It was billed as an important week for Sunderland. An opportunity to build and lay down some much-needed foundations heading into the final quarter of the season as the Championship’s play-off race continues to hot up. Instead, it was a week which became a microcosm of Sunderland’s season and Michael Beale’s tenure to date.
The message is often the same in sport; don’t get too high in the highs, don’t get too low in the lows – it’s a message Beale has been keen to relay at varying stages throughout the last week having been on both ends of the spectrum throughout a trio of games against Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City.
Beale has gone from alleviating some of the pressure upon his position from a disgruntled fanbase when on the receiving end of an emotional, empathetic reaction at the Stadium of Light, to finding himself almost back to where we started at the hands of the club’s former head coach Tony Mowbray at St. Andrew’s. And that’s just on the field. The backdrop of a potentially pivotal week has been played out to the release of a new ‘Sunderland ‘til I Die’ Netflix series and unsettling transfer speculation before culminating in ‘handshakegate’ with defender Trai Hume. One thing is clear; it’s never dull on Wearside.
So where do things stand with Beale and Sunderland now as we move towards the final quarter of the season? We Are Sunderland reflects on another turbulent week on Wearside.
***
“These next three performances, the look on my face will probably tell a million things,” joked Beale as he addressed the media ahead of Sunderland’s fixture with Plymouth. Beale had navigated some choppy waters after feeling as though he was on the precipice following the 1-0 defeat by Hull City in mid-January before finding some breathing space with a confident performance and win over Stoke City to stem the tide a little and a gritty point picked up ‘down the road’ against Middlesbrough having fallen behind midway through the second half. It felt like Beale may just have been starting to think about getting his feet under the table.
It was a week which started in a relatively sombre, yet somewhat uplifting tone as Sunderland supporters shared their compassion for Beale early in the game against Plymouth when showing their support for the head coaches' niece following the devastating news of her leukaemia diagnosis. Beale, naturally, cut an emotional figure on the touchline as he thanked all four corners of the Stadium of Light – a far cry from those vociferous cries after a defeat to Hull. Beale took a moment when thanking supporters again in his post-match press conference – football taking it’s rightful place in the back seat.
The off-field issues Beale has been dealing with during his time at the Stadium of Light perhaps offer further context for how difficult a period this has been for the Sunderland head coach. But after a second half blitz against Plymouth, which saw Sunderland sweep aside their opponents in the kind of expressive manner which has seldom been seen for a number of months, it felt like a potential line in the sand moment as Beale began to feel the harmony of Sunderland’s supporters.
It was a result which, temporarily, lifted Sunderland back into the top-six and provided a little bit of optimism that maybe, just maybe, things were starting to come to fruition after the club’s decision to change head coach in December.
Beale remained affirmative in the aftermath of that win over Plymouth but it felt as though a number of the fluctuating pieces found the same hymn sheet for arguably the first time in his tenure.
“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,” Beale said as he challenged his side to piece together a full 90-minute display.
“We have got three games in the next week but so has everybody else, so it’s not like we’re playing teams who are fresh – everybody has got it. It’s an exciting time for our young squad.
“There’s a big opportunity for us. Let’s just take them one game at a time.”
In a footballing sense, it was the perfect start to the week for Beale and his side.
READ MORE: Michael Beale starting to feel Sunderland harmony after Plymouth progress
Beale was not among those present on Wearside at the premiere of Netflix’s new series of ‘Sunderland til I Die’ but it is a series he is more than familiar with, having seen both season one and two prior to becoming the club’s head coach. Beale is a connoisseur of taking in the culture of a club and it is something he has tried to continue at the Stadium of Light when reading up on the history of the club including Lance Hardy’s inspired work ‘Stokoe, Sunderland and 73: The Story Of the Greatest FA Cup Final Shock of All Time.’ Ask Beale who his ‘marra’s’ are and he’d have a greater understanding as to what you mean having also taken in A-Love-Supreme's ‘Mackem Dictionary’ to equate himself with the local dialect.
While these may only be marginal examples, they remain conventional nevertheless. Much like the Netflix series which Beale believes put the club on the map – even if it was in an unwanted light during the club’s infamous demise, plummeting from the Premier League to League One.
“It took our club to the whole world,” Beale explained with an added enthusiasm in his voice. “It was a well-known club anyway, but the series took it to the whole world, not just the people inside the club but the fans as well and the passion of the club, the ups and downs and trials and tribulations of the club.”
It’s true the series struck a chord worldwide, and not necessarily just within a sporting context. Take Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, for example. They bought into the fanatic nature of Sunderland and it’s fanbase so much that it inspired them to seek out their own venture in football, swapping the bright lights of Sunset Boulevard for the Racecourse Ground and Wrexham where they, too, have gone on to feature in their own docu-series as the club returned to the Football League.
