Sanchez sets himself a difficult new goal

Soccer News: Lawrie Sanchez has been named as the new manager of Northern Ireland after Jimmy Nicholl, the Irish Football Association's first choice, priced himself out of the job.

Sanchez, sacked as manager of Wycombe Wanderers last September, has signed a two-year full-time contract and has appointed Gerry Armstrong, formerly the assistant to Bryan Hamilton, as his number two. His first task will be to eke a goal from a side which has not scored for 1,242 minutes and has plunged to 124th in FIFA's rankings.

"I have caused one or two upsets in my time," said the 44-year-old former Wimbledon and Northern Ireland midfielder. "I hope to think in a situation like this I can cause one or two upsets as well."

His ousting of the favourite will have already surprised Irish supporters who had envisaged Nicholl, a hero of the team's 1982 World Cup campaign in Spain, finally taking over the role.

Yet, almost 10 years to the day since the IFA's international committee rejected his application to succeed Billy Bingham because they felt Nicholl's "terms and conditions" were unacceptable, history has repeated itself.

The committee contacted Nicholl and his club Dunfermline where he is assistant manager on Tuesday with a view to him taking the Irish job as long as the former Raith Rovers and Millwall manager accepted their terms.

Those roughly equated to what he earns at East End Park - just under £100,000 a year, with bonuses dependent on the team's success.

Yet, though Dunfermline were willing to waive a proportion of the compensation owed for the 15 months left on their assistant's contract, Nicholl was seeking a far greater basic wage, prompting the switch to Sanchez.

"Somehow, I expected it," admitted Nicholl. "I was willing to make financial sacrifices, but I like working where I am. Good luck to Lawrie."

Dunfermline chairman John Yorkston said: "They offered us a game as part of the payment, which if we had a crowd of 5,000 at £10 a head would make us a profit of between £30,000 and £40,000."

Sanchez won three caps for Northern Ireland in the 1980s - his father came from an Ecuadorean family and his mother from Ulster - but he considers himself English and faces an onerous task convincing the fans that he is the right man to lead the team out of the doldrums.

Under Sammy McIlroy, the Northern Irish team finished bottom of their Euro 2004 qualifying group and in a recent poll on television 49 per cent of fans cited Nicholl as first choice, with only 3 per cent behind Sanchez.

"There'll be fresh faces coming in, a fresh start for everyone, and it can only get better," said Armstrong. "It will get better."

Sanchez's first match will be a friendly against Norway next month. His first competitive fixture will be the World Cup qualifier against Poland in September.They are due to play the first of their group games against England in March next year.