Sunderland sack Beale after unhappy tenure at Stadium of Light

They say that some things in life are certain.   Death and taxes are always put hand in hand together as those things but there are also some things in football that, whilst not certain, seem to happen more often than you would normally expect.

Former players scoring against the Swans and clubs moving on their managers just before a game against us seem to happen more than they probably statistically should and that is the case again this week after yesterday’s news that saw Michael Beale leave Sunderland after a relatively short period of time.

The Black Cats confirmed that Michael Dodd – a member of the coaching staff – will lead them for the remainder of this campaign and their statement was relatively short when Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman said: “We are disappointed that Michael is leaving Sunderland AFC. Our desire is to improve and unfortunately that hasn’t been evident, as such we take full accountability and feel that acting decisively is in the best interests of the Club.

This has been a difficult few months for Michael, who leaves with our best wishes for the future. Our focus is now on the players and supporting Mike Dodds in the remaining games to ensure we achieve the highest possible league finish. We will be updating our supporters further as and when significant developments are made.”

Beale’s fate looked sealed on the weekend when he snubbed Trai Hume on the touchline after subbing the player in the game at Birmingham.   A video showed the player reach out a hand to shake Beale’s hand but he was left hanging with the manager totally ignoring the gesture.

It was the last straw it seemed for a side who only appointed Beale on December following the sacking of Tony Mowbray.   It has been said that he “lost” the dressing room with an example cited that he called the players in for extra training after one defeat but failed to show for the session himself, preferring to take the day off.

Beale said himself at the end of January that he did not feel he was welcome at Sunderland.  He said: “I replaced a popular manager but I didn’t sack him, did I? And he won two in nine before he left, so are we making out it was all perfect?

“People didn’t want me here in the first place.  You can say afterwards it’s about style or this and that, but let’s cut to the chase, people didn’t want me.

“The reality is that there wasn’t a feel-good factor about me coming in.  It’s fine, I’m not crying over it, I’m a big boy, but when people are personal they’ve lost straight away.

“Look, I can’t change my accent or where I’m from. I’m proud of where I’m from.  I haven’t worked in London for ten years, but obviously I am from South London. Six years in Liverpool, four and a half in Glasgow, a year in Brazil. My accent hasn’t changed!”

Beale won just four of his twelve games in charge.