‘I can’t change my accent’ – Sunderland boss blasts back at fans and says ‘they didn’t want me here in the first place’

UNDER-FIRE Michael Beale came out swinging at the Sunderland boo boys - claiming they never wanted him because he’s from London.

The Stadium of Light turned on the Black Cats boss after just his seventh game following last Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Hull.

Furious fans have been laying into him all week on social media with #BealeOut a UK-wide trend on X, which the former QPR and Rangers boss insists has gone overboard.

Beale, 43, has won two matches since replacing Tony Mowbray but admits he is “bemused and perplexed” by the raging “outside noise”.

And in a staunch defence sure to only further fan the flames, he said:“I replaced a popular manager but I didn’t sack him, did I? And he won two in nine before he left, so are we making out it was all perfect?

“People didn’t want me here in the first place.

“You can say afterwards it’s about style or this and that, but let’s cut to the chase, people didn’t want me.

“The reality is that there wasn’t a feelgood factor about me coming in.

“It’s fine, I’m not crying over it, I’m a big boy, but when people are personal they’ve lost straight away.

“Look, I can’t change my accent or where I’m from. I’m proud of where I’m from.”

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Rangers fans didn’t like the cut of Beale’s jib either, with the former Chelsea and Liverpool coach lasting just 10 months at Ibrox before being sacked last October.

Yet he could be gone from Sunderland a lot sooner if results don’t improve quickly - his only chance to quell the mutiny.

Beale was considered the brains behind Steven Gerrard as his assistant at Aston Villa and Rangers but his managerial career, starting at QPR in 2022, has been underwhelming so far.

Yet he hit back: “I haven’t worked in London for ten years, but obviously I am from South London. Six years in Liverpool, four and a half in Glasgow, a year in Brazil. My accent hasn’t changed!

“I am happy to be criticised if we can’t score goals or repeatedly make mistakes, but that one is a bit off.

“I feel I deserve a little bit more respect because my journey deserves that, but if people don’t want to give it then that’s fine.

“If anyone looks at my CV, I’ve worked for massive football clubs.

“If you spend 16 years at Chelsea and Liverpool, you know what expectations are. I was a young coach who went across to Brazil so I’m not worried about taking on pressure.”

Beale picked up seven points from nine after losing his first game before bitter rivals Newcastle trounced them in the FA Cup.

Close defeats to Ipswich and Hull followed, with the Mackems - the youngest squad in the Championship - in dire need of a reliable striker.

And while Beale has a monster challenge on his hands to win the locals over, he is adamant life on Wearside is really not too bad.

He added: “If we beat Stoke we will go back to just outside the play-offs on goal difference…it’s a huge crisis!

“I inherited a team two points off the top six and now it’s three.

“We have lost two tough games but the performances weren’t terrible. Anyone saying they were, I can’t get on board with that.

“You’re throwing negativity at the youngest team in the league with one of the lowest budgets.

“So you’re just throwing negativity at a football team who don’t deserve it. Sometimes I could say less, because I could be less honest, but that is not the sort of guy I am.

“If we had drawn the last two games would the noise be the same? It probably would because they didn’t want me here in the first place!”