‘Never’… Chris Sutton makes Newcastle claim after Mick Beale is sacked by Sunderland

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Michael Beale has been sacked as Sunderland manager after just 12 games, one of which was against Newcastle United.

The Magpies helped contribute to the downfall of Beale, beating Sunderland 3-0 in the FA Cup back in January.

Eddie Howe’s side were dominant at the Stadium Of Light, as they celebrated in front of a packed out away end.

Sunderland rolled out the red carpet for Newcastle that day, while there was outrage in the buildup as they allowed one of their own bars inside the stadium to be redecorated in Toon colours.

Of course, that was not Beale’s fault, but Sunderland fans were already disappointed with his appointment as manager.

The Black Cats have largely struggled under Beale, and now he has been relieved of his duties after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City.

There seems to be delight on Wearside at his departure, but pundit Chris Sutton does not believe the Newcastle debacle should be held against him.

Chris Sutton does not think Newcastle clash should have gone against Michael Beale

Sutton has been speaking about Sunderland’s decision to sack Beale on 5 Live Sport’s Monday Night Club.

“The Newcastle situation and that whole blame game, it seems to have been held against Michael Beale a little bit,” he said.

“But Sunderland were never going to compete with Newcastle – regardless of what happened in the Sunderland bar or wherever it was.

“They were never going to compete with Newcastle, so for have that held against him, his record hasn’t been that bad he just hasn’t been given the opportunity. Maybe he hasn’t helped himself by chipping up at times, but that’s a harsh sacking.”

Sutton’s Newcastle claim seems wide of the mark

Sutton is partially right. Sunderland never were going to compete with Newcastle, even if there was a lot of fear heading into the game. Our quality shone through, which it should have given this was a Champions League team against a Championship side.

But I do not think the derby situation is what soured Sunderland fans on Beale. Instead, it soured them on the people making the decisions behind the scenes – who in turn were responsible for bringing in Beale.

Now they have decided to get rid of him after just a couple of months, highlighting how bad a decision it was.