EXCLUSIVE! Former Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez is enjoying his break from football but admits he is keen to get back into management.

Sanchez parted company with Fulham in December after a poor run of results left the west London club in relegation trouble.

But after over a month of enforced holiday, the former Northern Ireland boss now finds himself champing at the bit to get back into the game.

"I'm a football manager and football managers manage football teams," Sanchez told Eurosport-Yahoo! "I'm looking to get back as soon as there is a right job that I think I can make a difference in.

"At this moment in time, there isn't a rush, but at the same time, I would like to be back hands-on because there's only so much you can do on this side, just sat watching."

While new Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan claimed he had not followed football when he found himself out of the game, Sanchez - a football man born and bred - has preferred to keep abreast of all the latest developments.

"When you're not in the game you keep an eye on what's going on," he said. "Not as intensely as when you're working full time - sometimes you want to take a little step back - but of course I've been monitoring the major things that are going on.

"I've been to a couple of games - Reading is my home town team so I've been down there a couple of times to watch them play - just to keep a hand in it.

"Throughout my life, on Saturdays you go to a football match. It's part of your blood. If you're home on a Saturday, it does feel strange."

When Sanchez left Fulham he became the seventh Premier League managerial casualty of the season, a number which has since increased to eight following the departure of Sam Allardyce from Newcastle.

But the 48-year-old is pragmatic enough to know that the spectre of the axe falling is part and parcel of taking a job in football management.

"It's something that as a manager you have to be aware of," he said. "You just try and make sure it's someone else and not yourself.

"The only thing you can guarantee when you take over as a manager is that at some stage you will depart from that club, probably on their terms rather than your own."

But what Sanchez finds curious is that big clubs and big names have been involved in the managerial merry-go-round so far this season.

"It's strange this season that some of the managers who have left have been at the top. For example, the [Jose] Mourinhos of this world and you see the pressure [Rafa] Benitez has been under recently. They're successful managers.

"It's a symptom of modern management. At the top level they can't afford to fail. It's something that isn't going to change. You just have to be aware of it when you take a job."

He added: "It's nice not to be in the firing line, but as a manager it's something you miss after a while."

Mike Hytner / Eurosport