Lambert adds Norwich U23s coach Gill to his Ipswich coaching staff
Matt Gill pictured recently at Colney Picture: Norwich City Football Club - Credit: Norwich City Football Club
Paul Lambert has linked up with one of his former Norwich City players swiftly after his shock appointment as Ipswich Town manager, adding Matt Gill to his coaching staff.
The former Canaries and Peterborough midfielder leaves his role as City's Under-23s coach to become part of Lambert's first-team coaching staff at Portman Road.
Gill had returned to his boyhood club in the summer of 2009 and made 10 appearances as Lambert took over from Bryan Gunn early in the campaign and steered the Canaries to League One title glory to bounce back to the second tier straight away.
Only four league appearances followed as Lambert continued the revival with Championship promotion the next season, with Gill spending time on loan at Peterborough and Walsall in League One.
He left on a free to join Bristol Rovers in 2011 as City got ready for the Premier League but returned as an academy coach in 2014 and has been in charge of the U23s for the last 18 months.
Matt Gill lost Darren Huckerby as his U23s assistant in October 2017 as part of academy staff changes at Norwich City Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
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A statement on City's website concluded: 'Everyone at Norwich City would like to thank Matt for all his hard work and dedication during his time with us and wish him all the very best for the future.
'Under-18s coach David Wright will take charge of City's U23s for their PL2 match with Fulham on Monday evening at Carrow Road.'
MORE: Lambert takes charge of Norwich City's rivals
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The 37-year-old, who was on the books at Norwich as a youngster before emerging with Peterborough, joins Lambert's attempts to pick Town up off the bottom of the Championship table.
The Scot was appointed as Paul Hurst's successor this morning and Gill has been appointed as first-team coach alongside Lambert's former assistant at Wolves and Stoke, Stuart Taylor, and fitness coach Jim Henry.
Gill's switch across the divide comes less than two weeks since City's academy staff spoke to the media about plans for the future, with Gill speaking alongside academy manager Steve Weaver and U18s boss Wright.
With the first-team emergence of Jamal Lewis, Max Aarons and Todd Cantwell in the past year, Gill said last week: 'We can't rest on our laurels. We need to keep producing and there is ultimately a lot of pressure on staff to do that and make sure we're doing the stuff needed for the players to progress.
'This year there's some excellent boys in both U18 and U23 groups once again, and all the way down. We just need to make sure we're accountable for doing what we need to do to make sure they're ready for that opportunity once it comes along.'
Having also spent time with the England U19s and U21s in the recent international break, the opportunity of a first-team coaching role has proved too much to resist.
He leaves on the back of a bright start to the PL2 season tailing off for the U23s, losing 7-2 away to Stoke on Monday in a third successive defeat.