Beale went on to add on the series an element he can, perhaps, already relate to in terms of the stresses Sunderland can bring upon those in charge.
“I saw really good people going through a tough time in terms of coaches,” he said. “You see the strain it has on them, you see managers coming in at the start of their tenure and you see the strain it had on them and the players and you could see that the group was under a lot of pressure, for sure.
“This series ends much nicer at Wembley with the team going up. It shows what it means to the fans, they’re here permanently. It’s their club and trying to get that passion over to the players – if you look back at the squad that came out of the Premier League, the talent that it had, I wasn’t around at the time but it made for fascinating viewing with, ultimately, the team getting relegated again which was really difficult for everyone. And with the scenes from the local pubs and things like that, you could see how much it means to the fans.
“I think what I saw from the staff is you saw the stress it puts on. It’s difficult sometimes when you’re inside that bubble.”
But Beale is no stranger to analysing the culture of a club or a particular environment. The 43-year-old has a penchant for the modern sports documentaries, whatever the discipline, and uses them to search for any particular gains he can make within his own environment when it comes to his coaching and structure of working with a group of players, as is the case at the Academy of Light.
“The documentaries that go behind the scenes are fantastic,” Beale tells We Are Sunderland. “I’ve watched all the different ones in different sports, for example the NFL ones and there’s the one with the rugby at the moment. They’re fascinating to give you an insight into behind the scenes and some of the players and their families, the local fans and the people who work behind the scenes – the fact it’s [Sunderland ‘til I Die] a bit closer to home with our club makes it a bit more special.
“The NFL is particularly fascinating,” he adds. “How do you manage 50-plus players? They have coaching lieutenants and that’s how we set-up the staff here – we have different staff who oversee different groups of players and different individuals and they sit and talk about their game and that goes into the training. That’s the way I’ve worked for a number of years but it’s new here to Sunderland in many aspects.
“Obviously Ali [Alessandro Barcherini] has always looked after the goalies, but the way you set-up your coaching staff to look after certain players, the individual work you do, sometimes there’s a lot of information for the players to take on then so you need a period of time before you see the benefits of it. But in terms of how you manage 50 players in the NFL it’s that.
“You look at the different sports, it’s something I’ve studied extensively. We had a slightly later start to training the other day because we have a few players who are big NFL fans, so they watched [the Super Bowl] at the weekend. But you listen to coaches in all sorts of sports and listen to what they’re doing and that’s why I think these documentaries are fascinating. You can pick up little nuggets in them for sure and not just that, even for the club around the training complex, sometimes they’ll show something like the way they set up an analysis room or the way that they travel or prepare for games. You’re always looking at different sports for little bits of inspiration.”
READ MORE: Sunderland Til I Die: The perfect emotional tonic to complete the final act
If Beale and the current squad are to enjoy a similar storybook ending to their season as the class of 2021-22 who broke the club’s play-off hoodoo at Wembley against Wycombe Wanderers, the trip to Huddersfield presented itself as a further opportunity to build on those foundations laid against Plymouth. It was off the red carpet and onto the green grass at the John Smith’s Stadium.
At three games unbeaten, Beale would have hoped to have been finding a groove. But within seconds of the kick-off in West Yorkshire, you could see what kind of an evening Sunderland were going to be in for as Huddersfield forced an early opportunity through winger Sorba Thomas – a player who would irk Beale in his post-match comments when highlighting Sunderland’s fragile mentality.
“We knew Sunderland had a lot of young talent, but we also knew that we could bully them on the day,” said the Huddersfield winger. “We knew what we could do to win the game, and we stuck to our game plan, and it worked.”
And it did work.
Huddersfield, as per Fbref, made more recoveries than Sunderland, won more duels and when it came to tackling where the tacklers team won possession of the ball, Huddersfield outscored Sunderland 18-8 with as many as six in blue and white winning possession multiple times and only Dan Ballard doing so for Sunderland. Beale’s side recorded an xG of 0.8 – the seventh time in 12 games across all competitions they have registered an xG less than 1 under Beale – as Huddersfield edged the contest thanks to Matty Pearson’s scrambled effort, a fourth goal conceded from a set piece situation in six games.
It further emphasised the struggles Sunderland are enduring away from home this season, a stark contrast to what we witnessed last year where their flamboyant approach saw them lose just six times on the road. In the bowels of the John Smith’s Stadium Beale referenced the need to ‘flip a mentality’ away from how and how ‘mental resilience and stamina’ would play a big role in turning the club’s away from around. For those 2,000 or more supporters who made their way across to West Yorkshire it was a case of one step forward and two steps back, again.
