Lambert unlikely to go down Continental route

New Canaries chief scout Ewan Chester scoured the world for players to don the blue of Glasgow Rangers -- but it's unlikely to mean Norwich City are about to join the international transfer market.

There are only two players from outside the British Isles on City's books - Dane Jens Berthel Askou and Zak Whitbread, who was born in the US, but has spent most of his life in England.

Going continental is a path the City manager is reluctant to tread.

"I don't want to fill the club with foreign lads," he said. "I think you do that it can create its problems. It's different if they are the Scandinavian type, those sort of lads are British-type lads, but I am just not too sure of going down that road.

"I like to know lads that I have seen myself and Ewan will come back and say this is it, you have to look there. It doesn't matter to me whether he's European or not if I think he can do a job for this club, but it's something that I'm not overly keen on because I think the identity of this football club need British-type lads."

When Lambert arrived at Carrow Road last August it was to a club with no chief scout - a job that can take in half a dozen football matches a week and thousands of miles in travelling.

"We came into this club last year and we didn't have a scout, we never had anybody," he said. "We used our own eyes and every lad that came in made a contribution to the club. Ewan coming in will no doubt 10-fold the club on that side of it. It needs restructuring, it needs somebody like him to come in.

"Every club you look at, it doesn't matter where you want to go, they have big, big scouts to go and recruit players, which we did without having somebody like him onside."

The relationship between Lambert and Chester goes back many years.

"I've known him from a right few years," he said. "We became friends and when he went to Fulham I used to go down and see him there.

"But you don't work at Rangers Football Club for 20-odd years and work under Walter Smith if you are not good at your job. He was in the Rangers era where they had (Paul) Gascoigne and (Brian) Laudrup and all those lads, a fantastic football team they were at that given time and Ewan was part of that whole thing."

Rangers to Norwich is a big move - a culture shock perhaps?

"Yes, the scale might come down a bit because it's the Championship, but the principles are the exact same - I have to win more games than not. Everybody has to go in the same direction to try and achieve it and if we do it, it will be great.

"The lads in the lower leagues can they sometimes step up to the Championship? I'm pretty sure they can. Ewan might come back and say he's seen somebody at a junior club, a Lowestoft, and seen there is a lad there you might want to have a look at, so it doesn't necessarily need to be from Europe.

"If they can play the game and I think they're worth a look at then I will certainly look at them."

Chester started work this week, where he will be reunited with City's chief executive David McNally, who was managing director at Fulham during his time in London.

"It has people I trust and respect and obviously it is a very progressive club, a great set-up, training ground excellent so there is a chance to do something," he said.

With spare cash hard to come by, being able to spot talent which can be developed into first team quality is a valuable asset.

"I think it is something that you tend to look on as a more important role than ever now because teams can obviously take fewer risks in signing players than they could in the past," he said.

"I think that's probably throughout the game now - apart from Premier League clubs with their Sky budget I think throughout the game there is a reality and clubs are obviously having to try and work to budget now maybe more than they have in the past.

"It is identifying what the manager needs. Paul will give me specifics and it is up to me to fill in the gaps. You have to try and have a structure, you have certain positions you want to strengthen and it is your job to come up with better than what you have."