[goldenHuddlestone]

The jury is out on how good a manager – or not – Sanchez actually is.
And the chances are, we won't know until January how well, or how poorly, he is doing at Craven Cottage because it will take until then to see whether or not a squad which he has hugely overhauled is actually up to the job.

Sanchez grasped the nettle at Fulham, after taking over from Chris Coleman in April, by having a massive clear-out once Premiership surival was assured.

A dozen players left the club and 14 came in over the close season and Fulham are still trying to gel in the wake of such massive transfer activity.

One or two players have not fitted in straight away and that has cost Fulham in games they were close to winning. But the fans are reserving their judgment on the manager because the team has genuinely suffered from some bad luck so far and with the division being incredibly tight at the moment, their season, like Sunderland's can go either way.

For Sanchez, Fulham represents the chance he has long been waiting for to prove himself at the highest level.

He has scored some notable successes during managerial spells in charge of Wycombe Wanderers and Northern Ireland but this will be the real test of his managerial abilities.

Like his opposite number this weekend, Sanchez is a rookie manager in the Premiership but also one who has been supported by a board ready to release the purse strings.

Fulham survived relegation by just one point last season and chairman Al Fayed has been determined to back his new manager to the hilt over the summer.

Sanchez has spent £20m hoping to ensure a much more comfortable campaign ahead

As well as his former Northern Ireland charges David Healy, Chris Baird and Steven Davis he has also made some shrewd signings – Diomansy Kamara, Paul Konchesky and Aaron Hughes.

As a result Fulham have not been embarrassed once this season and have played some good football. Their problem, like Sunderland's, is turning performances into points.

[theo kawala]

I agree, Fulham have been playing good football and done very well, scoring goals but the thing is, when they score they stop attacking and get defensive, in the last seven games they've gone 1-0 up they've only won one of those games, Sanchez needs to have a look at Statistics and then see what he has to do, he's a good manager.