Sunderland lost 2-1 away at Birmingham City today, with Michael Beale once again a man under the spotlight.
Sunderland headed to St Andrew’s today where they went up against former boss Tony Mowbray.
And it was he who got one over his former club, coming from behind with two second half goals after Jack Clarke had handed Sunderland the lead in the first half.
The Black Cats shot themselves in the foot after the break; some questionable defending allowed Birmingham City back into the game and eventually handed them all three points.
Going into the game, Beale was obviously a talking point after that defeat at Huddersfield Town in midweek, then going up against the man he replaced at the Stadium of Light today.
James Copley: It’s ‘not going to’ work for Beale at Sunderland
After his first few games in charge, specifically a home defeat vs Hull City last month, Beale was a man under huge pressure.
Almost every Sunderland fan was unhappy with his appointment, but a run of three games without defeat, and two wins, took a huge amount of that pressure off his shoulders.
But today, everything seemed like it had lined up for things to go one of two ways for Beale; win and he’d look like the right man for the job, lose and he’d look like the wrong man.
After the game, Sunderland Echo journalist James Copley gave this damning verdict on Beale’s Sunderland tenure:
Michael Beale’s back to the wall after Birmingham City defeat
Defeat against any other side and any other manager today would arguably have kept Beale’s Sunderland critics at bay.
But to lose to a team that’s been misfiring all season and who is now managed by the man that Beale is supposed to be an upgrade on, is poor.
It reflects poorly on both Beale and the Sunderland owners and after such a rocky start to his tenure at the club, this latest setback could be the killer one for Beale.
How he and his players will recover form this remains to be seen. Not only that, but the gap to the top six is now four points, and after performances like in the last two, it’s very difficult to see Sunderland mounting a late charge for promotion.
Expect Sunderland to now keep Beale in charge until the summer at least, and then reevaluate.
Even if results improve, it seems like Beale and the Sunderland fans have such a damaged relationship, and at a club with such a strong and loyal support, not having that relationship could be fatal.