Paul Lambert Rumours Light Up Internet, Give Aston Villa Fans False Hope

Paul Lambert managed to keep Norwich City up this season -- while having them play some pretty fun football, too. Now rumours are spinning that he's the man Randy Lerner has in mind to replace Alex McLeish. Just a day after Aston Villa assured (threatened?) supporters that McLeish's spot with the club was safe, nearly every news outlet is carrying the story that Lambert is linked with the claret and blue.

Which would be fantastic, of course, but it's not going to happen. Remember what happened when we chased Roberto Martinez? Aston Villa just can't have nice things. And Lambert is nice. Sure, the Canaries lost 6-1 to Manchester City a couple weeks back, but we all have those days, and I think I speak for most Villa fans when I say that after this season, I'd rather see a few spectacular failures if it meant some more exciting football.

The reason I don't see this happening is that -- as difficult as this is to grapple with -- I don't see Villa as being an upward move for Lambert. If Randy's not opening the purse strings, could Lambert really do much more with this squad than he did at Norwich? There he had to cope with lesser expectations, here he'll be stuck with a fanbase desperate for quick results.

I could be wrong. But I'm tired of having my hopes dashed continuously against the rocks.