Paul Lambert’s Liverpool Namesake had Agreed Terms and Almost Joined Aston Villa

‘It was very close. It was touch and go. We agreed everything.’ – Rickie Lambert

Lambert’s Last Throw of the Dice

With Villa’s goal drought seriously threatening their Premiership survival Paul Lambert had actively entered the January market looking for an additional striker. When the news broke on deadline day Rickie Lambert was being sought, it came as a bit of a surprise to Villa fans. After all the Liverpool striker had only just joined the club a matter of months ago and being a scouser it was his boyhood team.

MOMS didn’t think it would ever happen at such late notice, as Lambert, now 33-years-old is in the twilight of his career and from a sentimental point-of-view it would have been nice for him to finish up at Liverpool.

The age factor was also baffling from a Villa point-of-view. Why drop 5 million on a player that had one maybe two seasons in him? It was very short-term thinking. Surely, there were younger striker options that could give you both short-term impact and also value for money in the long-term?

What Rickie Said

Anyway. Rickie Lambert has this week come out to tell his side of the story and admits he was very close to signing, although interestingly he admits, the first he heard about it was at 4pm on deadline day.

“I got a phone call from the gaffer about 4pm (on deadline day) saying Aston Villa had come in,” said Lambert to the Liverpool Echo.

“He said he didn’t want me to go, but basically offered me the chance if I wanted to play football, which is fair enough. I spoke to my agent, my wife, to Aston Villa and it was close. It was very close. It was touch and go. We agreed everything.

“But in the end there just wasn’t enough time to say ‘yes’ – to make a decision in the space of four or five hours for the next two-and-a-half-years. Not just for me, but for my family as well. It was something I just couldn’t do. It was too short notice. It was too big of a decision to make in the short amount of time I had.”

I just didn’t think it was right for me to leave here just six months into my Liverpool career. I didn’t want to go.”

From what the Liverpool Lambert is saying is all the money and contract side was agreed with a two-and-a-half year contract being offered to the striker to take him past his 35th birthday.

The big question is, if Villa Lambert was desperate for a striker, why not approach his namesake a little earlier in January? Since it was obviously a decision a guy of his age with a family would need to mull over. You need a striker, so you wait until 4pm on deadline day and put all your chips on something that is obviously not going to happen at such late notice? Seems a strange tactic.

Perhaps it’s good news that there are currently no Lambert’s at Villa Park now!

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3 COMMENTS

  1. This story is just another example of sheer incompetence from Lambert and the board, nothing more, nothing less.

  2. Agree 100%, firstly, our problems are creating chances, not finishing them, but Lambert never reconised this, hence why against liverpool and in most games this season he played 3 or somtimes 4 defensive midfielders (against liverpool we played cleverley, sanchez, delph and westwood) If you feed benteke he will score, its that simple. but according to lambert we were apparently creating chances….

    Secondly, if he thinks we need a striker, or any player really, why are you waiting until 4pm on deadline day, were they waiting for Lerner to wake up or somthing? the window opens 1st of Jan, isit really so hard to try and get most of your buisness done in the first week of the window, to maximise the impact said player might have.

    Why were we prepared to pay 5 million quid for a 33yr old? begs belief.

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