[3] Lambert was appointed manager of Stoke City in January 2018, but he was unable to prevent relegation to the Championship and left the club soon afterwards.

Lambert became manager of Ipswich Town in October 2018, but he was unable to prevent relegation to League One, and later left the club in February 2021 after failing to mount a promotion challenge.

After eliminating Faroese opponents, HB Tórshavn, Motherwell were drawn against German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, managed by Ottmar Hitzfeld.

[12] Dortmund manager Ottmar Hitzfeld had previously been impressed by Lambert when the club had played Motherwell in the 1994–95 UEFA Cup.

[12] Dortmund had been the German champions in the previous two seasons, but struggled to keep pace with Bayern Munich in 1996–97,[12] eventually finishing third in the Bundesliga.

Lambert played in the Champions League final as a defensive midfielder, quelling the influence of Juve's French playmaker Zinedine Zidane.

It was announced the Champions League group stage game on 5 November 1997 against Parma, his 23rd in European club competitions,[18] would be Lambert's last before he returned to Scotland.

His departure was prompted by his son suffering a febrile seizure after the Champions League final: having previously experienced this when living in Scotland, the family decided to return home to be closer to relatives.

In November 1997, after just over a year playing in the Bundesliga, appearing in 44 matches,[20] he was signed by Wim Jansen for Celtic for a fee in the region of £2 million.

[22] Lambert went on to help the Scottish giants win the championship that season, their first in ten years, halting Rangers' run of nine consecutive titles which had previously equalled the total achieved by Celtic in the Jock Stein era.

In the return leg at Pittodrie, Germany were two up after 40 minutes before Duncan Ferguson set up Ray McKinnon to pull one back before half-time.

[36] After studying for football coaching qualifications in 2005, Lambert landed his first managerial job with Livingston on 1 June 2005, assisted by Norrie McWhirter.

[41] On 9 October 2008, he was appointed as manager of League One team Colchester United to succeed Geraint Williams,[42] before winning his first game 2–1 at Stockport County.

[48] The Norwich statement read, in part, "The club will fight tooth and nail to retain the services of Paul Lambert and his team during this critical period of the season and whilst they remain employed under a long-term contract".

[48] On 2 May 2011, Lambert and Norwich secured promotion to the Premier League after a win over Portsmouth, taking the second automatic spot with one game to spare.

[52] Lambert's first competitive match as Aston Villa manager came on the opening day of the Premier League season on 18 August 2012, a 1–0 defeat to newly promoted West Ham United at Upton Park.

[54] He was handed a one-match touchline ban on 21 November 2012 for comments relating to a penalty decision in Villa's defeat to Manchester City.

[55] On his first return to Carrow Road, Lambert received a mixed reception from the Norwich fans on 11 December 2012, in a League Cup quarter-final which his Villa team won 4–1.

[57] This was followed by consecutive home defeats, with Villa losing 4–0 to Tottenham Hotspur and 3–0 to Wigan Athletic, leading to increased pressure on Lambert's position.

Lambert did however manage to get Villa to record back-to-back wins for the first time since May 2011, as they defeated fellow relegation rivals Reading and Queens Park Rangers.

[63] Villa finished 15th with the youngest starting eleven in the Premier League, leading to praise from pundit Alan Hansen, who said that Lambert was "a contender for Manager of the Season.

[65] Towards the end of 2013, the performances worsened greatly, especially home form, and Lambert was criticised by many fans and pundits for putting out a counter-attacking side with no plan B.

Aston Villa subsequently lost 2–1 at home to Sheffield United, a team two divisions below them, marking the fourth consecutive year that Lambert has been eliminated from the FA Cup by lower league opposition.

On 11 February 2015, Villa announced they had parted company with Lambert after a 2–0 loss at Hull, leaving the club 18th in the Premier League table.

[74] On 5 November 2016, Lambert was appointed head coach of Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers, taking over with the team in 19th place.

[3] On 15 January 2018, Lambert was appointed manager of Premier League club Stoke City, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Potters, and officially took up post the following day.

[78] He joined Stoke with the club in the relegation zone, having dismissed previous manager Mark Hughes due to a poor run of form.

[82] Lambert was unable to prevent Stoke's continued decline and relegation to the Championship, leaving the club via mutual agreement in May 2018 after just four months in charge.

[90] Despite a strong start, Lambert failed to achieve promotion with the team finishing in 11th after the league was determined on a points-per-game basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[93] Despite winning his two last games in charge against Hull City and Doncaster Rovers, Lambert left Ipswich by mutual consent on 28 February 2021 after failing to mount a promotion push during the season due to inconsistent form.