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LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Fulham sacked manager Lawrie Sanchez on Friday after a poor run of results pushed them into the Premier League relegation zone last weekend.
The 48-year-old former Northern Ireland manager had only been in charge at Craven Cottage since April.
He becomes the seventh Premier League manager to lose his job this season.
"Losing its Premiership status is a proposition that simply can not be contemplated at this stage in the club's on-going development," the club said in a statement on their Web site (www.fulhamfc.com).
Ray Lewington and Billy McKinlay will take charge of the side until an a permanent replacement is appointed.
There was mounting speculation that former Fulham midfielder John Collins, who quit as the boss of Scottish Premier League club Hibernian on Thursday, could take over as the new manager.
Fulham are currently third from bottom in the table, having won just two of their 17 league matches this season, and have taken only one point from their last five games.
Sanchez, appointed boss on May 11 after starting as caretaker manager in April after Fulham sacked Chris Coleman following a disappointing run of results that dragged them into the relegation dogfight.
Sanchez steered Fulham to safety but the club have failed to maintain that improvement this season.
Sanchez previously coached Northern Ireland and left that position to take over Fulham. The highlight of his playing career was scoring the winning goal for Wimbledon in their 1-0 win over Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup final.
