O'Neill: Lambert New Deal the Right Decision to Give Club Stability Friday, 3rd Jan 2020 14:58 General manager of football operations Lee O’Neill says manager Paul Lambert’s new contract which runs until 2025 gives the club stability upon which it can build over the next few seasons. Lambert, 50, put pen to paper on a four-year extension to his current terms on New Year’s Day ahead of the 1-1 draw at Wycombe. “It’s great for the football club to have that stability and look to build upon that over the years to come,” O’Neill told BBC Radio Suffolk after the match at Adams Park. Asked whether he understood why some supporters had reacted to the news negatively, he added: “Of course, you can see from the fans’ point of view and [in the context of] performances in some of the last 10 or so games where we haven’t won. “They want us to win games as quickly as possible, get points on the board and get up to the top end of the league and get promoted as quickly as possible. “I get that and understand that but we feel at the moment it’s definitely the right decision for the football club to have stability to look at building over the next six, 12, 18, 24 months. “And that puts things to rest on a number of issues that were addressed and for a club it now allows us to build for the future.” O’Neill confirmed that talks had been ongoing for a while and that the move wasn’t in response to Lambert’s comments after the 0-0 draw with Gillingham on Boxing Day when he appeared to call his future into question. “Absolutely not, these conversations between Paul and Marcus have been going on for quite a while,” he continued. “He loves the town, loves the area and wants to settle down here, which is great and you hate to use the words ‘longer-term project’ in a way, but it’s plan to build for the future and that allows us to do that.” O’Neill says owner Evans is frustrated by recent results but is looking at the club’s situation longer term. “These conversations have gone on for quite a while. He gets as disappointed as we all do when we don’t win a game of football,” he said. “It’s frustrating when that happens, but don’t take your eye off the bigger picture, which is something we’re talking about and the relationship that Paul and Marcus have is very good and very strong and we’re looking to build for the future.” Looking ahead to Saturday’s Leasing.com Trophy tie at Exeter, O’Neill says he’d love a final appearance as much as anyone. “We’d all love a trip to Wembley, myself included,” he said. “I think it would be great for the club, great for the town to have a number of people at Wembley for a day out, and not just a day out but to try and win something, which would be great for the club. “We’re only a few games from that so we are approaching it like a game that we want to win and take seriously. “Who knows, we’re three games away, we’ll hope, and I’d very much like to be at Wembley with the rest of the town supporting them at Wembley.”
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