READ MORE: Sunderland's play-off hopes may hinge on addressing physicality and away form issues
Although the January transfer window may have left a little to be desired in Sunderland’s failed attempt to bring in an established centre-forward, the big triumph from Kristjaan Speakman and the club’s ownership group came in the resistance to any approaches made for Jack Clarke.
Clarke’s impact this season has catapulted him to stardom on Wearside and has seen the 23-year-old garner significant interest both domestically and across Europe with Serie A side Lazio seeing multiple late bids rejected in January.
“Honestly, I’m happy to be here still – I enjoy every minute of being in a Sunderland shirt,” Clarke said in a post-match interview with Sky Sports following a stunning assist for Nazariy Rusyn in Sunderland’s 1-1 draw with North East rivals Middlesbrough earlier this month. “For me, the stuff that’s getting said on the outside doesn’t bother me as long as I’m coming in everyday and wearing a Sunderland shirt, I’m happy.”
Clarke continued that mindset with another mesmerising strike against Plymouth before scoring his 15th goal of the season in the defeat to Birmingham – his 19th goal contribution in total this season, just one behind last season’s total of 20. The York-born winger, in that sense, has certainly not, it appears, let any of the outside noise interfere with what has been a stunning season.
But that happiness may waver down the line, particularly if Sunderland fail to achieve promotion to the Premier League – Clarke seemingly destined to move up a level in the summer regardless.
And those suggestions were emphasised by Clarke’s agent, former Sunderland defender Ian Harte, who told the 'No Tippy Tappy Football' podcast in the wake of the defeat at Huddersfield that Clarke’s exit from the Stadium of Light would 'hopefully' happen in the summer.
“The player has just obviously got to focus on what he's doing at the moment, which is [playing] fantastically well, scoring goals, getting assists,” said Harte. “But hopefully, this summer, we'll probably see Jack moving.”
The transfer window may not open until the summer, and Beale, technically, does not get involved with the club’s transfer business under his remit as head coach. But with form stuttering, the last thing Beale needed was genuine outside noise regarding his talisman.
“Agents have got a job to do and he represents Jack,” said Beale. “It's important he represents Jack in the right way and I'm sure Jack feels he does. Jack has already reiterated that he's extremely happy here just last week. This is going to be an ongoing saga I think until the summer.
“At the moment the window is closed, Jack's here and he's our player. He's one of the best players in the league. He looks happy to me so let’s just focus on that. Someone's got to pay the money that we would want and it's got to be the right club for Jack. We're certainly the right club for Jack right now.”
At this point, Sunderland still had another game to focus on – a quick turnaround to the midlands and a meeting with Birmingham, a fixture Beale is unlikely to have relished given the baggage attached to it with former head coach Mowbray in charge at St. Andrew’s.
READ MORE:
- Clarke v Whittaker: What happened when two of the Championship's best wingers went head-to-head
- Romaine man? Have Sunderland found Jack Clarke's successor?
-
Kristjaan Speakman gives update on Jack Clarke's Sunderland contract
"The comment we don't like but we'll have to take it. If that's what people feel, we have to get rid of that perception. If teams are thinking they can run after us and press us and we're not up for the fight then we have to respond to that.”
Those were the words of Beale when addressing Huddersfield winger Thomas’ comments just days earlier in Sunderland’s defeat at Huddersfield before the trip to Birmingham. From the outside, Sunderland’s struggles with physicality have been present since the club’s return to the Championship, such has been the desire to acquire a robust defensive-minded midfielder over the last two-and-a-half transfer windows. And Beale’s job will be to find a way to address that, after a crushing second half collapse at St. Andrew’s.
"I don't think any team will stand off us and let us play lovely football. What teams are realising is if they stand off us they'll have a massive issue,” Beale continued. “We did really well last year, we're in a really good position and play a certain style of football, teams are going to look at ways to create problems for us. I wouldn't read too much into those comments but we have to show that's not the case.
“People get wise to you in the second season and they might sit a bit deeper or get a bit closer to you, our job then becomes a bit more difficult because you have to think ahead and problem solve. I always felt coming into the club the respect for our team had gone through the roof."
And Sunderland probably got a little bit of that respect from Mowbray in the first half on Saturday as they did try and go toe-to-toe with Sunderland in more of a football match. So much so that it cost them the opening goal of the game when Paik Seung-ho was forced into a cheap turnover in possession deep inside his own half which allowed Clarke to capitalise with another clinical finish to open the scoring.
