How Soon is Now?

Swansea and Norwich were two of the biggest surprise packages of the Premiership last season, finishing 11th and 12th respectively after each amassing 47 points in a season that delighted both sets of supporters after their promotion from the Championship the season before.

And behind such success stories were the young British Managerial talents of Brendan Rodgers and Paul Lambert, who have transformed themselves from young apprentices to genuine tacticians who have learnt how to pick up points both home and away in the Premier Division, shocking teams up and down the land with their expansive and expressive styles.

However, as is typical of our beloved game, success is met with sudden elevation and lauded by melodramatic praise, as both managers, in creating such success stories, have been presented with new roles that have placed them into perhaps the biggest poisoned chalices, up alongside the Chelsea job.

Lambert, in taking the reigns at Aston Villa, and Rodgers, in replacing the Messiah-like figure of Kenny Dalglish have undoubtedly taken huge gambles in their careers in moving out of their comfort zones at clubs where they have been so highly acclaimed for taking their teams so far. Both have taken their clubs so far, and left so much unfinished business behind in pursuit of the upper echelons.

And it is hard to believe how both managers were previously struggling at lower-league clubs, with Lambert formerly the Manager of Colchester United, whilst Rodgers was dismissed as Reading boss after a string of poor results. Yet suddenly, after a season of defying the odds, both managers have been placed in charge of two clubs with tremendous histories and weights of expectation.

At Aston Villa, former boss Alex McCleish was always up against it following his tenure at local rivals Birmingham City, a club that were relegated under his management. All the while, at Anfield, Liverpool have struggled with Roy Hodgson and Dalglish failing to replicate the successes of Rafael Benitez, a manager who brought them so much silverware.

So for Lambert and Rodgers, they are each set to be subjected to the enormous task of rebuilding their respective clubs, with expectations and scrutiny perhaps too heavy to handle, a kind of pressure unprecedented in their clubs where success is merely a bonus. Only time will tell.