert about succeeding his fellow countryman at Carrow Road.

Although there has been no confirmation from either party, Lambert is believed to have resigned as Norwich boss on Wednesday night and Villa will look to pounce and put in place plans to make him their new boss in the next 24 hours.

Lambert has worked wonders at Norwich since taking over at the club in 2009, guiding the Canaries to two successive promotions and a 12th place finish in their first season back in the Premier League.

Norwich and Lambert won rave reviews for the style of football they played in the league last season, which was far more impressive than the truly terrible football played by Villa under McLeish that nearly cost them their place in the top flight.

Although Norwich finished four places and nine points above the Villains in the league, the lure of a big club like Villa appears to be too strong for Lambert to resist and he is likely to be confirmed as their new head honcho by the end of the week.

Steve Bruce, Ian Holloway, Alan Curbishley and Gus Poyet have all already been linked with Lambert’s vacant position at Norwich and the same names are in the hat for the Swansea gig following the departure of Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool.

Villa fans will welcome the arrival of such a young and ambitious manager; he can't do much worse than McLeish last season anyway.