It was never going to be straightforward for Michael Beale – after all, this is Sunderland.
But the new head coach at the Stadium of Light has had quite the journey so far on Wearside in such a relatively short space of time. From the highs of a first win in charge against Hull City on Boxing Day to the lows of Sunderland supporters baying for his head following defeat in the reverse fixture just three weeks later, to an emotional, vulnerable state of mind both during and in the aftermath of the 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle – it has been a turbulent ride.
But this was not the Beale who was perceived to have ‘hit back’ at supporter frustrations when addressing the angst at his appointment. For all of Beale’s trials by on and off-field matters, this was different. This went beyond the parameters of football.
"Yeah, it's hard to speak about it," Beale said, holding back the tears, when reflecting on fans sharing their support for Beale’s family after it was revealed his four-year-old niece, Poppy, had been diagnosed with leukaemia.
“I’ve just got to say thank you to the fans for that, it’s incredible. My little niece, Poppy, she’s been going through it for a long time – she actually rang the bell, which is a massive milestone, but it’s come back. She had a bone marrow transplant, and we got some horrible news on Wednesday evening. It’s difficult to take, but the fans today – that’s incredible. It was an emotional moment to me.”
It was a long way away from the criticisms Beale has faced out of the gate since his appointment on Wearside and one where, in differing circumstances, the 43-year-old would likely appreciate even more. “Thank you all. It’s very touching to see you all behind us and behind Mike too. Lots of love, from all the family,” a social media post from Beale's family read late on Saturday evening.
But while football, righteously, takes a back seat in these moments, the relationship between Beale and supporters will continue to grow should his side be able to produce similar stirring performances as was on show in the second half here against Plymouth.
In what feels like a critical period in the season for Beale and his team, Sunderland were able to overturn their half-time deficit in what became a red and white stampede in the second half with three goals in 15 minutes transforming the outlook of the game to move back into the Championship’s top-six.
Beale admitted a dislike in the first half display from his players, suggesting few were doing themselves ‘justice’ before Ryan Hardie gave Plymouth the advantage with a fearless piece of intuition when delicately chipping the ball over Anthony Patterson and the recovering Trai Hume into the back of the net to stun the majority of the 41,269 inside the Stadium of Light.
Hardie went close again soon after when trying an even more audacious effort from the halfway line when spotting Patterson off his line as the ball drifted narrowly wide. Sunderland, despite their relative endeavour, were left with a familiar anecdote in the first half of being unable to trouble the opposition goalkeeper.
But we are perhaps starting to see the inner workings of Beale, particularly at home in the last two outings, with players buying into his approach. Beale sent his team out well before the restart with a slight tactical tweak which freed up Dan Neil a little more in midfield who once again demonstrated why Premier League clubs continue to monitor his advances over the course of the last 18-months.
There has seemingly been an unquenchable thirst for Sunderland to return to their free-flowing, vibrant best that we routinely saw last season and, although there may yet still be a case to say there is another gear or two in Sunderland, this was a big step in the right direction for Beale off the back of what had been their best display under his guidance the last time out at the Stadium of Light against Stoke City.
Beale has been able to tap into Sunderland’s goalscoring reserves with Pierre Ekwah grabbing his second goal in three games to level things up before Jack Clarke continued his breath-taking campaign with a picture book strike from the edge of the area despite picking up possession near the corner flag. Clarke has now contributed towards seven goals under Beale [four goals and three assists] as the irrepressible winger rekindles the kind of form we saw at the beginning of the season under Tony Mowbray when he scored seven goals in the opening nine games of the season.
Clarke’s stunning strike may have been eclipsed by Jobe Bellingham, who had been on the field less than two minutes when driving in from the left unopposed before curling in off the far post, having been left out of Beale’s starting line-up for the first time. Beale’s decision to go ahead with his double substitution despite not long since taking the lead should be applauded, with the freshness of both Jobe and teenager Chris Rigg contributing towards a relaxed final quarter of the game with Sunderland setting themselves up for the best possible start to a potentially critical week in the campaign.
“Our home form is going to be really important to us during the run-in, so to score six goals in the last two home games, I’m delighted with that,” said Beale.
“Let’s be honest though, we weren’t good in the first half – we had moments but, in general, there were too many errors. Our energy wasn’t good, our pressing wasn’t good, we only played in one half if I'm honest. So we had a really honest chat at half-time and in the second half you saw a much-improved performance and we’ve got to keep our standards there.
“In a 15-20 minute spell where we go and get the goals, when we’re playing like that we’re a really hard team to play against. It’s incredible how we can be how we were in the first half and how good we were in the second half, but I suppose that's what it's like managing a young team at times.”
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Like all managers and head coaches, Beale’s successes and failings will be determined by results – but one thing the Sunderland boss is doing is persisting with a striker. There have been a multitude of times this season, and last, where Sunderland have operated without a designated front man either by way of choice or consequence. The lack of goalscoring output from the club’s summer recruits through the first half of the campaign left Beale in a challenging position with regards to wiping the slate clean and handing those summer acquisitions renewed opportunities, or continuing with the muddled approach of a false No.9.
The result has seen three goals from those strikers in Beale’s tenure and now, seemingly, an outright choice to lead the line in Nazariy Rusyn who produced, arguably, his best display for the club against Plymouth. But for Beale, it’s about striving for more, and having no regrets, as Sunderland go in search of back-to-back play-off campaigns.
