Sunderland have appointed Mike Dodds as their first-team manager until the end of the season after sacking ex-Rangers boss Michael Beale.
The Black Cats have decided to sack Beale only 12 games into his tenure at the Championship club amid mounting fan pressure on the Englishman.
Lasting only nine weeks in charge of Sunderland, Michael Beale took the job at the Stadium of Light within months of being sacked as manager of Rangers.
Mike Dodds will now take charge of Sunderland as interim manager for the third time in his career as the fallen Tyneside outfit assess their options.
Michael Beale sacked at Sunderland
Sunderland have also taken the opportunity to wish Michael Beale all the best after what’s been a “difficult” few months for the ex-Ibrox boss.
In a statement to supporters, Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has also stated that the club take “full accountability” for the controversial appointment.
“We are disappointed that Michael is leaving Sunderland AFC,” Speakman told the official Sunderland website.
“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.”
Sunderland fans had never thrown their support behind Beale and the ex-Rangers boss would’ve had to have had a near perfect start to win them over.
As it transpired, Beale won four games with Sunderland and had the club within four points of the Championship playoffs.
Ex-Rangers manager rushed post-Ibrox breather
Whilst we certainly do not take any joy in Michael Beale losing his job at Sunderland, there are some lessons to be learned here for the ex-Rangers boss.
Taking the job on Tyneside only two months after being sacked by Rangers, on reflection perhaps the defiant gaffer might’ve taken greater time out of the game post-Ibrox.
The circumstances surrounding Michael Beale’s move to Rangers, and subsequent sacking, had also heaped some scrutiny on the manager south of the border.
Controversially leaving QPR to takeover at Ibrox – after being spotted in the stadium whilst Giovanni van Bronckhorst was still manager – it left a sour taste in the mouth at Loftus Road.
A highly-rated coach who was given the Rangers job whilst being linked to the like of Premier League side Wolves, Beale has made some shaky decisions in the early part of his managerial career.
Rangers are a behemoth of an institution and whilst form was statistically solid under the manager overall, Beale couldn’t motivate his side to beat Celtic and after losing out in two cups last season fell seven points behind them before the axe fell.
The issue was that Beale couldn’t win the matches that really mattered and – coupled with an unconvincing summer transfer window – the writing was on the wall.
Beale was never going to turn the Rangers job down but on reflection he probably should never have been offered it in the first place.
The stink surrounding his Ibrox exit wafted down to Sunderland and fans were never keen on the boss from the first whistle of his tenure at the club.
Throw into this Beale having to explain apparently snubbing a player’s handshake in the club’s most recent defeat and suddenly the calamities were mounting.
We wouldn’t write the ex-Rangers boss’s managerial career off completely – in fact we reckon he’ll be handed a shot somewhere when the dust settles – but maybe a breather is best after a whirlwind first 18 months as a football manager.
