Gullit, Ranieri, Puel or Sanchez?

With survival in the Premiership now assured attention is beginning to focus on who will be in charge at Craven Cottage next season.

With Lawrie Sanchez only on a temporary contract the board have the option to either make Lawrie`s position permanent of go for somebody fresh. Indeed, the fact that Sanchez intends to remain in his position as the manager of Northern Ireland could impact upon the outcome.

Sanchez has one more game to possibly influence the future, a trip to Middlesbrough. However, the fact he ensured our Premiership survival could galvanise support for the ex-Wimbledon Cup Final hero.

Speaking about the forthcoming clash, Sanchez had this to say,

"The target I set for myself was five points from five games and I intend to get that at Middlesbrough on Sunday."

Clearly, despite having achieved survival, Sanchez is refusing to take things easy.

Indeed, as the candidates start to emerge for the vacant position with ex-Chelsea managers, Ruud Gullit and Claudio Ranieri already being mentioned along with Lille coach Claude Puel, Sanchez has refused to rule himself out, stating,

"I`m not counting myself out. Whoever manages here will have a fantastic club to work with. There are a lot of fantastic people within it, backroom staff as well as players, some great support and a chairman who lets you manage."

Hopefully, the board will be in no rush to make a decision although you would hope that the position is filled in time to allow the new occupier of the managerial chair to set things up for next season.

It promises to be an interesting time in our history.