I have no sympathy for Lambert whatsoever. I am extremely grateful for what he did during his 3 years here, and he should be remembered as a Norwich City legend despite what happened, but quite frankly I think it serves him right.
Lambert had the potential to be a fantastic manager at one of the top clubs, and had he stayed with us instead of jumping at the opportunity to go to Villa I have no doubt he would of fulfilled this. If he'd stayed with us for another season or two then he could've learnt even more about the Premier League whilst adapting and improving a squad that he had built himself over the course of 3 very successful years. However, he went to Villa and tried to implement the same tactic with regards to buying players that he had done the previous season with us. Buy young players from the lower leagues who are hungry to play. Unfortunately for him though it massively backfired as it was soon clear that these players weren't ready to step up to a club of Villa's size. Once it all went wrong his lack of Premier League experienced then showed as he didn't have a clue how to change it. If he'd stayed with us I think he would've learnt how to change it, and would've ultimately ended up at a bigger club than Villa.
The season he left as well, we had just finished 4 places higher in the league than Villa had, we had a similar budget to them for the next season, and had a squad of players that was pretty much all bought by Lambert. Why would he want to leave apart from the fact that Villa could offer him more money? That's the reason he left and in my mind he has now wasted the big potential that he had as a manager.
People may say I'm bitter about the fact that his departure ultimately lead to our eventual relegation. And maybe I am, but quite frankly Lambert has deserved everything he has got in my mind, and I'm sure he'll have another job soon enough anyway.