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Michael Beale (football coach)

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This article is about the English football coach. For the English cricketer of the same name, see Michael Beale (cricketer).

Michael Beale
Personal information
Date of birth (1980-09-04) 4 September 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Bromley, London, England
Youth career
Years Team
1998–2001 Charlton Athletic
Managerial career
2022 Queens Park Rangers
2022–2023 Rangers
2023–2024 Sunderland

Michael Beale (born 4 September 1980) is an English football manager who was most recently head coach of Championship club Sunderland.[1]

Beale played football as a youth, but retired at 21 and became a coach. He worked for Chelsea, Liverpool and São Paulo. After stints working as first team coach with Steven Gerrard at Rangers and Aston Villa, Beale became manager of Queens Park Rangers in June 2022. He left QPR after five months to become manager of Rangers, but was sacked from that role in October 2023. Beale subsequently joined Sunderland in December 2023, lasting 12 games in charge, before being sacked in February 2024.

Playing career

Beale's playing career started at Charlton Athletic and, after being released by Charlton, he had short trials at Twente in the Netherlands, and at clubs in the United States, before calling an end to his playing days at the age of 21.[2]

Coaching career

Beale's next step in football was to invest some of the money he had made as a youth player into setting up a futsal club for children in his hometown of Bromley, South London.[3] It was while training children here that he caught the attention of Chelsea Academy boss Neil Bath who, in 2002, offered him a role as a part-time youth coach at their Cobham Training Centre,[4] where he worked as assistant coach of Chelsea's Under-7s and Under-9s squads.

After admitting to becoming somewhat frustrated with the lack of progression of young players into Chelsea's first team since the takeover of Roman Abramovich in 2003,[2] Beale took an offer to work at the Liverpool Academy, beginning as the coach of the Under-15s team, before progressing to become coach of the Under-21s. It was in this role that Beale first worked alongside Steven Gerrard, who was coaching the Liverpool Under-18s at the time.[5]

In January 2017, Beale, who was a long-time fan of South American football, accepted the opportunity to move to Brazilian club São Paulo, learning Portuguese to act as assistant to Rogério Ceni.[6] However, six months later, Ceni and his backroom team were sacked after a string of poor results.[7]

After a short time back working with Liverpool's youth set-up, Beale was contacted by Steven Gerrard to act as the first team coach at Rangers. In three years in Scotland under Gerrard, Beale and Gary McAllister, Rangers won their 55th league title in the 2020–21 league season preventing city rivals Celtic from winning a tenth successive league title.[8]

In November 2021, Gerrard was offered the role of manager at Aston Villa, following the sacking of Dean Smith. Beale and McAllister followed him.[9]

Managerial career

Queens Park Rangers

On 1 June 2022, Beale was appointed first team coach at Championship side Queens Park Rangers.[10][11]

He had a mixed start to his career at QPR; winning only one of his first five matches, losing at home to Blackpool (who were eventually relegated that same season) and only securing a point at Sunderland thanks to the last minute heroics of Ilias Chair and Seny Dieng, both of whom scored in injury time to rescue an unlikely point.

Beale and QPR then found a superb run of form, winning eight of their next eleven league matches, sending them to the top of the Championship table. However, this form was proven to be temporary as they went on to lose four of their next five matches. They were well beaten at Birmingham and Coventry as well as losing at home to Huddersfield and West Brom.

With QPR top of the Championship in October 2022, Beale was approached by Wolverhampton Wanderers to become their new manager, but reportedly turned them down.[12] Upon turning down the opportunity to become manager at Wolves, Beale spoke about integrity and loyalty in an interview for the QPR website: “Integrity is a real big thing for me and loyalty. You don't give it to receive it back, but if those are the things you live by then at times when you are put in a position you have to be strong by them.”

Rangers

On 28 November 2022, Beale accepted an approach to leave QPR and manage Scottish side Rangers, where he had worked previously as the first team coach under Steven Gerrard.[13] Beale had a successful start to his Rangers managerial career, winning his first four matches in charge, after which he was named Scottish Premiership manager of the month for December.[14] Two defeats at Hampden by Celtic meant that Rangers finished the 2022–23 season without a trophy.[15] Beale was sacked on 1 October 2023, after a third defeat in the first seven league matches of the 2023–24 season.[15]

