Sunderland have just come out the back of a very turbulent spell under Michael Beale. But the 43-year-old has now been labelled a ‘scapegoat’.
For Beale, it’s been a very difficult 12 months or so, following on from his controversial Rangers tenure to an even more controversial spell at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland fans largely disliked Beale following a string of poor performances and several comments Beale made in the press, including one statement that Beale thought he was unpopular because of his southern accent.
The Sunderland owners have since parted ways with Beale and names Mike Dodds interim manager until the summer, where the club then looks set to appoint a new boss with Reims’ Will Still once again being linked.
Ryan Dilks says Michael Beale was a Sunderland ‘scapegoat’
From his 12 games in charge, Beale took four wins.
He left the club in 7th place of the Championship table and four points outside the top six, though that gap has since opened up to seven points.
Going off numbers, Beale’s Sunderland record wasn’t woeful. A lot of performances were though, and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman were arguably pressure into making a decision, given Beale’s unpopularity among the fans.
And speaking on a recent episode of The Second Tier podcast, EFL pundit Ryan Dilks has suggested that Beale isn’t necessarily a bad manager, and that he may have been made a ‘scapegoat’ at the club.
He said:
“I don’t think he’s a bad manager. His reputation has taken a bit of a battering in the last 12 months, but for me, he’s definitely not a bad manager. I think this was just the wrong move by Sunderland and he’s [Beale] been made the scapegoat out of the whole thing.”
Dilks also questioned Beale’s temperament; since taking charge of QPR ahead of the 2022/23 season, controversy seems to have followed the 43-year-old, and that controversy usually stems from Beale’s own decisions or comments.
Dilks said:
“I think a bigger question is; is he [Beale] the kind of bloke you’d want in charge of your club? This is the kind of bloke who’ll say in one interview that he can’t be the first to jump ship, before doing exactly that at matter of weeks later [at QPR]. The kind of manager who complains about fans not respecting him, instead of just getting on with the job, and he’s also the kind of manager who, in my opinion ignores players as they get substituted off, and then lies about it not long after the game. Is that the kind of manager you want in charge of your club? That’s up for Championship owners to decide.”
Dilks added:
“But, he has to learn to keep his mouth shut, because he doesn’t do himself any favours.”
Why Michael Beale wasn’t a Sunderland scapegoat
It seems to be widely acknowledged that the Sunderland hierarchy made a wrong call with Beale, and maybe even in sacking Tony Mowbray, even if the club doesn’t directly admit so.
But Beale caused his own downfall at Sunderland.
Again, his record in charge wasn’t terrible, and if any other manager had that same record after 12 games then he’d probably still be in a job.
But Beale’s comments and actions; the Trai Hume handshake saga, whether Beale saw him or not, just painted him in a bad light.
His relationship with Sunderland fans was broken beyond repair so early into his tenure that it was always going to be an uphill battle for him.
So Beale wasn’t necessarily a scapegoat, but his hiring was certainly a poor decision.
Like Dilks says though, Beale needs to work on being in the media spotlight. The way he comes across and some of the things he says doesn’t help him, and that’s been a common theme for him over the past year.
Expect Beale to take a break from football but expect him to be back on the job hunt eventually.