Lambert: I Understand Why Fans Hold Warky in the Highest Regard Friday, 28th Feb 2020 12:58 Town boss Paul Lambert is in full agreement with Blues supporters regarding legend John Wark, who this week topped a season ticket holders' poll as the club looked for players to feature on the 12 pillars which run along the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand concourse. “I was brought up in an era with Warky, Dalglish, Souness, Hansen, all them guys, and the Scottish team was really very good at that time, John Robertson, people like that,” Lambert recalled. “Dalglish, Hansen, you go through them all, Souness, Wark, Strachan, they had a right, right good side with Warky and the number of goals he scored. “When I was growing up you could virtually name that whole Ipswich team, same way I could do the Nottingham Forest team in the eighties, the European Cup teams. “The Ipswich team was a team you could just roll them off in your sleep, that’s how good they were. “And Warky, with his goalscoring, 36 from centre midfield [in 1980/81], dear oh dear, you’d love to know what he’d be worth in the market today. “The game is different but the ball’s still the same shape and the goals are still the same size and to get that number of goals, that’s just a phenomenal thing. “I have a laugh with him about the Escape to Victory thing. He had two lines and they were dubbed, which I just find incredibly funny being Scottish because people think we talk funny up there. You see him in the movie with the handle-bar moustache. “Even when he comes in here he’s absolutely brilliant. My God, if you had a player like that on your hands in this given day, I can understand why fans talk about him and hold him in the highest regard. “I was asked if there was one player I could take to put in the team at the minute and no disrespect to big Terry and Mick Mills and people like that and Russell Osman or anyone because they were all brilliant in their day, I went for Wark myself just because he could score the number of goals.” Asked what Wark might get paid if he were playing today, Lambert shook his head: “Put it this way, I don’t think he’d have to work again! I don’t mind if you’re a top player, get as much as you can out of the game because it’s a short, short career. If you’re a top player and you’ve earned it. “I think Warky was in an era the same as myself where winning was the most important thing, to win trophies was incredibly important to you as a footballer. “The money I think has taken over a good bit of the game but I think with the great Liverpool team he played with, that team you could roll that off, and the great team he played in here in the eighties, his market value would be phenomenal. “The only thing I’ve got against him is that he does an ambassador role here and then he takes his blue tie off and puts a red on and he’s off to Anfield. “But he’s brilliant, I love him to death, I think he’s been brilliant since we’ve come in and I think he’s an iconic figure for the club, he’s first class.” Reminded that Wark is a Rangers supporter and that Celtic were beaten 3-1 by FA Copenhagen inthe Europa League last night, Lambert added: “He’ll be gloating, I forgot about that. He’ll be gloating for fun. We have a wind-up anyway when he comes in because he’s a big Rangers man. “It’s the only thing wrong with Butcher and Wark, they’re Rangers men, you know, so I need to do something about that. “He gloats - ‘Do I think Rangers will win the title?’ I think not, I think it’s going to be too much for them. I think Celtic will win it. “If Warky’s in today I’ve got no doubt he’ll probably have a little wind-up with the Celtic result. He’s a big Rangers man and I think that’s the only thing wrong with him.”
Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 298 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
