DESPERATE FOR DIVISION ONE
(Thursday 17th October 2002)
Lawrie Sanchez Lawrie Sanchez has told fans that he is desperate to get Wycombe Wanderers into Division One and was racking his brains in the summer for a solution. The Wycombe boss was answering fans criticisms at a packed Fans Forum held in the Vere Suite on Monday 14th October and said the so called 'long-ball' game could be the answer. Stating that he was severly restricted by resources, Sanchez said "We can have a good footballing team - a passing team. But we can only pass to a certain level which is 13th or 14th in the division. It would be entertaining, we could win some games like the 5-2's against Wrexham at the beginning of last season. We could lose some games like we did at Northampton 4-1 at the end of last year." The Wycombe boss described Wycombe as a 'mid-eight' team In Division Two and thought Wycombe may have reached their natural position.
Sanchez went on to justify the media outbursts following the 'booing' incident at the Crewe game, stating "I've been in football 25 years now and it's the first time I've ever seen that happen. We were 1-0 up against Crewe having started the game really brightly. We had locked them in their half for the first twenty minutes and there was sarcasm with regards to the football, there were boo's, there was the 'hoof', whatever you want to say. And it played its part in undermining the confidence of the team." The Wycombe boss said he understood the fans points of view but added "If that's what you don't want to see, I won't play it. We will pass it as much as you want, we will entertain you as much as we can with the players we've got, we will finish 13th or 14th in the League because that is the resources available to me."
The tacticians in the audience rubbished the style of play by branding it as 'hoof ball' but Sanchez said "There has to be somewhere in between that you don't quite like before you get to where you are going." He confessed that the team hadn't played the style well but added "I attempted it because I wanted to get this team into the First Division. I desperately want this team to get into the First Division. We don't want that style of football and therefore we won't do it."
Club Chairman Ivor Beeks said he wished to draw a line under the debate on the way the team played football. He pledged the support of the Board by saying they "would give as much financial support to the Manager so that he is able to have the players that are available." The Chairman went on to add that the Club hoped to improve an already successful Youth structure at the club, promising some sort of action within 12 months to help bring through more players. However, Sanchez warned that some of the top earners at the club would be walking a tightrope at the end of the season due the increased financial constraints at the club.
The current situation sees Wycombe laying 15th in the table, a position that Sanchez says is isn't good enough. "It's not good enough for me and it's not good enough for the team. We will not finish 15th we will finish above that. We are five points less than we had this time last year. Five points is a lot but it's not an awful lot and we will get that right. What you have seen in the last three games you will see we are going in the right direction." The Wycombe boss is sure to go away and reflect on the varied views at the forum but he clearly has a difficult job to balance entertainment with the crucial requirement of positive results. He concluded "I will endeavour to entertain you as much as I possibly can and try and win football matches."

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