When the end came for Chris Coleman, Fulham were decisive. They ditched the man who decided couldn’t dig the club out of a relegation battle and plumped for Lawrie Sanchez, whose amazing achievements with Northern Ireland had made him flavour of the month. The new boss will juggle his international commitments with trying to keep Fulham in the top flight until the end of the season, but what precisely do we now about Lawrie Sanchez?
The defining moment of his playing career came with the famous winner over Liverpool for Wimbledon in the 1988 FA Cup final – when ‘the Crazy Gang beat the culture club’ in the immortal words of John Motson to seal one of the biggest shocks in the famous competition’s history. Sanchez, the first player to sent off for a professional foul, was originally a midfielder at Reading but moved further forward after joining Wimbledon. He had several outstanding moments with the Dons, including scoring the goal that secured promotion to the top flight against Huddersfield in May 1986.
Sanchez, who completed a degree in management science whilst still playing for Reading, was appointed player-manager at League of Ireland side Sligo Rogers in 1994. He guided them to the FAI Cup semi-finals in his first season in charge and then took charge of a Cup Winners’ Cup tie against Belgian giants Club Brugge. He returned to Wimbledon as reserve team manager in 1995, winning the Football Combination in his very first season, and joined Joe Kinnear’s first-team coaching staff two years later.
He performed a heroic escape act after being handed the Wycombe Wanderers job in February 1999, keeping the Chairboys in the Second Division with a remarkable run of six away wins in their last eight fixtures. The last of these came on the final day at Lincoln thanks to a looping header from Neil Emblen. Sanchez, who had appointed his old Wimbledon team-mate Terry Gibson as his assistant, then declared that he would keep Wycombe out of relegation trouble the following year and bring the crowds back to Adams Park. Both objectives were achieved with Wanderers easily finishing in mid-table.
He then guided the Chairboys to the greatest moment in their history as they reached the last four of the FA Cup in 2001. They beat three First Division sides to reach the last eight in Grimsby, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sanchez’s old side Wimbledon, who were defeated 8-7 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out after a pair of 2-2 draws. Then came a crazy quarter final at Premier League Leicester City, settled by header from striker Roy Essandoh, who had only joined the club after his agent had answered a Teletext appeal for strikers. The scenes of Sanchez celebrating in the Filbert Street tunnel having been sent to the stands will live long in the memory.
Wycombe, who had never progressed beyond the third round before, now faced Liverpool in a semi-final at Villa Park. On a rain-soaked afternoon and roared on by 19,000 fans the Second Division side held their own for 78 minutes before goals from Emile Heskey and Robbie Fowler ended their fairytale run. Wycombe’s remarkable rise towards the play-off places stalled in the aftermath of the ITV Digital collapse and Sanchez was sacked following a shocking start to the 2003/04 season.
Sanchez took over Northern Ireland, for whom he had made three appearances as a player, with the national team at a low ebb. They were ranked 124th in the world, hadn’t scored a goal for 1,298 minutes and were without a win for almost three years. He set about changing the culture of the side, guiding the team to a memorable 1-0 win over Sven Goran Eriksson’s England – one of a number of glory nights at Windsor Park. The green and white army came from behind to beat Spain, defeated Sweden and held Portugal to a 1-1 draw. They now stand a strong chance of qualifying for Euro 2008 and set 45th in the latest FIFA world rankings.
Sanchez might not have managed at the elite level of English football but he has a proven ability to led an underdog to incredible new heights. His powers as a motivator are undoubted and those skills could come in handy as he seeks to steer Fulham to safety in the coming weeks.
