Michael Beale’s recent past seems to be growing more bizarre as social media posts about his tenure as manager at Rangers and Sunderland have surfaced.
After just 12 games, Sunderland fired the Englishman on Monday, February 19. It was unexpected that he had been employed there just 2.5 months after losing his position at Ibrox due to a terrible start to the season.
It now appears that he may have used a now-deleted account that purportedly belonged to a firm of his named Player ID to post remarks on Twitter during his previous two employment in support of himself.
Read also; ‘Worst ever’ – Chris Sutton issues Rangers admission as Sunderland sack Michael Beale
On February 20, the Second Tier podcast shared a thread on Twitter, citing the Walk The Falk Podcast as the source of the information. The posts purportedly included proof of Beale’s affiliation with Player ID and justified his reluctance to shake Trai Hume’s hand after replacing the Sunderland player. [Sky Sports, February 19, 2019]
He later apologized for his actions against Birmingham during the weekend, as well as his job at Ibrox.
Does Michael Beale use a burner account while leading the Rangers?
Additionally, it appears that the Player ID account shared a statement criticizing the Black Cats for their “self entitlement” if they fired him.
Even if the thread seems to have provided adequate evidence to support its assertions, the fact that it is plausible in any case illustrates how Beale’s standing has declined since he ventured into management on his own.
Arguably the strangest element over the past two seasons, since he left Steven Gerrard’s side at Aston Villa, is that the well-travelled coaching brains behind the 55th title win has come across as anything but the smart, modern coach he was billed as.
His history with the Chelsea and Liverpool academies, before time spent in Sao Paolo where he learnt Portuguese to improve his coaching, then work on the Light Blues winning the SPFL under Gerrard all suggested he was one thing.
And yet his time at QPR, Rangers and now Sunderland have instead been characterised by the opposite, as he has flattered to deceive with results, come across as having an overinflated opinion of himself, and then left under a cloud three times in less than two years.
It may be as simple as the 43-year-old being a top coach but a poor manager, and having believed his own hype in trying to run before he could walk as a number one, but the way his image has transformed since he set out on his own is startling.
Sunderland job wrong from start after Ibrox sack
In his defence he set off like a house on fire with a series of wins at Loftus Road, and lifted a faltering Rangers side after taking over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Ibrox, while he arguably never had a chance at Sunderland as he came in after the surprise sacking of the popular Tony Mowbray.
And yet results at QPR had trailed off by the time he managed to upset people in West London by preaching integrity and commitment after turning down the Wolves job, only to leave for Glasgow within weeks having also caused upset in Scotland by very publicly turning up at Ibrox with Van Bronckhorst under pressure.
His strong start as Rangers boss was undercut by failing to win the big games, most notably against Celtic, while heaping pressure on himself by getting involved in spats with the likes of Chris Sutton.
He took on the responsibility of leading the summer recruitment drive and it proved a huge disappointment, ultimately leading to his exit in less than a year, only for Philippe Clement to take the same players top of the table and with the Viaplay Cup secured.
He might have had the benefit of the doubt a year ago but at this stage the suggestion that he was using a burner account to put posts out backing his position at Ibrox and the Stadium of Light seems very much on-brand now.
Read also: ‘Hearing it may…’: Journalist now shares interesting detail about Michael Beale’s Sunderland exit
