Championship club Sunderland, has named Michael Beale, the former Rangers manager, as their new head coach.
The 43-year-old has committed to a two-and-a-half-year contract at the Stadium of Light.
Beale had a brief stint in the Championship with QPR last season before departing in November 2022 to join the Scottish Premiership giants.
Managing Rangers, he secured victories in 31 out of 43 games, but his tenure ended on October 1 after three losses in the first seven league matches of the campaign.
Replacing Tony Mowbray as the head, Beale assumes control of Sunderland, which currently holds the seventh position in the Championship, trailing three points behind the play-off spots after a 1-0 defeat against Bristol City.
This loss followed consecutive victories under caretaker Mike Dodds, who will continue as the assistant head coach.
“We have monitored Michael’s career for some time and we are delighted to have reached an agreement for him to become our new head coach,” sporting director Kristjaan Speakman told the club website.
“He has an excellent and well-founded reputation for developing players and he is an outstanding progressive coach, who is aligned with our playing identity and naturally fits within our structure alongside Mike Dodds and the wider team.”
Sunderland achieved a sixth-placed finish last season under Mowbray’s guidance. However, a string of two wins in nine league matches led to his dismissal in early December, causing the team to slide down to ninth in the table.
Having taken over from Alex Neil in August 2022 after the former Norwich and Preston manager moved to Stoke, Mowbray spent 15 months at the helm of the Black Cats.
Beale back in Championship after rollercoaster year with Rangers
Beale, who previously coached in the youth academies of both Chelsea and Liverpool, transitioned to the role of first-team coach at Rangers under Steven Gerrard. Their prior collaboration at Liverpool contributed to this appointment.
He played a pivotal role in Rangers securing the Scottish league title in the 2020-21 season. Subsequently, he followed Gerrard to Aston Villa in October 2021.
In June 2022, Beale took on his first senior managerial role at QPR and successfully guided the club to the top of the Championship in the early months of the last season.
Despite an approach from struggling Premier League side Wolves in October 2022 to replace Bruno Lage, Beale declined, emphasizing his commitment by stating, “I have been all in here, and I have asked others to be all in, so I can’t be the first person to run away from the ship.”
However, the opportunity to take over at Ibrox following the dismissal of Giovanni van Bronckhorst the following month proved too appealing to resist.
He commenced his tenure in Glasgow on a positive note, earning the Manager of the Month award for December and securing victories in 13 of his initial 14 matches. However, despite his efforts, Beale couldn’t close the gap on Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic. The team suffered defeats to their arch-rivals in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and the final of the League Cup.
Despite significant summer recruitment, Beale’s Rangers were eliminated from the Champions League in the play-off round by PSV Eindhoven. His final game in charge was a 3-1 home defeat against Aberdeen on September 30.
Taking over as Sunderland boss, his inaugural match will be the home game against Coventry on Saturday.