Sunderland legend Micky Gray has had his say on Michael Beale and his Sunderland appointment.
Sunderland-born left-back Gray, now 42, remains a legend on Wearside after racking up more than 400 total appearances during a 12 year spell as a player.
He left in 2004 and went on to represent the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Wolves, and Sheffield Wednesday, though he often comments on Sunderland.
And he’s now shared his thoughts on Beale who was recently named head coach following the exit of Tony Mowbray earlier in the month.
Beale is a surprise appointment for many, with the Black Cats looking like they were set to appoint a coach from overseas.
The 43-year-old arrives after a tricky spell at Rangers which ended earlier in the season, with Beale largely facing criticism following his tenure at Ibrox.
Micky Gray questions Michael Beale’s loyalty
Beale has already managed in the Championship with QPR, though he’s not very much liked in West London.
He guided the R’s to an impressive start to the 2022/23 campaign before reports linking him with a move away emerged.
First it was Wolves, and that looked like it was going to happen before Beale committed his loyalty to QPR, only to then take the Rangers job a few weeks after – QPR had lost their last four before Beale left.
And speaking on the EFL All Access podcast, Gray said when asked if Beale’s loyalty concerns him:
“Yes it does. You talk about loyalty there… look, when he went to Queens Park Rangers and his record isn’t fantastic there… He was fortunate in my eyes to get a job the size of Rangers. We know he’d worked there before under Steven Gerrard but there was speculation in between that of Michael Beale opting to go to Wolverhampton Wanderers. For one reason or another, that didn’t happen, but he’s on the coaching/managerial role now, he’s on the merry-go-round and he’s been given another fantastic opportunity at a club that gets 42,000 supporters every other week. I just hope that him and his coaching staff hit the ground running, because if not then we know exactly what’s going to happen.”
He added:
“I just think that certain managers are very fortunate and find themselves in very lucky situations, very early on in their managerial career.”
Should Sunderland be wary of another Beale exit?
QPR fans may understandably have an unfond memory of Beale after his antics there.
He showed loyalty to turn down Wolves but then ruined all of that to take on the Rangers job. But it was a huge opportunity for Beale and many other managers may have taken on the job too, so he may be forgiven for that.
And he’s not well-liked at Rangers following his time there either.
Beale often made remarks and comments that didn’t go down too well, as well as falling out of the cups and title race last season.
But he has a huge chance to prove himself at Sunderland and if he does well then it’ll look like a masterstroke from the board, who will quickly come under the spotlight if this appointment doesn’t work out.
And if Beale starts to do well then reports linking him with a move away could quickly start to reappear.
Given his history, it could be something that Sunderland fans become wary of, like Gray suggests, but Beale will surely have learned his lesson and he’ll know that at Sunderland, he has the chance to build something massive.
His first game in charge is against Coventry City at the Stadium of Light this weekend.