" WHERE DID IT GO HORRIBLY WRONG? "

Where did it all go horribly wrong for Rickie Lambert at Cardiff City?

The former Liverpool and Southampton frontman is now looking for a new club after his Bluebirds' contract was terminated

Sunday 9th July 2017


By Dominic Booth



It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Rickie Lambert was supposed to be Cardiff City's main man for two seasons. At least that was the hope when he was signed for Cardiff, agreeing a bumper contract until 2018. He arrived amid great fanfare and optimism, especially from then-Bluebirds boss Paul Trollope.

At his unveiling on deadline day last August, it seemed Cardiff had finally found a solution to their striker problem with new signing Freddie Gounongbe firing blanks.

What transpired, of course, was very different. Lambert made just 13 starts for the Bluebirds and his struggles for full fitness and form quickly became apparent. Cardiff's problem-solving frontman actually burst onto the scene a few months later in the shape of Kenneth Zohore.



With the big Dane clearly Cardiff's first choice to spearhead the attack, Neil Warnock told Lambert he was surplus to requirements, and the 35-year-old is now without a club after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

Blackburn Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Bristol Rovers have all been linked with the 11-cap England international. But it is perhaps telling that there isn't exactly a furious scramble for his signature, with only League One clubs touted as potential suitors.

It's easy to forget Lambert was playing for Liverpool two years ago. He was a regular in England squad's under Roy Hodgson and he scored 15 goals in the 2012/13 Premier League season for Southampton.

Lambert's steep decline can largely be attributed to his injury record and arrived in Cardiff still carrying injuries. He made just five starts for West Brom in 2015/16, so maybe Cardiff's interest was misplaced and the fitness travails might have been foreseen. But with the 2016/17 campaign beginning badly for Trollope's Bluebirds, they had to signal their intent with an eye-catching deadline day move. Lambert was bought and most fans agreed he stood a good chance of succeeding in South Wales.

And given a different set of circumstances, he could have fired in a Cardiff shirt.



He certainly showed glimpses of his undoubted quality; a memorable brace to fleetingly save Trollope's job with victory at Rotherham, two goals in two games against Huddersfield and Aston Villa in November. But a combination of Zohore's quicksilver form, Lambert's increasingly injury troubles and Warnock's frustration with the striker brought the Liverpudlian's Cardiff career to a premature end.

There won't have been many tears shed — by anyone — when Lambert's departure was revealed. Even the player himself will surely relish the chance to prove his fitness and play regularly for a League One outfit. Yet Cardiff's signing of Danny Ward and their pursuit of another striker meant there was no place for a player earning significant wages who wasn't going to feature very much. Although the Bluebirds have been criticised in the past for cancelling contracts without commanding a fee for a player, the decision with Lambert was straightforward.

So ultimately Lambert's Cardiff career will be remembered as a tale of disappointment and untapped promise. He seemed ready-made to succeed in the Championship, but sometimes you just can't predict how events will map out.

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A desperate panic buy, and he was never fit enough, and gave no indication he ever would be ever again.

Past it... and WE went for a so called Big Name ... Glad he's gone

He was a good player in his time but injuries got hold of him

You could see his touch of class when he played but fitness would finally push him to injuries

Couldn't make it past 45 mins. Couldn't make a run, arguably slower than JFH when he was here and injured. That's it in a nut shell basically.

I remember watching a few games he turned out for and he'd played the ball out excellently from the centre of the park to the winger who had then flown the ball down the wing to look for a cross into the striker but the striker hadn't made it to the box yet to complete the move he was sooo slow

Replies from FB



Clive Mallard

Let's be Honest ? He wasn't getting into W.B.A team, he wasn't Fit and able to hit the ground running and shows LL who I believe had a say in his appointment was only getting Lambert easy money and West Brom a Fee for someone that would have been finished a couple of seasons ago. I think Pulis was having a good giggle when Cardiff came in for him.

Nigel Harris

Bloke gets paid almost £1.5M in a year for not playing much then gets his contract paid off too and they ask where did it go wrong for him?? Only in football

I think it was when Trollope was sacked, he clearly wasn’t wanted by Warnock. Earlier in the season I thought he did pretty well with very little service. he did get a few injuries but even when fit he wasn't being used by Warnock

Was he a panic buy? you would think so when you consider how late he was bought but then I always got the feeling he was Trollopes top target and I can’t blame the club for backing him with that.

We have certainly had better singings but then in recent times we have had worse as well like Fowler and Maynard.

He is gone now though, not sure why the media keep bring it up all the time, it’s like they just love negativity. Plenty of positivity they could write about.

It all went horribly wrong when Trollope thought he could replicate Wales at City but with zero pace. In fact signing Lambert made a slow team even slower

It all went horribly wrong when Trollope thought he could replicate Wales at City but with zero pace. In fact signing Lambert made a slow team even slower

That's not far from the truth really it went horribly wrong the day Trollope was appointed!