Sunderland chief admits fan anger was 'overlooked' in Michael Beale appointment

Michael Beale endured a torrid time at Sunderland as fans made their discontent at his appointment known, and Kristjaan Speakman says the club should have 'considered' that more.

Michael Beale - former Sunderland coach / IMAGO / PA Images

Kristjaan Speakman has admitted that fan anger played a part in their decision to sack Michael Beale after just 12 games in charge.

Beale lasted just three months at Sunderland last season after replacing Tony Mowbray, and neither his football nor results were ever able to convince fans the initial anger over his appointment was misplaced.

That made for a ugly time, with fans letting their discontent with Beale known during games and on social media, while Beale himself used press conferences to bite back.

Although Speakman insists he doesn’t regret the decision to hire the former Rangers coach, he does acknowledge that they ‘overlooked’ the fan sentiment.

“Look, at the time, we made what we felt was the right decision to change the coach, to seek to try to improve some areas that we wanted to try to improve,” Speakman told the Second Tier Podcast. 

“I think one of the reasons that we've managed to navigate from where we were in League One to where we are today is that we've always been very reflective. 

“We're always trying to learn. We have some really, really tough, harsh conversations internally, which I think keeps everybody accountable and also make sure that we try to keep making improvements. 

“There are so many variables that go into a coach change and a coach's success. Some of the things went against us on that change.

“And, you know, I don't believe in saying we should go back and say we shouldn't have done it. We made the decision for the right reasons. The outcome wasn't the outcome that we wanted it to be.

“There were some really good things that still happened behind the scenes. There are some things that happened behind the scenes under that coach's tenure that we're still doing today under our current coach's tenure, and we're doing really, really well. 

“But ultimately, we weren't able to get the results on the pitch.

“I think it's an important piece as well that we didn't get a connection between our fan base and our coach on that occasion for various reasons. You have to accept that, and then you have to be reflective.

“You have to be tough on yourself to say maybe we overlooked that element. Maybe we didn't consider that piece enough.”