Sunderland fans are rapidly turning against new boss Michael Beale, after a run of two wins in seven games.
Beale, 43, only took charge of Sunderland last month. And he’s only overseen seven games in charge of the club, but already there’s widespread calls for him to be sacked.
The Black Cats lost 1-0 at home to Hull City in their last outing and putting the scoreline aside, it was a turgid, bland performance from a Sunderland side that was playing exciting football just a few weeks before Beale too charge.
But despite growing cries for Beale to be axed, journalist James Copley believes the Sunderland owners will hand a bit more time to the under-fire former QPR and Rangers boss.
James Copley plays down early exit for Michael Beale
Writing for Sunderland Echo, Copley assessed the chances of Beale being axed sooner rather than later:
“When appointed, Beale was handed a two-and-half-year deal at the Academy of Light which means to sack him would cost the club money and would be a glaring admission of a mistake should they decide to act, so his sacking in the short-term does not appear likely, despite fans’ demands,” Copley wrote.
Sunderland now find themselves in 10th place of the Championship table with three points separating them and Coventry City in 6th.
So far under Beale, Sunderland have lost against Coventry, Ipswich Town, and Hull City in the league, picking up wins against Hull in the reverse fixture and then beating Preston at home.
Then there was obviously the poor showing in the 3-0 FA Cup defat vs Newcastle United earlier in the month.
Beale already facing make or break spell at Sunderland
Beale was certainly a gamble. He wasn’t the club’s first-choice and so they had to quickly settle on an alternative. But so far it doesn’t seem like Beale was even an educated gamble.
We’ve seen nothing as of yet to suggest that Beale is the man for the job.
His record so far obviously isn’t great, but that could be forgiven if he showed signs of a new and exciting playing style.
But it’s his woefully bland style of play that appears to be the main criticism of Beale.
Sunderland fans want to see the exciting football that they saw under Tony Mowbray before hand but right now, the Sunderland players look timid.
The Hull performance summed it up and now Beale faces an uphill battle.
Sacking Beale with a week left of the window wouldn’t make much sense, as Copley suggests, and it wouldn’t make any sense from a financial point of view either.
There’s some tough games coming up but some winnable ones against the likes of Stoke City, Plymouth Argyle, and Huddersfield Town.
The next few weeks are vital for Beale and failing to pick up results in these winnable fixtures will only pile more pressure on him.