The newly appointed Aston Villa manager http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stiliyan-Petrov-c34231 as the skipper even though the Bulgarian is currently battling leukaemia.
The 32-year-old midfielder was diagnosed this March and it was believed that his career would be brought to an end. However, Lambert confirmed he intended to keep Petrov as the captain of the club, a position he had retained for the past three years.
Having previously played alongside Petrov at Celtic, Lambert is aware of the quality the Bulgarian midfielder possesses. He believes Petrov can continue to make an impact on the English Premier League side, especially since they are looking to face a tough
term when the new season kicks off.
Lambert said in an interview:
“Stiliyan is still club captain. He is a huge influence on this football club. I was with him for a few hours, he was doing great and I'm looking forward to going back down to see him.
I played with him when he was only 19 and he first came over to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Scotland-c756. At the time I was told, we were on our way to Fulham. I was just devastated. I couldn't believe it.
He's such a strong lad and a terrific guy. Hopefully he'll be ok. Your health is more important than anything. I'm sure he'll beat it.”
Petrov became the first signing for former Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill in the summer transfer window of 2006 when he signed on a four year deal for 6.5 million pounds. After establishing himself as a first team player, Petrov went on to sign a new
four year deal with the club in 2009, which would keep him with the Villains until 2016.
It was the same year he was awarded the captaincy, which he retained when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gerard-c14664 Houllier took over as manager of the club. During his time at Villa Park, Petrov has gone on to make a total of 218 appearances in all competitions, with 12 goals.
In addition to making sure Petrov retained his position at the club, Lambert revealed he intended to make sure the international stars remained with Aston Villa past the summer transfer window. He revealed:
“This club has international footballers I'd like to keep here.”
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