Moving On Up?

With the European Championships now well under way (a fantastic start for England included), the transfers, if you will, of Norwich's Paul Lambert and Swansea's Brendan Rodgers to Aston Villa and Liverpool respectively have perhaps fallen under the radar. Both men are unlikely to have a problem with that, considering the usual fervour that is afforded to any new managerial appointment in the Premier League. Rather, it will provide an opportunity for them to collect their thoughts and begin to devise a plan to revive the fortunes of two of the most famous clubs in the country. But were Lambert and Rodgers right to depart the clubs they had steered into the top flight in such style?

On paper, you would have to say 'yes' both times. Norwich and Swansea are admirable clubs who conducted themselves last season in an admirable fashion, refusing to depart from their commitment to attractive, attacking football. But as we all should know by now, football is not played on paper. Both men have jumped out of the cooler and into the frying pan, by which I mean they have left clubs where they were viewed as all but infallible for a much more intense and pressurised atmosphere. Aston Villa and Liverpool both enjoy decorated histories and as a consequence their very names hold a great amount of prestige, especially in the case of the latter. Any manager employed by them is expected to deliver success, and history will tell you that neither club is particularly patient. Lambert is the ninth manager in Villa's Premier League history, and Rodgers is the seventh man charged with the task of bringing the good times back to Anfield. If history counts for anything, it's fair to say that both men are going to have to hit the ground running when the 2012/13 season gets underway.

In the case of Rodgers, one factor working in the former Chelsea coach's favour is that he will not be working in the shadow of Kenny Dalglish, easily the most cherished figure in the Red's history. Whilst most supporters were disappointed to see the King removed as manager at the end of last season, even the most rose-tinted of the Anfield faithful will admit that Dalglish's second spell in charge was full of flaws. Rarely did he look at ease with the demands of the modern game, particularly when in front of the press, a claim that is backed up primarily (but not solely) by his ill-advised handling of the Luis Suarez race row. For this reason, his replacement is unlikely to have to deal with the sort of inanity that befell Roy Hodgson when he pipped Dalglish to the manager's job in the summer of 2010. The England manager was never able to get his feet under the table at Anfield, largely due to the considerably looming presence of the ultimate Kop icon in the corridors of power. Now that the spectre that blighted Hodgson's tenure has proved himself to be ill-suited to the demands of the Premier League, Rodgers will have a blank canvas to work from on.

But that's not to say that the early days of his tenure will be a bed of roses. Rodgers' Swansea team played to a clear set of principles, the main one being to frustrate the opposition via the means of an efficient, well-drilled passing game. However, the Swans were not always the most enterprising in front of goal during their debut campaign in England's top flight, evidenced by their tally of 44 goals, less than the amount scored by relegated Blackburn and Bolton. The Liverpool faithful will expect much more, but Rodgers may struggle to deliver with a team that scored only three more goals than his Swansea charges and were heavily reliant on the aforementioned Suarez, who scored 8 more goals last term than second highest goalscorer Steven Gerrard. Andy Carroll will be expected to improve in the final third, but the £35 million man is one of many players at the club who seemed to suffer a crisis of confidence last season. As a result, Rodgers' first task may be to lift the spirits of the expensive recruits who struggled to perform in the famous red jersey. Certainly, it's hard to see a high influx of players entering the club before the problems embellishing the current crop are remedied.

This is not to say, however, that Rodgers has made a bad choice in moving to Liverpool. He has taken a calculated risk that is only dissimilar to the one he made when joining Reading from Watford due to the size of the clubs involved. The Ulsterman has always struck me as being a very calm figure who believes firmly in his own principles, and this is likely to serve him well when in the bowels of the Anfield pressure cooker. We can most likely expect a highly organised Liverpool side next term, one that is hard to breach and more than comfortable when in possession of the ball. Players such as Lucas and Daniel Agger are likely to relish such an approach, but it is hard to see how the more rough and ready likes of Carroll and Jay Spearing will take to such a patient and probing approach. Only time will tell...

Paul Lambert, on the other hand, may have raised more eyebrows in his decision to depart Norwich for Villa Park. This is not because Villa are by any means a small club, on the contrary, they are a far bigger club than the Canaries in terms of infrastructure and revenue. Rather, it is the lack of disparity in the quality of each club's squad of players that is likely to have caused some confusement amongst the nation's armchair pundits. Clearly, Lambert sees something in the Villans post that few others have seen since the heady days of Martin O'Neill's time in charge, when they scaled to heights not seen since Ron Atkinson's highly successful spell in charge. This foresight adequately reflects the measure of Lambert as a coach...highly motivated and fiercely ambitious. In just three years he turned Norwich on it's head, steering them out of the lower echelons of League One and back into the promised land of the Premier League. Villa supporters will hope to see a similar Midas effect worked on their club.

In just two years, the claret and blue faithful have seen a highly capable side disassembled whilst also having to endure the trigger finger of chairman Randy Lerner, who is now onto his third coach in just two years. What is left at the club is a considerable amount of depth and a playing squad that is probably equal in quality to the grim bunch collected by David O'Leary in his final term in charge. Last season, Alex McLeish's side registered the second lowest amount of goals scored and the highest amount conceded from set pieces. Attendances also fell to their lowest in some time (though an improvement has been registered since McLeish's dismissal) and the squad became even thinner with the departures of Carlos Cuellar, Brad Guzan and Emile Heskey. Every cloud though...

What Villa will be getting in Lambert is, on face value, exactly what they need. Much like O'Neill did on his arrival in 2006, the former Celtic skipper is likely to focus on improving the performance levels of the current squad whilst also taking the opportunity to inject a few new faces when the opportunity arises. However, unlike his former Hoops manager, Lambert is unlikely to be afforded the riches that saw the likes of Steve Sidwell and Nigel Reo-Coker purchased for hefty fees. Rather, the new man is most likely going to have to scour the lower leagues for some bargains, a course of action that is unfamiliar territory for any Villa manager. This change in values will however serve the club well. It will reinvigorate a crowd that is tired of watching over-paid, over-the-hill players trudge around the Villa Park pitch and it will also challenge the club to change its values. Rather than dine with the Premier League prawn sandwich brigade, Villa will be tucking into a dirty kebab and playing to their own tune, signalling an end to the days of big contracts and big transfer fees.

Let's not forget either that Lambert will be inheriting some players of genuine quality...Charles N'Zogbia still has much to prove in claret and blue, Darren Bent remains one of the best finishers in the league and Shay Given is one of the finest keepers in the competition's 20 year history. Take into account the quality of some of Villa's academy graduates and you can see that there is a nucleus, albeit a fleeting one, for something of considerable measure which explains why Lambert was tempted away from Carrow Road. This is not to say, though, that there will be a radical change overnight. Lambert's first brief is likely to be to drag the club away from the Premier League trapdoor, something which he is more than capable of.

So, have two of the Premier League's brightest coaches made the right decision? As always, matters on the field (and perhaps off it) will ultimately answer that question. One thing is for certain though...they both have much to do.