The Irish Football Association (IFA) are expected to spend today trying to reverse what appears an irreversible decision by Lawrie Sanchez to resign as manager of Northern Ireland. Sanchez is understood to have verbally informed the IFA of his intention to leave his post with immediate effect after Wednesday night's 3-2 victory over Spain at Windsor Park.
The 46-year-old flew back to England yesterday without having made his customary farewells to the Northern Irish squad.
There was no comment from Sanchez, and his players were left in the dark as the IFA held a meeting to discuss what their next move should be.
Jim Boyce, the IFA president, said: "There is a problem, but I expect Lawrie to stay on as manager until the end of the European qualifiers."
But it appears unlikely Sanchez, who is contracted until 2008, will be in Copenhagen next month when the Irish visit Denmark.
There is no definitive explanation as to why Sanchez is believed to have taken the IFA chief executive, Howard Wells, aside after the Spain game and told him he was intent on resigning, but his failure to turn up for the mandatory post-match press conference was confirmation of a downturn in his relationship with the local media.
Earlier in the week Sanchez expressed his disappointment with the reaction to last Saturday's 3-0 home defeat by Iceland in their opening qualifier.
A surge of optimism from press and fans had preceded the game, testimony to the team's improvement since his first game in 2004 - when the Irish had slipped beneath Madagascar in the Fifa rankings - and the effect of last year's 1-0 win over England.
But after Iceland there was speculation that defeat by Spain could spell the end of his tenure. The recent decision to end the practice whereby Irish journalists shared the team hotel, part of the culture of Northern Ireland down the years, alienated some reporters, and Sanchez may have perceived a change in their tone.
Trying to maintain equilibrium and combating public fluctuations in mood is an unwelcome part of any manager's business, and the situation is amplified at national level. But the former Wimbledon player is an experienced, intelligent man for whom that task would seem straightforward.
He failed to appear in Linfield's social club, where press conferences take place, and Wells cited "personal reasons" for Sanchez's decision.
It would have been understandable had he wanted to revel in the victory sealed by David Healy's hat-trick, so the non-appearance may be evidence of deeper disillusion with the conventions attached to the job.
Until he speaks publicly, Sanchez's perception of the situation remains uncertain, but his gesture on the final whistle of throwing his IFA tie and jacket to the crowd does not look now like a spontaneous response to a rousing atmosphere.
The personal reasons cited by Wells are understood to relate to the death of the mother of Sanchez's partner. He was returning to England to attend the funeral.
It is said the accumulation of the personal and the professional combined to leave Sanchez subdued prior to the Spain game, and yet his players performed like men stirred by their manager.
This was arguably Sanchez's finest hour. It was better than overcoming England and better than leading Wycombe Wanderers to an English FA Cup semi-final, as he did six years ago.
His team faced a formidable Spain XI boasting a Raul-Torres-Villa forward line, up against players plucked from Burnley, Motherwell and a substitute from Northampton Town.
