The inside story of Michael Beale's nine-week Sunderland rollercoaster, what went wrong & what's next

In the moments after Sunderland’s defeat at Birmingham City, senior club figures were trying to figure out exactly what had gone on. They had seen the same footage as everyone else, Michael Beale seemingly ignoring Trai Hume’s handshake as he left the field following his substitution. 

Beale would later explain that he simply hadn’t seen Hume as he focused on the game at hand, apologising to the defender and later emphatically praising his character and commitment on social media. 

Perhaps, though, the episode underlined a fundamental truth for all parties. This simply wasn’t working, and nor was it ever likely to. Beale was still in his post as of Sunday night but by Monday lunchtime that had changed and the players were informed that Sunderland were back where they had started just over two months earlier, Mike Dodds placed in interim charge. The shortest tenure in Sunderland’s history had ended just as acrimoniously as it started, when a second-half implosion against Coventry City led to a furious response from the Stadium of Light stands and an apology in the post-match press conference.

Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said in a club statement released on Monday evening that the club took ‘full accountability’ for Beale’s departure, and the saga undoubtedly raises significant questions on Wearside over the direction of a sporting project that had up until this point delivered fairly continuous progress and a hugely exciting young squad - even accounting for some major bumps in the road along the way. 

The roots of Beale’s swift departure were, as always, there right from the very start. Sunderland sacked Tony Mowbray despite the club’s promising underlying data across the first half of the season and their relatively strong position in the play-off race, an indication that the decision owed as much to his deteriorating relationship with the club’s powerbrokers and its ownership in particular.

It left his successor with a high bar to clear, even if there were plenty of supporters who felt the recurring nature of Sunderland’s defeats towards the end of Mowbray’s tenure hinted at a partnership beginning to run its course. The hasty manner of his departure, one that had almost happened in the summer previous, meant the recruitment process was never going to be seamless.

The widespread expectation that Sunderland would look abroad in search of the ‘modern’ and elite coaching figure they had clearly long sought proved to be well founded, but having identified a preferred candidate, the club found that the financial and logistic realities of making the appointment were borderline impossible. That made both the timing of the decision and the decision itself a questionable one, particularly as it left whoever would take over on the back foot before they'd even begun. The choice then was a decision between giving Mike Dodds a longer spell in charge, or turning to Beale who had impressed in the interview process and responded enthusiastically to role of the head coach in the process. They felt it was just a little too soon for Dodds, and did not want to risk losing someone they believe to be a huge long-term asset if the season did not progress as hoped. They also felt that Beale had a coaching pedigree that outweighed the concerns surrounding his controversial QPR departure and disappointing spell at Rangers. Crucially, their bet was that the structure and recruitment operation already embedded at the Academy of Light would get the best out of Beale and offset the issues that he had faced in Glasgow.

Speakman talked up Beale’s ability on the training pitch within days of his arrival, and said the switch was due to an 'obsession with progression'. This followed on from Kyril Louis-Dreyfus speaking of his desire to implement a ‘high-performance culture’ when confirming Mowbray’s departure, three statements that cast long shadows over Beale’s brief tenure. Though his coaching acumen was never in doubt behind the scenes, there was little evidence of tangible progress on the pitch and if anything the team often looked to be losing momentum as the season progressed. Beale’s key goal, at least to begin with, appeared to be to shore up the team and make them less open. Not only did that significantly jar with the hierarchy’s oft-repeated mission statement of creating a bold, creative and industrious team and club, but it also took away from so much of what made them so watchable and so engaging over the previous 15 months. Sunderland became a less dangerous and less exciting side and though there were at times some signs of better defensive cohesion, it didn’t lead to much more in the way of clean sheets and wins. There were also some alarmingly muddled displays along the way, most notably away at Huddersfield Town when few seemed to understand where they ought to be playing. There was another in the Wear-Tyne derby, a thankless task perhaps but a game Sunderland lost having barely laid a glove on their opponent - or even really tried to. Generally Sunderland on the pitch were no disaster under Beale, nothing more but nothing less than a mid-table Championship outfit. The problem was that this most certainly did not mean progression and the lack of intensity in so many of didn't do much to suggest a big buy-in from the dressing room.

That Beale was able to make so little impact on Sunderland’s play reflects poorly on Sunderland’s recruitment process in this instance, which also appears to have hugely underestimated the importance of good communication in the head coach/manager role at a club of this intensity. It was here as much as anywhere else that Beale lost the support, his comments often incendiary when calm was needed. His tenure arguably went past the point of no return days before the defeat to Stoke City, when he joked that it must be ‘some crisis’ that left his side a few points off the play offs. A power cut in the local area brought a temporary halt to proceedings but as the press conference moved to the lobby of the Academy of Light, Beale launched a stinging criticism of the club’s support and even aimed a none-too-subtle dig at Mowbray. Senior club figures were left aghast, even if they sympathised with the pressure he was under. Beale had like so many involved in football faced some utterly unacceptable personal abuse on social media, but this broadside tried to portray the entire fanbase as unreasonable and unfair. The reality is that they were judging what they were seeing on the pitch, and the club knew it. To bring in geography at a club where Kevin Phillips and Kevin Ball was as incorrect as it was unhelpful. Stoke City became a must min and though the three points were secured, only a long run of wins was going to prevent the inevitable.  Sunderland’s best managers or head coaches, whether in recent times or long into the past, have so often appeared utterly unmoved by external criticism. They have struck a balance between speaking directly to supporters, but not engaging in unhelpful debates when emotions take over. Put bluntly, being a good coach is only one part of the job and Sunderland’s selection didn’t heed this lesson. Never get too high and never get too low was always the message from both Alex Neil and Mowbray; with Beale it was a nine-week rollercoaster. 

It would be deeply unfair to lay all the blame at Beale’s door, given that he faced a number of challenges not of his own making. Nothing did more to change the upbeat mood on Wearside than the debacle that saw the Black Cats Bar redecorated in Newcastle United colours. Beale saw one of his most dependable and experienced players depart after a public and acrimonious contract dispute, while the major issues up front went another window without being resolved. Like Mowbray, he also found that many of the recruits from the summer onwards were for one reason or another not quite ready to produce consistently at Championship level. And while the decision to leave the existing coaching staff made sense from the perspective of continuity and stability, it left Beale in the highly unusual position of coming into the job entirely on his own and with no one he knew and trusted to lean on for support or advice. He will leave with the good wishes of everyone during what is clearly a deeply difficult time for himself and his family.

Sunderland are left pondering their next steps after a period that has been more chaotic than any since Louis-Dreyfus’ arrival, their commitment to an evidence-based approach called firmly into question by the events of recent months. Given the way in which Mowbray was questioned internally over tactics, substitutions and approach in the closing weeks of his tenure, it would no doubt have stung those who dismissed him watch his new team outplay, outpass and outthink the Black Cats in that second half at St Andrews.

They have at least acted quickly to give Dodds, popular with the playing group and the supporters after his previous spell led to wins against West Brom and Leeds, a chance of salvaging the campaign. This unhappy episode will all the same lead to many questions being asked over the coming weeks and months, particularly if Sunderland continue to lose their way off the pitch. Whoever takes over this club in the summer will find an exciting squad but far from a perfect one, and landing the quality of candidate many expected following Mowbray's exit is absolutely essential if this project is to stay on track.