It’s been a tough start to life at Sunderland for Michael Beale. But the early vitriol against him seems to be cooling down.
Sunderland fans were shocked, and somewhat deflated when the club chose to appoint Beale back in December, instead of paying out the compensation for Reims boss Will Still.
Few wanted Beale and an inaugural 3-0 defeat vs Coventry City at the Stadium of Light set the tone for an early struggle on Wearside.
But it was after a 1-0 defeat at home to Hull City that really saw fans vent their dismay at Beale; Sunderland were woeful, beaten by an even worse Hull side on the day, with the football negative and bland.
Beale earned some praise for a 3-1 win over Stoke City the following weekend, then seeing his side take a point at Middlesbrough last time out, and the mood is now relatively good ahead of a home game vs Plymouth Argyle tomorrow.
Michael Beale improving upon communication with Sunderland fans
After the Hull game, Beale made headlines for some strange comments regarding his accent, and how he didn’t understand the current crisis among fans.
Since then, Beale’s relationship with the Sunderland faithful seems to have eased, if not improved, and journalist Michael Graham identified the improvement in Beale’s communication with the fans.
Graham posted on X:
The dust has settled, now time to get to work
Just a couple of weeks ago, Sunderland fans wanted Beale out. He didn’t make a great first impression both on and off the pitch, but after a couple of decent results and a decent end to the January transfer window, things are starting to look up again.
And like Graham says, Beale seems to have improved upon his communication with the fans, which is of course vital in any managerial job.
A win tomorrow would do everyone at Sunderland a world of good and if the Black Cats can come out of the weekend inside the top six, Beale will be a very happy man indeed.
But a loss here could see a lot of that previous pressure pile right back on the 43-year-old.
Plymouth sit 22nd in the away form table this season and so Sunderland really are expected to win, though against a very technical and pacy Plymouth side, it certainly won’t be an easy or straight-forward task.
Sunderland have to be at their very best and Beale will be hoping that his best players, and maybe some of his new ones are fit to feature tomorrow afternoon.
Kick off is at 3pm.