A new name has emerged on Sunderland and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’ managerial radar.
Sunderland’s managerial search appears to be ramping up following the club’s sacking of Tony Mowbray on Monday.
Several names are being linked and it seems there are a couple of front-runners in European bosses Will Still and Julien Sable.
Other names have been mentioned too; Kieran McKenna is perhaps an obvious one, Sol Bamba a more surprising one, and now Michael Beale has been mentioned.
An emerging report from Daily Record say that Beale is among the early contenders for the job at the Stadium of Light.
Michael Beale in Sunderland contention after ‘awful’ Rangers spell
Beale was most recently with Rangers where he lasted just shy of a year, winning 31 of his 43 games in charge to leave him with a win rate of 72.09%.
Despite the former QPR boss boasting the highest win percentage of any manager since Ally McCoist between 2011 and 2014, Beale’s tenure was largely deemed a failure, with Chris Sutton branding Beale’s time at Ibrox as ‘awful’.
But Beale’s previous showing at QPR remains fondly remember by neutrals; he guided the R’s to the top of the Championship table for a brief spell at the start of last season, doing so with mostly the same set of players that are currently struggling in the relegation zone.
A good potential fit for Sunderland?
Beale certainly seems like he fits the mould of a contemporary Sunderland boss; he’s young, a proven coach who’s earned his qualifications, and he’s had success in the Championship, albeit very briefly.
He lost his way at Rangers after numerous outbursts in the media and that might suggest that Beale has a bit of learning to do as a manager, but as a coach, his record so far arguably speaks for itself.
But the Sunderland owners seem almost determined to appoint a foreign coach from overseas as it seems to align with their recruitment, or at least their recruitment in the last year or so.
That obviously comes with risks whereas appointing someone like Beale who has experience of English football and experience of managing at a top flight level too, may have other benefits.
Expect him to be a fairly strong candidate, but right now there seems to be other names further along in the discussion; the likes of Still and Sable.
Sunderland play host to play-off hopefuls West Brom in one of the Championship’s early kick-offs this weekend.