Michael Beale 'should count himself very lucky' to land Sunderland job, says EFL veteran

Ian Holloway says Michael Beale should be thanking his lucky stars to get the Sunderland job after his poor showing at Rangers.

Michael Graham | Dec 20, 2023

Michael Beale 'should count himself very lucky' to land Sunderland job, says EFL veteran /

Ian Holloway believes Michael Beale ‘should count himself very lucky’ to have been appointed Sunderland manager, and he does not believe the Black Cats have upgraded at all.

Beale was confirmed as the replacement for Tony Mowbray, who was sacked two weeks prior, on Monday to a despondent general reaction from supporters.

Many don’t see anything in Beale’s record that suggests he is up to the job of managing Sunderland, although in fairness he has been hired as a head coach and has admitted himself he has no desire to manage the club.

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Holloway, though, is far from sold on the decision.

“I don’t know Michael Beale personally, but I know he has quite a big following and gets good jobs, even if he hasn't done very well in his previous role,” Holloway told Genting Casino.

“After losing his job in Scotland and ending up with the Sunderland one, he should count himself very lucky.

“I don't think it's an upgrade on Tony Mowbray. Tony was doing a fantastic job, he has been consistent and played good football with young squads.

“I think he's a fantastic manager and I don't think the position they were in the league was worthy of him losing the job. It seems strange.

“Does being Gerrard's assistant make him [Beale] a top manager? I'm not sure.”

Sunderland will face Coventry City at the weekend in what will be Beale’s first game in charge.

Coventry have failed to build on last season, when they lost the play-off final, and find themselves 15th in the Championship table going into the game.

There are mitigating factors for that, of course, with them losing Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer in the summer.

However, Ian Holloway is backing them to beat Sunderland anyway, primarily because he can’t see the Black Cats getting a ‘new manager bounce’ with fans not warming to the Beale appointment.

“I like Coventry and think Mark Robins is absolutely brilliant,” he said.

“It's been hard to follow after reaching the play-offs last year. It will be tough for Beale, I don't think he'll be at the club long enough to get a victory and he won't get the bounce. Sunderland 0-2 Coventry.”

A couple important points of note for Sunderland fans here is that Holloway is about as old-school as it comes in terms of his outlook on management. He also obviously isn't all that clued in when it comes to Sunderland right now, as demonstrated by his repeated descriptions of Mowbray and Beale as 'managers,' when both were hired as head coaches.

Additionally, absolutely everyone should count themselves lucky to be at Sunderland - owners, directors, managers, head coaches, players, supporters, tea-ladies - everyone. It's one of England's truly great clubs and always will be.

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