Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman's 2023 Sunderland Xmas present was one to forget: View | OneFootball

Sunderland's decision to replace Tony Mowbray with Michael Beale in December 2023 turned out to be a disaster.

A new era is underway at Sunderland following the appointment of Regis Le Bris as the club's new head coach.

After a lengthy search for Michael Beale's permanent replacement that went on for over 120 days, Le Bris was named as the new Sunderland boss in June, and he has certainly made a big impact at the Stadium of Light so far.

The Black Cats finished 16th in the Championship table last season after a decline in form over the second half of the campaign, which began when the club controversially decided to replace Tony Mowbray with Beale in December, but they will be hoping to be among the promotion contenders in the year ahead under Le Bris' guidance.

It has certainly been a turbulent year for the Wearsiders, and as they move forward into what looks set to be an exciting period, supporters will be desperate to forget Beale's disastrous tenure.

Michael Beale's Sunderland appointment was doomed from the start

Sunderland were ninth in the table and just a few points from the play-off places when they made the decision to sack Mowbray in December, and it was an announcement that came as a big shock for supporters.

The Black Cats had won just two of their previous nine games, but they were still very much in the promotion mix, and there were no calls from the fan base for Mowbray to be dismissed leading up to his departure.

Despite initial reservations due to his connections with local rivals Middlesbrough, Mowbray had built an incredibly strong connection with Sunderland supporters, and he had led the club to a sixth-placed finish in their first year back in the Championship the previous season.

As it turned out, disagreements over transfers played a big part in Mowbray's exit, with the 60-year-old frequently expressing a desire to see more experience brought in, which went against the club's policy of recruiting mainly younger players.

Given Mowbray's popularity, it was always going to be difficult for any manager to replace him, but it is fair to say that the appointment of Beale was not well received.

In his two previous managerial roles at Championship side Queens Park Rangers and Scottish giants Rangers, Beale had an overall win percentage of 62%, but his reputation was not as positive as his record would suggest.

Beale left QPR for Rangers in controversial fashion in November 2022, just weeks after committing himself to the club following an approach from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and while he won 31 of his 43 games in charge at Ibrox, he failed to deliver the Scottish Premiership title and his side suffered a humiliating 7-3 aggregate defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League qualifying play-off round.

With that context in mind, Beale was a surprise choice by the Black Cats board, and it did not take long for the pressure to build on him after his arrival at the Stadium of Light.

Michael Beale will go down as one of Sunderland's worst ever managers

Given the negative reaction to his appointment, Beale needed to get off to a good start as Sunderland boss, but he suffered a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Coventry City in his first game in charge, and the passionate home support were not afraid to make their feelings clear during the game.

The Black Cats picked up seven points from the next three games, but any progress Beale was making in winning over the fan base was undone by a run of three consecutive defeats in January, including a 3-0 loss at home to bitter rivals Newcastle United in the FA Cup, and calls for him to be sacked were becoming louder.

It looked as though Sunderland may have been turning a corner as they then went on a three-game unbeaten run, but two consecutive defeats at Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City increased the scrutiny on Beale once again, and an incident in the 2-1 defeat to the Blues where he appeared to ignore defender Trai Hume after substituting him was the final straw for many supporters.

It seems that was a view shared by the board, and Beale was sacked in mid-February, departing after winning four, drawing two and losing six of his 12 games in charge.

In Beale's defence, it was always going to be tough for him to succeed at the Stadium of Light given that many appeared to be against him from the start, and much of the responsibility should lie with owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman for making the managerial change in the first place.

Reflecting on his departure from the Stadium of Light, Beale said that it was a difficult time for everyone connected with the club, but he stressed that the Black Cats were never too far away from the play-off places during his two-month reign.

"It was a disappointing period for everyone, not just myself, for the people inside the club, the players and the fans," Beale told Sky Sports in March, quoted by the Sunderland Echo.

"Everyone went into it with the right intentions. In terms of the league results, we were always between sixth and ninth position. The weekend before I left we had a fantastic home result against Plymouth and won 3-1 but you wouldn't have thought at that point that I'd be leaving a week later."

Sunderland were 10th in the table at the time of Beale's exit, and they eventually finished 16th under interim head coach Mike Dodds, so the 44-year-old's argument may have some validity, but in truth, it never felt as though his side were going to seriously challenge for the play-offs.

Beale also admitted that supporters "probably didn’t want the change" of manager, with Mowbray departing "after doing a good job", and that is a statement that most Black Cats fans will surely agree with.

As Le Bris makes a strong start to life on Wearside, it feels like Sunderland are finally leaving the events of the past year behind them, but Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman may never be fully forgiven for their questionable decisions last December.