It was two years this week since Michael Beale’s departure from Sunderland was confirmed
In a new series for Sunderland Echo subscribers, Phil Smith is delving into is notebook to recall some of the more dramatic days covering the club. In this latest instalment, he reflects on Michael Beale’s departure from the club just 12 games into his tenure, of which the second anniversary fell earlier this week. Phil remembers the dramatic final weeks of his spell at the club and outlines how the club changed their outlook on head coaches in the aftermath...
Strange as it seems to say, there was a very real possibility that Michael Beale's Sunderland tenure didn't even make it to 12 games.
A couple of weeks previous, Beale held one of the most extraordinary press conferences the Academy of Light has seen, and not just because a power cut midway through the broadcast section led to an unexpected delay. With pressure rising and criticism stinging, Beale hit out at what he felt was a lack of respect for his experience at elite clubs. He defended the team's recent performances and insisted the reaction to them was over the top, and that criticism levelled at him was personally motivated. That wasn't all - Beale also issued a very thinly-veiled criticism of Tony Mowbray's record and made pointed references to the club's budget and the age of the squad. In the hours that followed senior club figures were left aghast as it filtered through what had been said, and the widespread view behind the scenes was that defeat against Stoke City would likely mean change.
A 3-1 win bought Beale time and was actually the start of a three-game unbeaten run, but defeat at Birmingham City brought a swift end to his tenure. That game at St Andrews proved to be something of a perfect storm, on and off the pitch. On it Sunderland took the lead thanks to a loose back pass from a Birmingham defender, but were in the end comprehensively outplayed by Mowbray's new side. Concerns about the direction of the team, that in an (unsuccessful) bid to get defensively tighter Beale was undoing much of the progress of the Mowbray era, were crystallised as Birmingham dominated the ball and ultimately the game. In the immediate aftermath of the full time whistle, footage also circulated on social media which showed Beale ignoring a handshake from Trai Hume after he was substituted in the latter stages. For what it's worth, Beale was unaware of the furore as he started his post-match press duties and when the incident was first put to him by BBC Radio Newcastle, he looked genuinely devastated. An apology and explanation followed on social media, Beale stating that he hadn't seen Hume as he was focusing on the restart of the game, but the damage was done.
Ultimately, Sunderland's hierarchy decided that the ins and outs of the matter were largely irrelevant - the episode demonstrated beyond doubt that this just wasn't going to work. The atmosphere had soured too much, the point of no return long passed. Beale's strategy of trying to improve the side by working on its defensive structure had proven to be a flawed one, but he was certainly unfortunate that an acrimonious FA Cup tie against Newcastle United which the club hierarchy made such a mess of came so early in his tenure. Sunderland's January window was also poor, and all three head coaches that season were ultimately undone by the shortcomings of the club's recruitment in the final third.
What's interesting from a Sunderland perspective two years on from Beale's departure is that the ripples of the episode are still being felt, even if sporting director at the time Kristjaan Speakman has now left. In the months that followed and as Sunderland's campaign fizzled out under interim boss Mike Dodds, the club hierarchy were left with a lot of time to reflect in a bid to learn some lessons from the debacle.
The first key lesson they drew from it was around the perils of changing head coach mid season. Mowbray's relationship with the club hierarchy had for a long time been tense and so his departure was ultimately no major shock, but the club found themselves trying to hire a successor at the worst possible time of the campaign. Their preferred candidates were all in work, under contract and reluctant to move in the middle of the campaign. Will Still was ultimately the preferred candidate, but it quickly became clear that hiring him from Stade de Reims wasn't feasible. Beale wasn't Sunderland's first choice, and it was a sobering lesson for the ownership about decision making, timing and preparation. Every club finds itself in a position at one time or another when a change during the season is necessary, but this wasn't one of those. If Sunderland change course in the campaign again, it will be out of absolute necessity or because this time, they already have a clear picture of where they want to go immediately.
Ahead of their summer appointment, Sunderland also made a subtle but significant tweak to their recruitment criteria. While Beale was not ultimately their first choice, he was a contender from the very start of the process because the club felt he was very much aligned with their way of operating behind the scenes and on the training ground. In the aftermath of his departure, senior figures would concede that they had focused too heavily on his coaching acumen and had not given enough consideration to the challenge of managing Sunderland externally. To the demands of handling the pressure and scrutiny of both the media and the fanbase, and of managing the highs and lows that inevitably come with any campaign on Wearside. While Régis Le Bris may not share the obvious charisma of the figures who have shared his success in the Sunderland hot seat, the club felt they had found a character whose steady temperament and ability to block out external noise could prove crucial. On this, they were right.
One of the lowest moments of the Kyril Louis-Dreyfus era, Beale’s departure proved to be the perfect example that mistakes can be crucial to future success, providing the right lessons are heeded.
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