Ellis hails Lambert arrival

Paul Lambert is the 'ideal man' to bring success to Aston Villa, according to the club's life president Sir Doug Ellis.

The 88-year-old, who was nicknamed 'Deadly Doug' during his time as chairman due to his reputation for hiring and firing managers at Villa Park, claims Lambert is one of three candidates who he felt would be ideal to fill the void left by Alex McLeish's sacking. And, having seen Lambert's Norwich defeat Villa on the final day of the Premier League season last month, Ellis is in no doubt that he can bring the good times back to the club in the future. He told the club's website: "After the departure of Alex McLeish I came up with three names, I won't tell you the other two for reasons of confidentiality but one of the names was Paul Lambert. "I was enthused about him after seeing Norwich play against Villa. I saw the way he had got his players working, particularly off the ball. "It was not just one or two of them but the whole Norwich team. Through playing and watching football I have learned to watch the running off the ball more than the ball itself and Lambert's Norwich team thoroughly impressed me. "I knew then that if Alex was to leave then Paul would be the ideal man for the job and I am glad that Randy and Paul went for him."