“It doesn't matter what level we play at, we always want to strive for a better performance,” said Beale. “When we're at home we want to excite our fans. We want to play front-foot football, we want to run, we want people to be expressing themselves.
“I thought it was the right team before the game so I wasn’t going to change it after 45 minutes, but they had to put it right.
“I said to them it was going to be a massive second half. We didn't want the regret. We had to beat Plymouth in the second half so it was then a 45-minute game - just go and beat them. We're at home and I'd expect us to show more because what we're doing in training, I can see a team play at a really good level, but I can't see it in front of you guys and just use those words. The boys have to go and put in a performance and in the second half I thought they were fantastic.
“You could see once we scored one the confidence came. We’ve spoken about how it’s difficult when teams put a lot of players behind the ball so at 1-0 at half-time we had a lot to do in the second half and we’ve done it today, so it’s a step in the right direction.
“What you can see with our group is that they’re a confidence group – most football teams are, but this young team, when their tails are up and they score that first goal and the crowd are up, you can see we look a really exciting team in those moments. We've got to stay at that level now, haven't we? We had to start the week off well, now we’ve got two important away games.”
To the outsider this will look like a routine victory for Sunderland, but there is context to be had. Ian Foster had yet to taste defeat in the league since being appointed as the new head coach of Plymouth and Sunderland had not overturned a half-time deficit since last April when coming from behind to beat West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns courtesy of two Dennis Cirkin goals. It was the first time since October they came from behind to win outright and just the fourth time this season having scored three or more in consecutive home fixtures for just the second time in almost two years. It suggests that maybe the seas are calming for Beale.
“We respect the opposition and we congratulate them on a wonderful second half performance,” Argyle boss Foster explained. “We have to take our medicine and we have to learn from the individual and collective errors we made in the second half. In terms of the first 45 minutes I thought it was almost a faultless away performance but we’ve got to continue that for the second 45 minutes. We've been undone in the second half and we have to congratulate Sunderland for that.
He continued: “I thought we did handle [their start to the second half] but the manner of the goal is disappointing. I’d like to look back at the 87 free kicks that the referee gave them on the edge of the box and pick the bones out of them all. But we’re disappointed that when they’ve shifted it, the wall has broken and what was probably the worst free kick he took has been rolled into the bottom corner. But that’s on us, that’s our responsibility to defend that moment better.
“It [fatigue] won’t have helped, but we won’t use it as an excuse as to why we didn't win today. We’ve had some wonderful games, including this one on the back of two games with Leeds United. Here today in front of 40,000-plus fans, a home game on Wednesday against Coventry who are chasing promotion, then Leeds United again who are chasing promotion, then West Bromwich Albion who are chasing promotion and then Middlesbrough who are doing the same. The players who were here last season and the staff have earned the right to have those games and we embrace the challenge.”
For Beale the journey now moves to West Yorkshire on Wednesday night and a trip to Huddersfield Town and the opportunity for Sunderland to secure back-to-back wins for only the fourth time this season before an anticipated reunion with Mowbray at St. Andrew’s against Birmingham City.
With the top four in the Championship somewhat of a closed shop at this point in the season, the race for the final two play-off spots is set to be another fascinating ride – and all Beale can do is ensure Sunderland’s hat remains firmly in that ring.
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It was little over a fortnight ago that Beale may well have been fighting for his job. Three straight defeats and fan unrest had hit an unprecedented level for such a short period in charge of the club where a defeat to Stoke, following the backlash towards the nature of Beale’s pre-match comments, could well have forced the club’s hierarchy into a major decision over the 43-year-old and his position.
Fast-forward two weeks and three games and the decision not to pull the trigger has earned some justification, as has the realisation of the difficulties Beale has faced both on and off the field. Sunderland are gradually starting to climb out of their shell under their new head coach and one thing is for certain, a united Sunderland will be a much tougher proposition for their play-off rivals down the stretch – with Beale now starting to feel some of that harmony.
“The highs are really high when you see them - the lows are a bit low at times,” said Beale.
“Everything in new relationships takes time. There was a lot of emotion in the air and there were emotional games. We didn’t do so well in those games and we have to take that. There are pats on the back when they’re deserved and we have to take the feedback as well when it’s not that.
"It’s still early days. That’s my 10th game and we’ve still got some really important matches and we’ve still got everything to prove; me, the players, us as a team and as a club. What team are we going to be? In moments today, the three goals for example were fantastic, but the feeling in the stadium, the applause that they gave me and my family but also in the 79th minute they did it again for another person’s family as well and I think that’s fantastic.
“It's a club that means so much to people so there's a lot of responsibility on the staff and the players. It's a serious business that we're in and where we are in the league, every game is so important so it's nice driving home tonight knowing the fans are pleased with what they saw.
“That feeling we have for our club, these young players are doing everything they can to make the fans happy – the fans are right behind them. It’s where we want it to be at the moment. When they’re behind our team - it’s a young team, I don't think they understand how much that lifts them as well. In that 10 or 15 minute period today when we’re scoring goals and we’re attacking and the crowd is up; what a place to play football.
“We’ve got everything to prove in the next two or three months. It’s exciting.”
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