Sunderland sacked Michael Beale on Monday just two months after appointing him as Tony Mowbray’s successor at the Stadium of Light and are now looking for their 22nd manager in 22 years.
The former Rangers and Queens Park Rangers manager has won just four of his 12 games since taking charge on December 18, leaving the Championship club 10th in the second tier, just shy of the play-off places 4 points left.
It is understood tensions have been building behind the scenes since the 43-year-old Londoner began expressing concerns about the lack of experienced centre-forwards in his young side. Notably, Sunderland’s 27-year-old boss Kirill Louis-Dreyfus has fallen out with Mowbray, who has also publicly highlighted this glaring flaw in the club’s recruitment blueprint.
Beale never won the hearts of Sunderland supporters, compounding his growing political problems at boardroom level. His unpopularity only grew after Saturday’s defeat to well-liked Mowbray’s Birmingham side, with the manager appearing to snub him when Bill replaced defender Trey Hume in the 88th minute. Defender Trey Hume.
TV footage showed the outgoing manager ignoring the player’s outstretched hand, and Beale later apologized for the omission on social media, denying he refused a handshake while also praising Hume and his professionalism.
Bill became a respected manager during his time as Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Rangers and Aston Villa before developing into a tough player. He was sacked by Rangers last October after less than a year at Ibrox and found things even less straightforward on Wearside.
Louis-Dreyfus and his director of football Christian Speakman initially wanted 31-year-old Reims boss Will Steele to succeed Mowbray, but ultimately balked at the amount of compensation the Ligue 1 club was demanding. . It is unclear whether they will try again to lure Steele to the Stadium of Light.
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Pressure will be on Speakman to get this latest appointment right and get Sunderland back on the path to Premier League promotion that Louis-Dreyfus craves while appeasing increasingly disgruntled fans.