Sunderland

On 18 December 2023, Beale was appointed as head coach of Sunderland on a contract until the Summer of 2026.[16][17][18] On 19 January 2024, Sunderland lost to an out-of-form Hull City, marking a third successive defeat and the fourth defeat in Beale's first seven fixtures as head coach.[19][20][21] After this loss, Beale was met with widespread criticism from Sunderland supporters, including calls for his dismissal.[22][23][24] On 17 February, the pressure mounted for Beale, as Sunderland lost 2-1 to Birmingham City, which was being managed by former Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray; to make matters worse for Beale, in the 87th minute, fan footage showed Sunderland defender Trai Hume trying to shake Beale's hand after being subbed off. However, Beale ignored Hume's gesture, leading to more criticism from the fans.[25] On 19 February 2024, Sunderland sacked Beale.[1][26] He was head coach for 9 weeks and oversaw 12 games,[27][28] the shortest managerial stint in Sunderland's history.[1] After his sacking, Beale was accused of using an anonymous "burner" account on Twitter during his tenure. The account had retweeted posts defending him and criticising the Sunderland fans and owners.[29][30][31]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 17 February 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Queens Park Rangers 1 June 2022 28 November 2022 22 9 5 8 27 25 +2 040.91 [32]
Rangers 28 November 2022 1 October 2023 43 31 4 8 92 44 +48 072.09 [32]
Sunderland 18 December 2023 19 February 2024 12 4 2 6 13 16 −3 033.33 [32]
Total 77 44 11 22 132 85 +47 057.14 —

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sunderland sack head coach Beale after 12 games". BBC Sport. 19 February 2024. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b Hutton, Ross (15 February 2020). "The Road to Rangers - Michael Beale". Heart and Hand. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Meet the man behind Gerrard's success". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Who is Michael Beale? The ex-Chelsea and Liverpool coach playing a key role in Gerrard's managerial career | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  5. ^ Preece, Ashley (26 May 2022). "Villa coach Michael Beale favourite to land vacant QPR manager job". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  6. ^ Henson, Mike (13 February 2017). "Michael Beale interview: The Liverpool coach who moved to Sao Paulo". The Set Pieces. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Sao Paulo sack Rogerio Ceni after six months". ESPN.com. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  8. ^ Townley, John (12 November 2021). "Michael Beale confirms Rangers future amid Aston Villa speculation". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Steven Gerrard: Rangers manager appointed Aston Villa head coach on three-and-a-half-year deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  10. ^ Webb, Matt (1 June 2022). "Michael Beale named QPR head coach". QPR. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Aston Villa confirm Michael Beale departure". Aston Villa Football Club. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  12. ^ Stone, Simon (20 October 2022). "Davis to stay in charge of Wolves until 2023". BBC Sport.
  13. ^ "Michael Beale: Rangers appoint former assistant as manager as he leaves QPR". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 November 2022.
  14. ^ "MICHAEL BEALE NAMED MANAGER OF THE MONTH". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 6 January 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Rangers: Michael Beale sacked as manager after third Scottish Premiership loss". BBC Sport. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Ex-Rangers boss Beale named Sunderland head coach". BBC Sport. 18 December 2023. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Sunderland appoint Michael Beale as manager until summer 2026". The Guardian. 18 December 2023. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Michael Beale: Sunderland confirm appointment of ex-Rangers boss as new head coach". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Boos for Beale as Carvalho fires Hull into top six with victory at Sunderland". The Guardian. 19 January 2024. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  20. ^ Lanigan, Adam (19 January 2024). "Hull go sixth as Carvalho seals win at Sunderland". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  21. ^ Wilson, Scott (19 January 2024). "Michael Beale responds to Sunderland fans after he was jeered during Hull home loss". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  22. ^ Copley, James (22 January 2024). "Sunderland boss Michael Beale faces huge week amid backlash and staggering fan poll calling for his sacking". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  23. ^ Wilson, Scott (19 January 2024). "Sunderland fans turn on Michael Beale during home defeat to Hull City". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  24. ^ Smith, Phil (26 January 2024). "Michael Beale hits out at Sunderland 'negativity' and 'lack of respect' in remarkable press conference". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Michael Beale responds after footage appears to show him snubbing Sunderland star Trai Hume's handshake". talksport.com. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  26. ^ Taylor, Louise (19 February 2024). "Sunderland sack head coach Michael Beale after two months in charge". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  27. ^ Twigg, Sonia (19 February 2024). "Michael Beale sacked by Sunderland after just 12 games in charge". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  28. ^ "Michael Beale sacked as Sunderland head coach after just two months in charge". ITV News. 19 February 2024. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  29. ^ Morgan, Tom (20 February 2024). "Sacked Sunderland manager Michael Beale accused of using anonymous X account to hit back at critics". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  30. ^ Youlton, Clive (22 February 2024). "Michael Beale 'burner account' claims emerge after Sunderland sacking". Chronicle Live. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  31. ^ Holt, Matthew (20 February 2024). "Has a Sunderland fan account just discovered a secret Michael Beale social account posting pro-Beale tweets?". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  32. ^ a b c Managers: Michael Beale, Soccerbase. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
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