Michael Beale, the former manager of QPR and Rangers, is on the verge of being named as Sunderland’s new head coach.
Following up on their initial meeting with Beale earlier this week, sporting director Kristjaan Speakman and Black Cats owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus spoke with the 43-year-old again earlier today.
The second round of negotiations proceeded well, and Beale was almost officially confirmed as Tony Mowbray’s permanent replacement, following his dismissal earlier this week.
For tomorrow afternoon’s Championship match at Bristol City, interim manager Mike Dodds will continue in command, however it’s possible that Beale may be in the stands at Ashton Gate.
Along with first-team coach Michael Proctor, who has accompanied Dodds in the dugout during the Black Cats’ recent victories over West Brom and Leeds United, Dodds will continue to play a significant role in Sunderland’s backroom operations.
Following Mowbray’s departure, Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman have spoken with a number of possible candidates, including Will Still, the head coach of the French team Reims, and Kim Hellberg, who was named the new manager of the Swedish team Hammar by earlier this week.
They seem to have decided on Beale, though, and he will be eager to restore his name after being fired by Rangers in October.
Beale was a young player for Charlton Athletic, and his playing days ended at the age of 21. He founded a futsal club in South London, which caught Chelsea’s eye and led to an apprenticeship in the Blues’ youth system.
After that, he proceeded to work as the Under-21 team’s manager in Liverpool’s youth system before trailing Steven Gerrard to Rangers to work as a first-team coach.
After Gerrard moved to Aston Villa, Beale took over as head coach of Championship team QPR in the summer of 2022, marking his first head coaching position.
He lifted QPR to the top of the table for a brief period of time and declined Wolves’ offer to transfer into the Premier League in order to stay at Loftus Road.
On November 22, nevertheless, he abandoned ship to travel to Scotland after receiving an opportunity to take over as Rangers manager. Although his one-year stint at Ibrox was considered somewhat of a letdown, he was fired after Rangers’ first seven league games of the season were lost.
In recent days, Beale is rumored to have had discussions with Stoke City, who are searching for a new manager after firing Alex Neil, the former manager of Sunderland.
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