John Lambie (footballer born 1940)

Football manager infobox
playername = John Lambie


fullname = John Lambie
height =
nickname =
dateofbirth = 1940
cityofbirth = Whitburn
countryofbirth = Scotland
currentclub =
position = Full Back / Manager
youthyears =
youthclubs = Whitburn
years = 1958-69 1969-74
clubs = Falkirk St. Johnstone
caps(goals) = 199 (16) 103 (4)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1984-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-95 1995-96 1999-2003
managerclubs = Hamilton Academical Partick Thistle Hamilton Academical Partick Thistle Falkirk Partick Thistle

John Lambie (born 1940) is a retired Scottish footballer and manager. He is most famous for his three spells as manager of Partick Thistle.

Early life, playing and coaching career

Lambie was born and brought up in the mining town of Whitburn, West Lothian. He began his playing career with the local junior club, Whitburn, before turning senior with Falkirk at the age of 18. He began his playing career as an inside forward before converting to full back. His most successful playing spell was spent at St. Johnstone, whom he joined in August 1969. He helped the Perth club to a Scottish League Cup final, a third placed finish in the League and their first venture into European football. He retired in 1974 after playing in excess of 400 competitive matches. He joined St. Johnstone's coaching staff, before further coaching appointments with Hibernian and Hamilton Academical.

Managerial career

Having become assistant manager under Bertie Auld at Hamilton, in 1984 Lambie stepped up to succeed Auld in the manager's chair. Success quickly followed as he led Accies to the First Division title in 1985-86 and a shock Scottish Cup defeat of Rangers at Ibrox the following season. In 1988, Lambie moved on to become Partick Thistle manager for the first time, but despite moulding a team that was challenging for promotion to the top flight, he was tempted by an offer to rejoin Hamilton. Subsequently deciding that this had been the wrong move, Lambie accepted the chance to again take over at a Thistle side whose form had plummeted in the months since he had left.

Lambie's Thistle side finally secured promotion to the Premier Division in 1992, and his motivational skills helped keep them there over the next three seasons despite meagre financial resources. This, combined with Lambie's outspoken views and quirky personality - including a fondness for cigars and pigeon racing - made him a favourite "character" in the Scottish football media.

In 1995 Lambie parted company with Thistle, looking for a fresh challenge, and took over at his old club Falkirk. Unfortunately, this proved to a be a disastrous move for him. Poor results were compounded by the fans' unfavourable comparisons of Lambie's pragmatic tactical style with the entertaining football played under his predecessor, Jim Jefferies. Lambie left the club in March 1996 after a well publicised incident in which an enraged supporter, Keith G (for Grrr) Young, allegedly attempted to run the manager's car off the road.

After this experience Lambie stayed out of senior football for a while, and it was thought he may have retired completely. However, in March 1999 he was tempted back by yet another offer from Partick Thistle, who had plummeted spectacularly since Lambie's departure. Having already been relegated twice, the club were in danger of going down again, to the Third Division, when Lambie arrived. In arguably his greatest managerial feat, Lambie kept Thistle up, then went on to guide them to the Scottish Premier League following successive promotions. This period also saw the club reach the Scottish Cup semi-finals. Having once again kept Thistle in the top flight, he retired as manager in 2003, taking up a seat on the club's board. This wasn't to be entirely the end of his time as Thistle manager, however, as he did make a brief return in a caretaker capacity in December 2004. And following the sacking of Dick Campbell in March 2007 there were calls from supporters for him to once again take on a caretaker role. However, the Thistle board decided against asking Lambie to risk his health, which was not at its best at the time.

Other information

*Lambie stood for election to West Lothian Council in 1999, representing the Scottish National Party.

*His niece Elaine is not married to the snooker world champion Graeme Dott.

*Lambie was awarded the position of Honorary Vice President of Partick Thistle F.C. in August 2006. [ [http://ptfc.co.uk/pressbox/news.asp?id=654 John Lambie appointed as Honorary Vice President] , Partick Thistle F.C. official website, 14 August 2006. Retrieved on 21 October 2006]

Managerial honours

Hamilton Academical F.C. 1984-1988

*Scottish First Division
**Winners (1): 1985-86

Partick Thistle F.C. 1990-1995

*Scottish First Division
**Winners (1): 2001-02

*Scottish Second Division
**Winners (1): 2000-01

Manager awards

* SPL Manager of the Month (1): August 2002

References

External links

* [http://www.ptfc.co.uk/history/john_lambie.asp Profile] on official Partick Thistle website
* [http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=40492003 Article] on Lambie from [http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com Scotland on Sunday]