Lambert is set to be unveiled as Aston Villa manager on Wednesday after walking out on Norwich and McNally has already started to compile a short-list of potential successors.
Norwich have been strongly linked with Cardiff manager Malky Mackay, but rather than be constrained by a search of domestic bosses, McNally is aiming high and he wants to see if any European candidates fit their requirements.
Although they finished an impressive 12th in their first season back in the Premier League, Norwich are still regarded as one of the top flight's minnows, but McNally is convinced the Carrow Road post could be attractive to overseas coaches.
"The search is certainly a European search," McNally told the Eastern Daily Press.
"I don't think the candidate necessarily has to have Premier League experience - but they have to have top-league experience.
"If, for example, you have managed in Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga, they are some of the toughest leagues in the world too.
"So why on earth if there is a candidate in one of those leagues who was available and we felt was right for us should we say no to them just because they haven't managed in the Premier League?
"We have names in mind, of course, and we are now thinking deeply, and long into the night, about the characteristics that the new manager must have.
"They include hunger, commitment, desire, and then the usual things that we look for when we appointed Paul - knowledge, skill, relevant experience and then the glue which holds it all together, which is attitude."
Source: AFP
Source: AFP