In January 2003, Lambie announced that he would retire at the end of the season as he did not agree with new regulations in football; he had attempted to sign Nathan Lowndes and Steven Ferguson on loan from English clubs but was barred by FIFA as they had both recently played in Scotland for other teams. On 17 May 2003 he made his farewell in his last game at Firhill Stadium, a 1–0 loss to Dundee United, having already guaranteed survival in the SPL on a considerably lower budget than their competitors. He became a member of the club's board. In 2004, Lambie returned as manager for a fourth spell, this time as Caretaker, briefly around the end of 2004 and beginning of 2005, in a bid to help the team's struggles on the pitch under the new management foil of Derek Whyte and Gerry Britton, who were later dismissed from their roles, as Dick Campbell took over reign at Firhill.