Michael Beale was hailed as ‘incredible’ by a World Cup winner last year.
Sunderland confirmed the permanent appointment of the former Rangers boss yesterday, two weeks after Tony Mowbray was sacked.
Michael Beale was highly regarded as a coach, working among the youth at Chelsea, Liverpool and Sao Paolo before working under Steven Gerrard at both Rangers and Aston Villa.
The 43-year-old left Villa Park and made the step up to management with QPR in June 2022.
Beale guided the London outfit to the top of the Championship with a run of eight wins in eleven games, before losing four of their next five matches.
Beale rejected interest from Wolves and mentioned his ‘integrity’ and ‘loyalty’, before joining Rangers the following month.
The manager’s time in Scotland wasn’t quite as successful though, losing four out of his five Old Firm derbies and also finishing the 2022-23 campaign without a trophy. Beale was then sacked less than eleven months after his arrival.
Beale’s appointment on Wearside comes two-and-half months after his sacking, and has been met with huge backlash by Sunderland fans.
However, supporters may be boosted by Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez’s comments from last summer.
Speaking to Ben Foster for Amazon Prime Sport in March 2022, Martinez said: “It’s the first time in my 14/15 year career that the assistant coach does all the talking.
“Michael Beale – he knows so much about football, it’s just incredible. He does all the training sessions, he takes all the important meetings.
“When you’re at a club the manager does all the talking and the assistant coach helps, but with Michael, we feel like he and Stevie G, they are both our managers, they are both respected.”
Can we find some positivity in Michael Beale’s appointment?
Michael Beale has received high praise for his quality as a coach, with Steven Gerrard even claiming it would take ‘15 to 20 years’ to become as good as his former right-hand man.
The 43-year-old seems to have proven his worth in the coaching department, but the questions emerge when he takes the reins himself.
Beale was a fan favourite as he helped Gerrard win the Scottish Premiership title, however his time at the helm wasn’t quite as successful.
It was a very poor transfer window that let him down, plus the failure to even remotely challenge Celtic for some silverware. But Beale will be left to the coaching this time, while Kristjaan Speakman will continue bringing in the talent.
It is very difficult to find any excitement in this appointment, especially given the previous links to Will Still. But there were very few fans that were happy with Tony Mowbray and Alex Neil either, and the pair of them almost helped us reach the Premier League in less than two years.