Lambert expects January 'mayhem'

Lambert's men have acquitted themselves well on the Norfolk's club return to the top flight, with the 4-2 home win over Newcastle putting them in 10th place. However, the Scot knows a squad which includes many who earned successive promotions from npower League One will "need a hand" if they are to last the distance in 2012, his side having yet to keep a clean sheet. Lambert, though, is also acutely aware finding the right man at the right price when the transfer window opens again can be chaotic. "It is not easy. It is a window I don't like because you can just go in and panic buy or bring in lads you don't really want, but for the sake of doing it or other teams inflate the prices. It's a hard one to juggle," Lambert said in the Eastern Daily Press. "There are one or two areas I think you would look to strengthen, there is no doubt about that, but as I said sometimes it is a lot easier to say that than to go and get them in." Lambert added: "It's part of the game with agents. You have to go with it. Sometimes if the phone rings I'll think, 'No', sometimes I'll think, 'Yes' - that is the game. January will be like any other January - mayhem." The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder would not rule out a move for overseas players, if they fit the criteria. "I know people abroad and there are always people getting thrown into you, but you have got to see them with your own eyes to make sure they are capable of doing that. It's like everything with agents and DVDs being sent to me," he said. "I would never dismiss it, but I have a rough idea of the lads we want to bring in." Despite Norwich producing some impressive displays to chalk up five wins and four draws from their opening 15 games, Lambert accepts "there is a long, long way to go". The Canaries head to Everton on Saturday, and then Wolves before a televised fixture against high-flying Tottenham at Carrow Road on December 27. "We have given ourselves a terrific start, but that is all it is," the Norwich manager added. "We are competing with teams and are definitely a handful. If we keep that enthusiasm and desire then we will see what we can do. "It has been extraordinary because I think everybody predicted that we would be last, but there is a long, long way to go and it can quickly change. "We will just go from game to game and hopefully at the end of this season we will be in this terrific league."