Sunderland captain Dan Neil has revealed how he and his teammates reacted to the news that Michael Beale would be leaving the club, and has said what level of responsibility they should take on for his departure.
Ironically, Beale’s lackluster tenure as Sunderland manager came to an abrupt end just after the team he had taken over for, Tony Mowbray, lost.
The former manager of Queens Park Rangers always had an uphill battle ahead of him. When Mowbray left the Stadium of Light, many still thought well of him, and Sunderland wasn’t in a terrible place in the league.
Under Beale, the Black Cats made little progress, and the fan base’s sentiment is worse than it was before he arrived. According to TalkSPORT, he had lost the dressing room because there were times when he forced the players to show up for practice even if he himself took the day off.
Dan Neil’s reaction to Michael Beale sacking
Speaking to the club’s website, the midfielder revealed his thoughts on his former boss, and what went wrong.
“First and foremost I want to wish the old gaffer well in whatever he chooses to do next,” said the 22-year-old. “I think a lot of the boys, if not all of them, really enjoyed working under him and we thought he had some really good ideas. It just didn’t quite work out.
“As players we have to take some responsibility for that. We didn’t deliver on the pitch what he wanted and I think you can see that in the last run of results. We have to take some responsibility for that and I know all the boys wish him well in whatever he chooses to do next.”
