After leaving Sunderland yesterday, Michael Beale has now been told what he suffered from during his time at the club.
Michael Beale was fighting a losing battle before he even took the job as Sunderland manager.
Supporters were expecting a high-profile manager, such as Will Still to arrive, but were left underwhelmed when Beale was the man Kristjaan Speakman appointed.
Unfortunately, an overwhelming majority of Black Cats supporters were proven right as the 43-year-old only won four of his 12 matches in charge of the club, including a 3-0 defeat against arch-rivals Newcastle United in the FA Cup.
Beale departed after losing consecutive games against Huddersfield Town and Tony Mowbray’s Birmingham City, which ultimately left a bitter taste as Sunderland slipped to 10th in the table, four points behind the top six.
Although he deserves to be lambasted for the poor job he did, the fact he was never the right man anyway made it difficult for him to win people over, while some of his actions on and off the pitch didn’t help his cause.
However, one journalist has now highlighted what he suffered from during his time in the hot seat.
What Michael Beale suffered from as Sunderland manager
Speaking on the Sunderland Echo’s YouTube channel, Phil Smith believed Beale needed someone whom he trusted to take some of the slack away from him.
He said: “I do think Beale maybe suffered from not having someone who he trusted, who he could lean on.”
The importance of having an experienced assistant manager is important in any job. Manchester City have Juanma Lillo and Jurgen Klopp’s assistant at Liverpool is Pepijn Lijnders while Sunderland promoted Mike Dodds to that role.
Although he led the Black Cats to victories over Leeds United and West Brom before Beale took charge, the former Rangers boss could have done with someone to relieve some of the pressure and advise him on the correct decisions.
He wouldn’t have known Dodds that well and striking up a strong relationship with an assistant is crucial for any manager to have success, though it perhaps wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
The outcome wouldn’t have changed
Ultimately, Beale drove himself towards doom at Sunderland and having someone he knew to take some of the slack away from him wouldn’t have altered the outcome.
Not only did he attack the fans by tarnishing their name to the national press, but he also disrespected his players and those were just two of several reasons why the club parted ways.
As mentioned previously, he was never the right man for the job in the first place and while supporters will be relieved to see the back of him, the board have to get the next appointment right and they will know that.
For now, though, Dodds will take charge of the side for the foreseeable and his first match back in the dugout is against Swansea City on Saturday afternoon.