Big-city experience will help me cope, says Sunder-fire boss
UNDER-PRESSURE Michael Beale says he will draw on his Rangers’ experience to help dig himself out of a hole.
Promotion hopes are nosediving and Sunderland’s fed-up fans, who travel huge distances in equally huge numbers, are finding it hard to stomach.
It’s all going horribly wrong as Tony Mowbray – the Ghost of Christmas Just Past – gave Black Cats boss Beale a real kick in the guts.
The popular Birmingham boss guided Sunderland to the play-offs last season but was sacked and replaced by Beale in early December.
But Koji Miyoshi’s 80th-minute winner (celebrating, below) made it two away defeats in a week and piled the pressure on the visiting boss.
Beale is desperate to prove shoulders are strong enough to carry the weight of expectation, but says his time in Scotland will stand him in good stead.
“Rangers and Sunderland are two iconic football clubs and that’s a fantastic honour for me. The weight is big and the opinions
his 49% 5 3 5 0 18 0 REF:
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4 51% 4 4 5 1 14 0 are big,” he said. Expectations are just as massive and Beale knows the penalties, and added: “I’m a young manager but I have to win games to continue with that.”
He brushed aside a supposed handshake snub to substituted Trai Hume, insisting he hadn’t seen him and had apologised for any misunderstanding.
Jack Clarke’s 15th goal of the season set the visitors on their way but a Jordan James equaliser sparked a power shift.
Japan international Miyoshi delivered the killer blow and believes Birmingham’s raucous sell-out following had made Sunderland nervous.
He said: “The fans were amazing. We could feel them behind us. I think they made Sunderland a bit anxious.
“I was so happy to score. I have five goals now but I still feel that’s not enough. I feel I can get more goals and I’m sure the team can as well.”
Mowbray brandished a bag of Revels as a victory treat, but insisted it wasn’t a case of sweet revenge. “I want Sunderland to do well,” he said. “They have to stay strong and keep going.
“I just wished Michael all the best afterwards. I know the club well and I know what it must be like right now.
“I told him to enjoy it. Every job in football is an adventure.”