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Paul Lambert has taken a swipe at his former club by stating that he was happy when the club sacked him.

In quotes posted on the Express website, Lambert told of his relief because 'there is something wrong' at Villa Park.

"I loved my time off,' he said.

"For the first time, it was stress-free. I went over to Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, enjoying my life and watching these great teams train.

"But I knew the job I'd done at Aston Villa – I knew the money I was working with, which was nowhere near what it is now, and the lads did great to keep us up.

"Was I happy (to leave)? Aye, because I knew it was coming and I was happy that it did happen, as you can see now. It was just a little bit harder than a lot of people think.

"I've been on the bike, cycling 70 miles every week, and I don't have the stresses I did at Aston Villa.

"Villa have a great fan base and brilliant facilities – but there's definitely something wrong with them, that's for sure."

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