Sunderland fans hijack Michael Beale announcement as grim Rangers image emerges with 'absolute meltdown' incoming

Michael Beale has been met with a wall of discontent from Sunderland fans as he closes in on the vacant job.

And it's deja vu for the beleaguered former Rangers manager who left some raging punters behind before the arrival of Philippe Clement. Beale's second stint in Glasgow ended in him being public enemy number one, with the Rangers hierarchy wielding the axe in October. Now raging Black Cats punters reckon the Londoner has a less-than impressive CV to bring to the Stadium of Light, after former Celtic flop boss Tony Mowbray was let go despite a decent run of form.

According to Sky Sports, Beale's announcement as the next coach is imminent after being out of work for just 11 weeks but fans of the English Championship side are less than impressed with the ownership for the decision. Fans wrote on X: "I fancy not having Michael Beale as our coach," while others went in stronger, adding: "Saw Sunderland adamant they should be getting Graham Potter and Will Still, yet they’ve ended up with Michael Beale."

Another said: "Sacking Mowbray for Michael Beale is on par with Birmingham getting rid of Eustace for Rooney." One wrote: "Don't appoint Michael Beale," while one punter expects a full on meltdown: "The absolute meltdown on Sunderland Twitter later today when Michael Beale is announced as new head coach is going to be quite something."

One raging fan wrote: "And it’s also perfectly possible to broadly support what Kristjaan Speakman and his people are doing whilst simultaneously believing that Michael Beale is not suited to Sunderland at all. They’ve done a lot of good things for our club. This will not be one of them."

And a familiar image was strewn across social media from some fans, made by then raging Ibrox