It has been exactly six months since Michael Beale was sacked by Sunderland.
The former head coach lasted only 12 games after controversially replacing Tony Mowbray in December.
Beale led Sunderland to six defeats, four wins and two draws in all competitions before he was replaced by interim coach Mike Dodds.
Things got even worse following his exit, but fans were delighted by his sacking and believe Beale set them up for failure for the remainder of the campaign.
After finishing 16th last season, the Black Cats have enjoyed a positive start this time round and look to have dusted off the cobwebs from their time with Beale.
The former QPR coach has now reflected on his time at the Stadium of Light and has admitted that he never enjoyed working at Sunderland.
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Beale’s Sunderland exit ‘really hurt’ him
Speaking on Christie Scanlon’s YouTube channel, Beale said: “From the moment I got in, it was clear that the fans were not aligned with the decision of letting Tony Mowbray go. They really liked Tony Mowbray, so when I came in it was difficult. If I’m honest, it’s the only club where I’ve not enjoyed working. I think everybody that was involved in it went into it with the right intentions, but it wasn’t the right fit.
“I was a bit perplexed coming in from the outside because the people that made the decision to bring me in, they were very keen for me to come in. I went in with all the intentions of working with the staff they had there bu to bring in one of my own as well.
“I’ve learnt a lot from that experience. It hurt that one. That’s the only one that really hurt, because there’s only so much one person could do in eight weeks. There were some things I could have done better, but the environment that I went into in terms of the fans being unhappy, it was difficult. It’s not how you would want to go into a football club for sure and the eight weeks is short. But at the same time, I still think it was best for all parties that we didn’t prolong it because Im not sure things would have gone the way anybody wanted.”
The former Sunderland coach brought it all on himself
It is understandable that Beale felt unfairly criticised when he first came in, as fans were far from pleased about his entrance.
However, they swept their initial feelings under the rug and were prepared to give him the chance to impress.
It’s not the supporters fault that he endured a 3-0 defeat in his first game, led the team to an embarrassing derby day defeat and also spoke very poorly of the fanbase in the media.
It’s not surprising that he didn’t enjoy working at Sunderland, but a lot of that was his fault. He didn’t have a striker but neither did Mowbray, and even Dodds was much more liked than his predecessor.