The news that Michael Beale is to be the next Sunderland manager can be summed up in one word: underwhelming.
That the Sunderland hierarchy clearly had no plan in place for a replacement when they decided to suddenly sack a universally popular manager in Tony Mowbray is concerning to say the least.
The decision to sack Mowbray remains a mystery. Sunderland supporters have a right to know why a manager who had us just three points of the plays-offs was so summarily dismissed.
Furthermore, if Sunderland supporters had known Mowbray would have been replaced with someone who has achieved absolutely nothing in the game, I think most of them would have preferred to keep Mike Dodds after his excellent start with the two impressive home wins against West Brom and Leeds where he amply demonstrated an excellent tactical nous for the game.
At the end of the day, however, as the reversion to type with yesterday’s toothless performance against Bristol City once again starkly highlighted, if we don’t buy a striker who can score goals, it won’t really matter who the next manager is, nothing much is going to change. And the team in charge of transfers should be accountable for that. Not Tony Mowbray.
