New Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez has made a habit out of achieving shocks in his 26-year career. He will forever be remembered for his headed goal which earned Wimbledon a shock 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup final.
And after his playing days finished, he guided Wycombe Wanderers to the FA Cup semi-final in 2001 when it took Liverpool to stop the minnows' march.
Sanchez, born in Lambeth in 1959, began his career with Reading in 1977.
Ironically, for a man who was to became a paid-up member of the 'Crazy Gang' at Wimbledon, he made his debut for Reading against the Dons in October '77 in a Second Division game.
That Wimbledon side was managed by Dave Bassett who was to sign the Londoner for �30,000 in 1984.
During his Dons career, in addition to scoring the famous FA Cup final goal in 1988, he notched the goal against Huddersfield in 1986 which clinched the club's historic promotion to the then First Division.
 |  Sanchez took the managerial reins at League of Ireland club Sligo Rovers in 1994 |
His Wimbledon days also saw him earning three caps for a Northern Ireland team managed by Billy Bingham.
That was an era when Northern Ireland were qualifying for World Cups and Sanchez has acknowledged that he was disappointed to earn so few caps.
Bingham's rationale was that he was well-served in Sanchez's midfield role with Norman Whiteside and then promising youngster Michael O'Neill similar type players.
Sanchez left Wimbledon for Swindon in 1993 but the Londoner stayed at the Robins for only a year before taking the managerial reins at League of Ireland club Sligo Rovers after Willie McStay's departure.
The Northern Ireland international guided the Irish club through the preliminary round of the European Cup Winners' Cup before they went down to a creditable 5-2 aggregate defeat against FC Brugge.
After guiding Sligo to eighth place in the League of Ireland and a FAI Cup semi-final place, Sanchez left Ireland to return to Wimbledon as reserve team manager.
During his four years in charge, he led the Dons reserves to the Combination title and with his management stock rising, it was little surprise that he was appointed Wycombe boss in early 1998.
Sanchez made an immediate impact at Adams Park by steering the club away from relegation trouble.
 Iain Dowie pulled out of the race early on |
In his second season, Wycombe finished a solid 12th in the table but Sanchez's real heroics at the club came a year later when he guided the club to the FA Cup semi-final.
On the back of the FA Cup run, Sanchez was under pressure to deliver promotion to Division One in the following season but a poor finish to the campaign saw the club slump to 11th place in the table.
Things were from bad to worse last season with Wycombe narrowly avoiding relegation with an 18th place finish.
The club's struggles meant a trimmed wage bill for the current campaign and a run of 10 games without a win culminated with Sanchez's sacking in late September.
Since then, he has been on the lookout for a new job.
After Sammy McIlroy's departure, the Londoner immediately forwarded his curriculum vitae to the Irish Football Association.
At that stage, few thought Sanchez a serious contender but with Iain Dowie dropping out of the running and Jimmy Nicholl proving impossible to secure, the job has effectively landed in his lap.
During his interview on Monday, Sanchez made clear that money would not be a sticking point and that ultimately ensured his appointment.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
