McNally thrilled to get his man installed in hot seat

Chris Lakey "Paul was our number one target and we are very pleased to have landed our number one target. Paul is the new manager of Norwich City Football Club." Having sacked Bryan Gunn on Friday, chief executive David McNally completed a whirlwind four days of activity when he hooked his number one target, Paul Lambert.

Chris Lakey

"Paul was our number one target and we are very pleased to have landed our number one target. Paul is the new manager of Norwich City Football Club."

Having sacked Bryan Gunn on Friday, chief executive David McNally completed a whirlwind four days of activity when he hooked his number one target, Paul Lambert.

Never mnid the hundred job applications on his desk, or the outpouring of sympathy for the club legend that is Gunn, business is business - and McNally's business, and now that of Lambert, is to ensure City win as many games as possible. No one wanted the king to die, but now that he has, a new king reigns - even though the heir apparent did himself no harm a week or so ago.

"That's football isn't it?" said McNally yesterday.

"Nothing surprises anybody in football. All I would say is that to the supporters who are quite rightly sympathetic towards Bryan because Bryan is a legend at the football club and will always be welcome here.

"The owners are keen to ensure that everybody knows that, it's his football club as much as it is everybody else's, everybody has sympathy with Bryan - but all I would say to everybody, particularly the supporters, is we have made the decision in the best interests of the football club."

Yesterday. Lambert was unveiled.

"My view - and I encouraged the board to support me in this - was that we need to certainly target the right man, and to ensure that we acted speedily and as I have stressed again the important thing for me was to convince the board and they were unanimous in their support that this was a head hunting exercise," McNally said.

McNally and Lambert know each other from Celtic - but were keen to deny any prior connections had led to the latter's appointment.

"I worked for Celtic some time ago now - I was commercial director for four years and Paul was club captain so we knew one another," said McNally.

"But I have to stress this is no old pal's act, this isn't two friends coming together to work together, this decision has been made in the best interest of Norwich City Football Club, nothing else has come into it in terms of our decision making and Paul knows he will be judged on results."