On Friday evening, as the clock ticked past the 81st minute, Abdoullah Ba was introduced to the action as Sunderland desperately sought an equaliser at the Stadium of Light. Presumably, Ba would take up his regular position on the right hand side of our midfield. As Ba ran onto the field, my eyes were drawn to Alex Pritchard. He stood, faced towards the dugout, arms aloft only for a second or two, awaiting instruction on where he was meant to be playing. He then looked at Ba, who I can only assume told him to drop into a role playing off Hemir. Or words to that effect. Pritchard’s head dropped and he trudged off in the other direction. That little exchange sums up everything about our current plight if you ask me. No direction or instruction from the manager. No real plan. No real cohesion between coach and players. No-one singing from the same hymn sheet. It was absolutely galling to anyone who spotted it.
In my last piece, I wrote that despite the negativity surrounding Michael Beale’s appointment, we still had to back him. The majority did just that. Plenty didn’t. My patience wore thin in the very early days. Opinions were voiced, online and in watering establishments across the region, but ultimately, the decision had been made. It was beyond our control. Whether you liked it or not, Tony Mowbray was gone and Beale became our new man at the helm. We still had the massive distraction of the derby to contend with, and when analysing the whole situation at SAFC, I think there was more focus on that game and the circus that came with it than there was on Beale himself. Don’t get me wrong, the heat was still on, we’ve just cranked up the thermostat in the days since.
Let’s face it, the whole derby debacle was a disaster, on and off the pitch, and I’m glad it’s over and done with. Once it was out of the way, all eyes were firmly on Beale as we headed to Ipswich. The Preston game in between papered over the cracks, we didn’t play very well. Personally, my worries and concerns were hugely heightened by the end of the Rotherham game. As I stood in the away end watching us shoehorn the ball around the box and then over to Jack Clarke in the hope that he would produce something (luckily he did), I wondered what on earth I was watching. What is plan B if we can’t even work out what plan A looks like? Give it to Jack and pray seems to be as tactically advanced as it’s got under Beale. In the games since, nothing much has changed. Mason Burstow touched the ball just 8 times in that second half at Rotherham by the way.
When he took over at the Stadium of Light, Beale reminded us all of the top players that he has worked with over the years, name dropping Trent Alexander-Arnold and telling us all that he “knows what elite looks like”. Well Michael, I know what shite looks like, because I’ve seen plenty of it at SAFC over the last 25-30 years. We lack a cutting edge, ideas, direction, guidance, inspiration and instruction. We look bereft of energy and enthusiasm. Our free-flowing way of playing has evaporated into thin air. We look slow and rudderless.
We were warned by fans of Rangers that Beale would gaslight fans and throw his players under the bus. He has already done just that. On the chants against Hull regarding the calls for his sacking, he told us all to get behind this “young group of players”. Excuse me?
We are behind the players Michael, we’re just not behind you.
Michael Beale is almost an amalgamation of both Phil Parkinson and Lee Johnson. Beale has the tactical nouse and dour personality of Parkinson, and the silver-tongued, buzzword dropping persona of Johnson. It is a frightening combo which has in no way endeared him to the Wearside faithful.
After just 7 games, the hierarchy and Beale himself have made the club look unrecognisable to the one of just 6 to 8 weeks ago. They have taken a sledgehammer to 2 years of their own good work. Days like the 5-0 win against Southampton seem lightyears ago. Beale has lost 4 of his 7 games in charge, and in all honesty it should have been 5. The writing was on the wall at home to Coventry. Have you ever seen anything as bad as that in a manager’s opening fixture in charge? The heaviest defeat in game one of any Sunderland manager in our history. Before Beale, we had won every game that we had scored first in. We had dropped no points from winning positions. None. At Ipswich, Beale made sure those records were swiftly washed away down the drain. He’s tactically awful, his team selections are awful and his use of subs are awful. He isn’t reactive during games, is uninspiring to both players and fans, and looks massively out of his depth. It’s as if he feels like he’s doing us a favour by being our boss, in the same way David Moyes articulated himself when he was gaffer here. If you are still behind him and are very much ‘Beale in’, I’d genuinely like to hear your thoughts on why. I cannot remember a new manager causing this much unrest and damage in such a short period of time.
Beale is contracted until the summer of 2026. Obviously, he won’t see that out. Imagine where we’d end up if he did? It’s time for the powers that be to take responsibility for yet another awful decision. They’ve built up quite a collection recently haven’t they? They need to hold their hands up, admit they got it wrong, and cut their losses.
There is still time to salvage the season, but only if immediate action is taken. Sad as it is to say, I won’t be holding my breath.
