Lambert keeps youth in check

Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has underlined his determination to keep the club’s young players grounded, despite their increasing wealth.

Lambert acquired youth prospects Jordan Bowery and Ashley Westwood from Chesterfield and Crewe Alexandra respectively on transfer deadline day to add to his already youthful squad.

And the Scot expressed his admiration for Manchester United veterans Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs before expressing his hope that the Villans’ youth products can emulate the pair.

“Some young players, not all, think if they play two or three Premier League games, they’ve arrived,” he told reporters.

“If somebody plays 600 or 500 games, yes, then I might think you have.

“That’s why I’ve got great admiration for people like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs because every year they produce and produce and produce, whether they are getting eight pounds a week or 80,000 pounds a week.

“I don’t like young players coming in and thinking they’ve arrived and it’s up to me not to stand for that.

“If you’re driving a Skoda one day and the next day you’re driving a Mercedes, that indicates to me there’s something really wrong there.

“If we can get that hunger in them and they keep it, fine.”

The former Norwich boss also shared his experiences of players who have been solely motivated by the riches offered by professional football.

“People can be motivated by different things, whether it’s money or success,” he added.

“But then you can get the other side of the coin where people have got too much money and they don’t want to do it.

“I think that’s the balance of trying to get a good team. I don’t think you should be money-motivated as a footballer.

“The more success you have then the money will come naturally. But if you’re going to have money as your most important thing, then it becomes a problem.”

The 43-year-old also spoke of his admiration for Newcastle manager Alan Pardew ahead of his side’s clash with the Magpies on Sunday.

“It is a fantastic stadium (Sports Direct Arena) with a great atmosphere and we have to be right on our game to get anything. Going there is going to be really tough, Alan has done great there,” Lambert said.

“Is that where Villa want to be in two or three years? It is a building thing here. We have to try and build here and it will take time to get it the way we want it.

“The club needs to get that feeling back of winning games and that’s what we have to try and do.”