Graeme Souness reacts as former Rangers boss Michael Beale closes in on Sunderland job
Graeme Souness believes Michael Beale will find life tough as Sunderland manager as he closes in on his first job since leaving Rangers.
Beale has been out of work since his 10-month spell at Ibrox came to an end on 2 October following a poor start to the 2023-24 campaign.
Sky Sports reported on Friday (15 December) that Beale is in advanced talks over being named as Tony Mowbray’s successor at Sunderland.
Reacting to the news in his Daily Mail column [15 December], Souness said: “I suspect that job will be just as difficult as he found it at Rangers.
“It was a gamble going to Rangers and it did not work for him. Sunderland will be something similar in that it is a huge club with big expectation.
“They are a Premier League club, in reality. One of his early games will also be against Newcastle in the FA Cup – I wish him all the best!”
Must do better
Beale’s rather short tenure at Ibrox will not be remembered fondly by fans, it is fair to say, and his sacking perhaps should have come sooner than it did.
The Englishman was given far too much free rein and that is a decision new boss Philippe Clement may pay for in the January transfer window.
As Clement has highlighted across his first couple of months here, Beale quite simply could not get a tune out of a group he largely assembled.
Despite that, Beale has previously had success in the English Championship with QPR and this Sunderland job looks a nice one to take on.
Nobody will wish Beale ill in his new role, but supporters have been quick to warn their Sunderland counterparts about what to expect.
As Souness said, the Sunderland job is not too dissimilar to the one he had at Rangers, and in that respect he quite simply has to do better.
Assuming he gets the job, this will be an interesting one to watch from the outside over the next few months.
In other Rangers news, the Gers may already have their first January target lined up following comments by his manager this week.