Michael Beale is in advanced discussions with Sunderland to become their next head coach and talks have progressed to the stage where Beale is expected to attend their Championship match at Bristol City on Saturday.
The 43-year-old Londoner previously managed Queens Park Rangers in the Championship and Rangers in Scotland.
Beale will not take the team in Bristol – caretaker manager Mike Dodds will remain in charge – meaning Beale’s first game as Tony Mowbray’s successor will be Coventry City at the Stadium of Light next Saturday.
Sunderland then travel to Hull City on Boxing Day. Beale’s fifth game will be the FA Cup third-round tie against neighbors Newcastle United, which comes at home on January 6.
Beale has Glasgow experience of intense derby atmospheres. He was Steven Gerrard’s assistant when Rangers won the Scottish title in 2020-21, having met Gerrard when the two were young coaches in Liverpool’s academy. Beale previously coached briefly at Chelsea and in Brazil with Sao Paulo.
He was appointed QPR manager in June 2022 and after a difficult start took the west London club to the top of the Championship. Wolves approached Beale in October but he declined their offer.
A month later, Rangers came in and Beale accepted a move to Glasgow following the exit of Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Beale was up against Ange Postecoglou’s well-drilled Celtic and came second in the Scottish Premiership. At the end of September, Beale was dismissed by the Ibrox club after a 3-1 home defeat by Aberdeen left them third in the table, already six points behind Celtic with only six games played.
Sunderland have conducted interviews with several candidates, with Reims English head coach Will Still the highest profile. Compensation would have been required to get Still from Reims and it seems that Sunderland were put off by that.
The arrival of Still would stimulate the fan base. Beale will require some selling and depending on results, he will have to hit the ground running. Mowbray has given the team an identifiable style and personality, while Dodds has recently overseen two wins against West Brom and Leeds United. These took Sunderland to sixth in the Championship.
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Additional reporting: Phil Buckingham
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