Sunderland head to Birmingham City in the Championship today, for what feels like a crunch match at either end of the table.
Sunderland face former boss Tony Mowbray and his Birmingham City side today.
The Black Cats under Michael Beale fell to 10th place in the Championship table after a midweek defeat at Huddersfield Town, though a win today could lift them back into the top six.
Blues meanwhile sit in 18th and gave themselves a six-point cushion to the bottom three after beating Blackburn Rovers in midweek.
And a lot of the talk going into today is about Mowbray and Beale.
Tony Mowbray could get one over former club Sunderland today
Mowbray was, in the eyes of many, harshly sacked by Sunderland. And Beale was an unpopular appointment at first, with fans piling the pressure on the 43-year-old after a rocky start.
That pressure has eased now, but after that 1-0 defeat vs Huddersfield, Beale could find the pressure quickly re-mounting if he loses today.
And speaking on The Second Tier podcast, EFL pundit Ryan Dilks had his say on Mowbray and Beale, and how it wouldn’t be a ‘good look’ for the latter if he were to lose here today.
“The tide does seem to be turning for Mick Beale,” Dilks said. “It would be interesting to see his status in that regard if he were to lose here, though. They are just coming off the back of a loss to Huddersfield in midweek, and it wouldn’t be a great look for Beale if he were to lose to the man that Sunderland got rid of, so they could get him in.”
Birmingham City win would be a personal victory for Michael Beale
A win today would do everyone at Sunderland a world of good.
Although Birmingham City are down in 18th, they’re showing definite signs of improvement under Mowbray, and they have a set of players capable of challenging anyone in the division.
Sunderland though need to show their mettle today. They need to show Mowbray and Birmingham City why they’re a team in the race for promotion and for Beale, a win would be a huge personal victory.
Like Dilks suggests, a loss here would be a bad look for Beale as it would suggest that Sunderland have downgraded managers, if Mowbray were to win with a misfiring Birmingham City side.
But a win for Sunderland would prove that Sunderland did in fact make a good decision in sacking Mowbray and then hiring Beale, although the jury may still be out on that one for a while longer yet.
Kick off is at 3pm today.