Two Premier League vacancies were filled today as both Aston Villa and West Brom put new men into their respective dugouts.
The managerial merry-go-round has been very busy this week. Brendan Rodgers left Swansea to take over from Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool but some tasty jobs were still up for grabs. Until today anyway.
The big news is that Paul Lambert has definitely left Norwich for Aston Villa. Earlier in the week we had heard that Lambert wished to leave Carrow Road and that the board had refused to let him go but this afternoon, Aston Villa issued a very short statement.
“The board of Aston Villa are delighted to confirm that Paul Lambert has been appointed Villa manager.” Short and sweet, eh? Anyway, while Villa are happy to confirm a done deal, Norwich are not quite as chuffed, as this statement proves.
“Some media reports are suggesting we have agreed compensation for Paul’s services with Aston Villa, however this is not the case. We will continue to discuss this matter privately with Aston Villa.
“Meanwhile the search for the next Norwich City manager is already actively underway.”
So the Norwich job is now up for grabs, with Chris Hughton the favourite, but another job the Birmingham boss was linked with, replacing Roy Hodgson at West Brom, has gone elsewhere today.
Reports in Germany suggest that former Stuttgart and Schalke boss Ralf Rangnick will take over at the The Hawthorns. The German had been linked before and after a break from the game, landing the highly-rated 53-year-old is somewhat of a coup for the Baggies.
