Michael Beale pens deal to become Sunderland manager
Michael Beale has been appointed as the new Sunderland manager on a contract until the summer of 2026.
The 43-year-old was sacked by Rangers just a couple of months back having joined the Scottish giants in November 2022. Beale won 31 of his 43 games in charge of Rangers. However, he was dismissed in the beginning of October having lost thrice in the first seven league games of the season.
Beale takes over from the much-loved Tony Mowbray, as the club parted ways with the latter following a 1-1 draw at Millwall. That result has seen the club win only once in five games.
Mowbray did lead Sunderland to the playoff semi-final last season. But tensions between him and the club owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus had grown in the past few months. Thus, it came as no surprise when the 60-year-old vacated the position recently.
Sunderland inks former Rangers Manager Beale
Sunderland did speak to several candidates before appointing Beale. And the club feels that they have made the right decision to appoint him at the helm. Will Still, the 31-year-old manager of Reims was thought to be the favorite to replace Mowbray. However, it is believed that Sunderland reached an impasse with the French club regarding concerns with the compensation.
Mike Dodds, who led the club to wins over West Brom and Leeds United, has been named Beale’s deputy. Meanwhile, Michael Proctor and Alessandro Barcherini will continue their respective coaching roles. The new manager has claimed that it’s an honor to take charge of a ‘historic and unique club’. Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has already described Beale as a ‘progressive coach’.
He said, “We have monitored Michael’s career for some time and are delighted to have reached an agreement. Michael Beale has an excellent and well-founded reputation for developing young players and is an outstanding progressive coach who is aligned with our playing identity and naturally fits well within our structure.”
“We continue to trust in our established process of identifying the right candidates to take us forward at these junctures and although Michael has had a setback, we feel we are getting him at the right time in his coaching journey and our journey as a club.”
Following his appointment, Beale said, “It’s a huge honor to be joining the Sunderland family and I would like to thank Kyril (Louis-Dreyfus), Kristjaan (Speakman), and the rest of the executive team for the faith and responsibility they have placed in me.”
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“The existing coaching team deserves huge credit for the way they navigated the interim period and like all of the staff at the club, they will continue to be vitally important moving forward alongside the incredible fans that make SAFC such a historic and unique club.”
He continued, “It’s clear there is some excellent work being done at senior and academy level and I’m excited to support those efforts and implement my own ideas, as we build on the strong identity already established within the club.”
Beale will be at the Stadium of Light dugout this coming weekend when Sunderland host Coventry City. He does possess Championship experience having managed QPR in 2022. He also had the opportunity to replace Bruno Lage at Wolverhampton Wanderers in October of the same year. But he turned the approach down at the time.
It will be interesting to see how Beale performs in his new role. Especially in the FA Cup third-round fixture that will be the Wear-Tyne derby next month against Newcastle United.
Photo: Imago.