Sunderland 'deserve credit' for Michael Beale decision, says EFL club owner

While Sunderland definitely deserve criticism for appointing Michael Beale, should they also get credit for sacking him so early?

Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony has given a football boardroom perspective on the Michael Beale fiasco, and he says Sunderland deserve ‘credit’ for quickly acknowledging they got it wrong.

Beale was hired as Tony Mowbray’s successor in December against the wishes of the supporters, who were almost immediately proven right.

The former Rangers boss had to apologise to supporters after his first game for an awful performance, presided over an embarrassing derby day surrender to Newcastle in the FA Cup, attacked fans in a press conference, and eventually left after just 12 games in charge.

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It was a 12-game spell that sunk Sunderland’s season and caused lasting damage to the fanbase’s trust in those running the club.

However, MacAnthony has offered a different perspective, and he says that while there can be no question that Sunderland made a ‘bad call’ in appointing Beale, they also deserve credit for acting quickly once they realised it.

“I think Sunderland made the right call, that just wasn’t the right fit,” MacAnthony said, speaking to the Hard Truth podcast.

“It will be interesting to see what they do next. I know they’ve got the assistant in until the end of the season.

“It’s a shame, because Sunderland were having a really good season, but I’m not sure they’re going to make the play-offs now with all that’s gone on.

“They’re a massive football club, a massive football club. They have an identity like us, where they play a certain way, and I think that’s where they’ve had a problem with the manager. It’s tough. If Darren (Ferguson) left for a bigger club, I’d have to start again, and doing what we do, and the way we want to play, it’s not easy. They’re all tough things.

“I’m going to give them credit for making a quick decision, because it needed to be quick, it just didn’t work. It was a bad call in the first place, and they’ve got to hold their hands up, sometimes you get it wrong.”

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