Paul Lambert today spoke of his excitement at embracing the history and famous Wolves fanbase as he told supporters: “If we bounce off each other, we can be in for a good time.”
The 47-year-old Glaswegian marked his first day in charge at the club by recognising the need for a lift in morale after the side’s recent win-less run.
And he spoke of the backing from the stands as being essential in the battle to climb the Sky Bet Championship table quickly.
“There’s a fantastic fan base here and, if you have that, you have a chance,” he said in his first interview with Wolves Player HD.
“Even when I came here with Norwich and Blackburn, it was always a great atmosphere and we as a team have to get the fans going and give them something back.”
Acknowledging that he felt ‘a bit nervous but, after today, I will be fine’, Molineux’s new head coach spoke of the role played by Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell and Director Jeff Shi in the recent talks.
“They didn’t really need to do much,” he added. “I want to work with good people; people who are fair. Kevin and Jeff were excellent. Everybody knows the pitfalls in football. If you don’t get the results, you know exactly what’s going to happen.
“The football club sold itself....the fanbase and the history attached. The club is huge but needs a bit of help to try to climb the table.
“It’s up to us to generate things and get the stadium really going. It doesn’t take much for it to lift. It just needs a bit of help and, if we can do that, let’s see what happens.
“When you go into a club that’s had a bit of a hard time, they are looking for an upsurge pretty quickly and to get some results on the board.”
Taking pride of place on the managerial part of Lambert’s CV are the back-to-back promotions with Norwich - from League One to the Premier League. He then moved on to Aston Villa and kept them in the top flight during three difficult years.
He quickly talked today of wanting to see Molineux filled with enthusiasm, fired by a side playing in a high-energy style which excites supporters with good, entertaining football.
“I want to go on the front foot,” he said. “I don’t want to sit and wait for things to go against us.
“I know sometimes, especially in the Championship, that’s difficult and you may need to grind out results and stand up and be physical. But you also have to have the impetus to be brave and be on the front foot. If we do that, with the supporters behind us, that will drive us on.
“The target is for us to win the next game; go to Preston and win that game. Starting to win is my no one priority.....it’s up to us to lift the place. They have not had much to cheer about.”
Stuart Taylor, a familiar face of the new boss’s from Villa, has been drafted in as well but the remaining staff in place, headed by Rob Edwards, whom Lambert briefly managed at Norwich, will also be vital cogs.
“I have known Stuart for a long time and he’s a young, hungry coach who is not motivated by anything other than being successful,” said Lambert. “That is important to me.
“You have to have a background of people who have been there, seen it and done it and they (the existing coaches) will help us. I have had a meeting of the staff already and tried to enlighten it a little bit.”
Returning to an earlier theme, the man at the helm spoke with admiration for the ‘great history’ at Wolves....the Billy Wright statue, the goals of Steve Bull and much more; also of the need for players to be able to handle the high fans’ expectations in the Fosun Group era.
“Hopefully we can get success together,” he added. “They (the supporters) are vital for us. I can’t stress that enough.... .they are huge, especially at home. It’s up to us to give them something. If we bounce off each other, we can be in for a good time. I’m really looking forward to it.”