Victory over Birmingham felt significant for a number of reasons; it would eradicate such a sluggish defeat three days earlier at Huddersfield, it would maintain a play-off push and, perhaps most importantly, it would prevent the man deemed not good enough by the club from beating the man they think is.
At half-time, Sunderland, and Beale, were on course to remedy those things. Fast-forward 45 minutes and Beale found himself back in the trenches.
Were Sunderland bullied here, like Thomas’ comments from earlier in the week? Perhaps not. But there was a significant drop off from their first half performance which invited Birmingham to grow into the game – something Mowbray’s side did to the utmost effect. The mitigation surrounding both of Birmingham’s goals coming via favourable deflections is redundant as Sunderland failed to clear their lines. The most concerning aspect is that once Jordan James levelled the scores, it felt ominous that Sunderland would slump to a defeat.
It was their eighth defeat on the road this season – already two more than last year – and their 14th in total, again more than last season with 13 games still to play. It leaves Sunderland 10th in the Championship table, four points adrift of sixth place, potentially more by the time Hull have played their game in hand. When Mowbray was sacked, Sunderland were three points outside the play-off places, when Beale was hired three games later following Mike Dodds’ interim period they were two outside.
To add further concern and frustration, Beale has been hit with another injury setback to Patrick Roberts who took himself out of the defeat at Huddersfield in the closing stages – the winger suffering a hamstring injury which is likely to keep him out until the international break next month – and a two-game suspension for defender Ballard after his tenth yellow card of the season. But another tumultuous week for Beale and Sunderland didn’t quite end there after footage emerged of Beale appearing to ignore Hume following his substitution late in the game against Birmingham. It sparked huge controversy amongst not just Sunderland supporters, with a clip of the incident posted by Sunderland fanzine Roker Report registering almost seven million views on social media.
Beale, dejected from another damaging defeat, downplayed the incident after the game, almost in confusion, having suggested he did not see the defender offering out his hand in gesture.
"Trai Hume is a fantastic player for our club. He gives everything for his team-mates and the staff. I wasn't aware that I missed his handshake until being asked about it post-game. I immediately went to see him to apologise,” Beale wrote via social media on Saturday night.
"Trai passed a fitness test this morning to play the game and I cannot hold him in higher regard as a man or professional. He is an example of everything that is good about a young footballer and our team."
Innocent it may be, but it was another untimely incident for Beale and the club – who made mainstream media again less than two months on from the nationwide despair at the club’s initial allowance to redecorate the Stadium of Light’s premium hospitality suite, the Black Cats Bar, in black and white slogans prior to the FA Cup third round tie with Newcastle United. Beale, unfortunately, got caught up in the crossfire and backlash of that off-field incident but here, he was very much in the firing line.
It leaves things heading towards the precipice again ahead of what now becomes another crucial home game with Swansea City this weekend. Beale spoke about the significance of this three-game week and turning Sunderland’s away form but, in his own words, it has left ‘a lot for me to go away and improve on. Me first and then the team will follow.’
Beale, it seems, is never going to be far away from a crisis at the Stadium of Light as supporters continue to feel discouraged by their teams’ performances over large parts of the season, predating Beale’s time as well as his 12 games to date. The 43-year-old is going to need to instil all of that mental stamina and resilience he has referred to in ensuring his squad of players do not remain too low, in what transpired to be a particularly alarming week where the lows outweighed the highs both on and off the field once more.
Beale has five games to navigate until the March international break which is often seen as the time to reset ahead of the final charge up the home stretch. Within those five games, however, Sunderland face three of the Championship’s top seven, including champions-elect Leicester City and Southampton, meaning things could yet become more unsettling before they improve.
“We have to get to the March international break within shooting distance [of the top six], or slightly better off if we can,” said Beale. “Then after that break, that's when these positions are going to be decided.
“We know we went on a late run last year. If anything, we need to draw on that experience we had last year. We went into the last game to win and get in, or defeat and finish in mid-table. We know it's going to go to the wire. This year in the Championship, the points tally that we're going to need is going to be greater than last year I believe.
“There are six or seven teams in that fight and we're one of them. This isn't a time for doubt. It's a time for resetting and making sure our mentality is strong.”
The problem Beale faces, demonstrated in the microcosm of this one week, three-game example, is that we live by the ethos of the next thing we do being better than the last thing we did and, as things stand, Sunderland are no better than what we have seen, both this season and last.
Sunderland started out this period in the perfect way with a victory and a sense of harmony. They end it with two defeats and a returning sense of unrest and uncertainty. At best they appear to be standing still - which in this league often means backwards. At worst they are regressing. Either way, the season now feels like it is hanging precariously.
Read the rules here