Sunderland spotlight fall back on Michael Beale as Black Cats boss admits ‘questions’ are raised

“Two defeats has made a lot of questions around us, as a team and the staff and we have to accept it,” Sunderland manager Michael Beale said, acknowledging that the focus had returned on him.

His patchy team fell 2-1 at Birmingham City in the Championship, dropping them to 10th place and away from the top six. Coventry City, now four points ahead of them in the final play-off spot, is now ahead of his erratic team. The Black Cats’ three-point victory over Plymouth Argyle has been eclipsed as they have now lost both to Tony Mowbray’s City and Huddersfield Town in the span of a few days.

“We came into the week with a lot of optimism and the two defeats have made a lot of questions around us,” accepted Beale. “In the first half I think we played very well, we went 1-0 up to a really good goal. Our press was good and Jack [Clarke] goes and finishes. We had one or two more opportunities. Romaine [Mardle] does really well, it’s a fantastic save from John Ruddy in a key moment in the game.

“We spoke about what to expect in the second half. We knew the crowd would get behind them and they would squeeze up. We played in front of them and made it easy to be pressed. Could we run in behind more? Could we hold the ball up? Then it was a big moment when Mason [Burstow] had the goal taken away. He is marginally offside but it’s a big moment for us.”

Having led at the break, Beale saw his side go into their shell and he reckoned: “It was a really poor second half considering the great position we were in at half time. What people don’t know is that people like Trai Hume, who passed a fitness test, are going to the well for us. I love him for the mentality that he has. The players this week who have played three games are physically and mentally a bit drained.

“So I thought our first-half performance was more than worthy of us being in front. I just thought we were a little bit too easy to play against in the second half. We played in front of them. You could see straight away, taking kick-off, we went backwards. I would like us to be more positive. It’s on me as the coach to find the solutions, to make us play and give instructions to improve. Even the subs, they could have had a greater impact, so again, am I making the right decisions in those moments?”

“It wasn’t a yellow card,” said the boss. “On a day where we cost ourselves the game and I don’t want to be moaning about the referee but in that moment, Dan played the ball, so it was a harsh yellow card to get. Jenson [Seelt] will get his go now and I have no doubt he will add to the team as well.”

There is other injury news too, and Beale confirmed: “Paddy [Patrick Roberts] will be out for four or five weeks and Embo [Elliot Embleton] has had a scan and on the scan there was something we didn’t expect to see. So he will be about the same time.”

He continued, “I know the last two results have been disappointing and we have to bounce back at home against Swansea.” Now, the team is getting ready for a home game against Swansea City on Saturday. We are aware that we need to improve our away form. However, we have two weeks until our next away game (against Norwich City on March 2), so we must play with clarity against Swansea.