What a week. Northern Ireland get a hammering at home to underdogs Iceland, beat Spain, ranked 7th in the world, and then there's talk of the manager quitting.

Thankfully, on Saturday Lawrie Sanchez announced, to the surprise of some and delight of many, that he will be staying on as Northern Ireland manager. This puts an end to 72 hours of worry whether or not the man who has made such huge strides as Northern Ireland boss will still be there next month.

Then on Sunday he contacted the Our Wee Country fans' website expressing his gratitude for their support during the whole controversy, and apologising if the debacle had detracted from their happiness at the fantastic result against Spain. (They're still waiting for an apology from Stephen Beacom.)

He did take the opportunity to ask the fans to take anything they read in the media with a pinch of salt in future, "rather than have the opinions of those with other agendas foisted upon you." Obviously he believes some of the local journalists may not be too happy with his "snub", despite the fact he had plenty of other things on his mind at the time.

I don't know what I can add to that. The fans' delight at Lawrie's decision to stay says everything that needs to be said about Sanchez's credentials. No doubt there will be plenty of renditions of "Lawrie Sanchez's Green and White Army" and "There's Only One Lawrie Sanchez" in Copenhagen for the qualifier against Denmark next month.