The end of the road: Lawrie Sanchez is fired

Lawrie Sanchez kept Fulham up last year, and we shouldn't forget that.  Sadly for him, it looked like he was taking us down this year, and in today's Premier League that's not acceptable.  Something probably had to be done.   

Did we expect this?  Well things started to get a bit odd when John Collins resigned from his post at Hibs.  Rumours flew around but were initially dismissed. Things were bad, very bad after the Newcastle defeat, but surely if the club was going to act it would've done so in the early part of the week?  Give the new man time to prepare for the vital Wigan game,  But Collins had resigned out of the blue, was a Fulham player; surely in this case 2 + 2 had to make 4.

The denials came quickly.  The club put out a statement saying that there had been no change in manager.  Thanks, we knew that.  Collins denied having had talks with Fulham.  Fine, but he would say that wouldn't he?  We were none the wiser, but things seemed to be coming to a head.   The bookmakers' odds on Sanchez getting the sack drew shorter and shorter, and at midnight last night only Victor Chandler was still taking bets, and that at a useless 1-3.    Things were happening alright.

This morning we got official word.  Sanchez was gone.   The club cited a perilous league position and uncomfortable recent results, and it was hard to disagree.   We've seen some bad football at Fulham over the years, and Sanchez ultimately showed no sign of being able to take things to the next level.

His tenure is surprisingly hard to judge.  He bought a lot of players, but sold a lot of players as well. The new ones are probably better than the old ones, but crucially the new group lacked a midfield grafter, and this has been our achilles heel all year.  Michael Brown was never going to be mistaken for Lionel Messi, but he didn't half get stuck in.   Papa Bouba Diop was generally bored of playing for us, but even a bored Bouba would've plugged the midfield hole.  Both were sold, and when the plan to replace them fell through (as surely it must have), we were left to snatch at Danny Murphy late in the window. Murphy is a nice footballer, but nobody's idea of a tackler.   His partnership with Steve Davis in the middle of the park has been a disaster, with opposition midfields running through them with great regularity. Harry Redknapp's Porstmouth giants embarrassed us, manhandling our midfield with pitiful ease. 

Sanchez would have rectified this in the January transfer window, but ultimately didn't get that far.  An interview with Mr Al Fayed earlier in the year suggested that money would be made available, but would have to be earned.   Sanchez hadn't earned the trust required to spend the money to fix the problems. We hadn't won nearly enough games, which is the important thing.  It's really no good me saying that we could be top ten with a bit of luck.  We are in the relegation places, and the road to hell is paved with good excuses. So someone else will get a go.

What do they have to do?   Find a midfield hard-man, and fast.  Work out how to play Diomansy Kamara and David Healy in the same side.  Work out how to play Kamara with anyone, actually.   He cost six million but can't (or won't pass).  That's not good enough.    The defence is not ideal but will do for now. The nucleus of a decent side is in place.   

The other thing is that the new man needs to be lucky.  Sanchez made a lot of mistakes, but had awful luck too.   I've catalogued the disasters often and won't do so again, but with a little luck earlier in the season Sanchez would have had a points cushion for the tricky spell we've just suffered through.    But it was not to be. Sanchez had talked a good game, but failed to live up to his own expectations.   It's harsh, but perhaps he'll enjoy Christmas a little more knowing that he hasn't got to dredge up some points from White Hart Lane and St Andrew's.   Small consolation, perhaps.

And so a short pause in the battle.   We don't know who's next, but are excited at another new beginning.  There's a good team hidden away in this Fulham squad, but it needs to win some football matches if we're to survive this season.  Saturday's home game against struggling Wigan would be a good place to start.

Comments

[ollie]

Sanchez suited international football,a limited number of games in a qualifying tournament,a set panel of players in terms of the opposition with a pre-determinable pattern of play,add to this a slower paced game at international level and forever having the tag of being the underdog team and you can see why the premiership is a daunting task when quality and the limited resources of Fulham are taken into account.

I fear Hodgson has made a poor choice but he's never being linked to any of the top jobs so perhaps he felt it was his only way back into the Premiership but why is it he only lasts one or two years in each job?

[Mike Hopkins]

No Sanchez didn't really keep us up. Nor was there any "moving car" left behind by Coleman. The car had well and truly stalled under Coleman and was destined for the junk yard. We stayed up with a bit of luck and a Clint Dempsey goal against an understrength Liverpool. Sanchez did have a lot of bad luck, and we played better football under his early matches, then we did under Coleman. But the lack of results led to a state of panic and dour long-ball, hoof it anywhere football which made things even worse. Yes he had to go. But Coleman would not have done any better with the funds available.

[Phil Masongo]

It was a mistake letting Coleman go. He was a decent manager able to keep a below average side like Fulham in the PL for a number of years. The guy had very little cash and even when the club sold players like Diop, he still managed to grind out results.

[martintheveg]

I don't think you can say "Sanchez kept us up last term", even though he was boss, it was more luck and a poor Liverpool side, the blame for all this lies with the board and M.A.F. with his cheap options. Lack of investment has cost our club dearly.
We need football people at the top NOT ex Harrods people, it's a football club NOT a bloody store!

[Dominic Jones]

I disagree that Sanchez kept Fulham up last season. He only managed to get three points from five games. What kept Fulham up was the points that Coleman's team had won - Sanchez just got into an already moving car and rolled it over the line.