Why Sunderland sacked Michael Beale as explosive 'worst ever' Rangers manager claim arrives

Michael Beale was relieved of his Sunderland duties amid rising tensions in the dressing room, it's claimed.

The Londoner was a divisive appointment to become the next manager of the Black Cats. He was dismissed by Rangers earlier this season after less than a year at the helm, in which he oversaw a poor summer recruitment window that had the Light Blues toiling.

He has lasted just 12 games and two months at Sunderland, with four wins in that time and the 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City enough to end his reign. According to talkSPORT, Beale is "understood to have lost the dressing room, with the Sunderland players particularly unhappy at being made to do extra training after a defeat, while the manager himself took the day off."

The Sun go further, claiming "Incredibly, though, the manager did not go into the training ground and took the day off, prompting fury among the team."

Rising tensions behind the scenes, according to the Guardian, over the lack of an experienced centre-forward had also emerged. Celtic hero Chris Sutton held nothing back in his assessment. He sent a message on X that read: "Sorry to see Mick Beale go… he may go down as Sunderland’s and Rangers worst ever manager and all in the same season."

Sunderland 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.”