Sunderland fans not to blame for Michael Beale failure, says former boss

Did Michael Beale not have a real chance at Sunderland due to fans never wanting him? One former Black Cats boss has dismissed that suggestion.

Former Sunderland manager Simon Grayson says Michael Beale was to blame for his failure on Wearside, not the supporters.

Beale was sacked earlier this week having lasted just 64 days and 12 games as Sunderland head coach.

That has seen Sunderland supporters criticised in some quarters, with claims that their anger at Beale’s initial appointment meaning he’d never get a fair chance of success at the club.

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Grayson is no stranger to struggles at Sunderland himself, with his own managerial tenure in the north east lasting just 18 games in 2017.

He, though, says no manager can expect to be a popular appointment when they come into a club, but all that really matters are results – and if Beale couldn’t change people’s minds then it’s simply because he didn’t win enough games.

“In football, nothing surprises you,” Grayson exclusively told Sunderland Nation via Instant Casinos.

“It probably did surprise me a little bit in terms of that he did get the sack, but in this modern day of football managers that you scrutinise by everybody, even when you’re just linked with a job.

“I saw Neil Warnock the other week say that 50% of Aberdeen fans wanted him and the other 50% didn't. That's just the nature of it.

“Sunderland are no different and other clubs are no different. There'll be people that did want Michael, some that didn't want him, but it just didn't seem to make a real connection with the football club.

“I get the time element doesn't allow you to do that, but results dictate everybody's career in football.

“The one thing that stood out when I looked at the results was that they'd get a couple of decent results and then probably lose two or three back-to-back - and then that would put them back to square one again.

“Then, like in football all over the world, the moaning and groaning comes out again and then it becomes a very difficult situation for the manager and the players to get back on that positive outlook again.

“In that run of defeats, if they could have just nicked a couple of draws and then got a six or seven unbeaten run going it might have been slightly different, but everybody's judged on results.

“It looked like it wasn't a connection from the very first day, but win a lot of matches and that can change a lot of people's attitudes.”

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