Sunderland fans claim to have found a burner social media account belonging to former manager Michael Beale, in which he had some choice words for both the club’s owners as well as the fanbase itself.
Beale was relieved of his duties as Sunderland boss on Monday after just 12 matches in charge and Mike Dodds will take interim charge of the club until the end of the season.
The former Rangers head coach was an unpopular appointment on Wearside after replacing the popular Tony Mowbray, and he ultimately failed to convince supporters during his short stay.
In a series of PR blunders, Beale claimed his unpopularity was due to his southern accent, oversaw a resounding first derby defeat to Newcastle since 2011 and appeared to snub Trai Hume on Saturday after substituting him.
Michael Beale “burner account”?
During his tenure, a Twitter account named “Player__ID” routinely defended Beale in conversation with Sunderland supporters.
The account defended Beale for not shaking Hume’s hand during the defeat at Birmingham, and also asked fans who had a stronger squad between him and his predecessor, Mowbray.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
However, eagle eyed fans have spotted a tweet from 2017 asking X users to follow the account, dubbed as the new business venture of none other than Beale himself.
Give @MichaelBeale new business @Player__id a follow and check out the website. You'll not regret it!
— Aaron Cawley (@AaronCawley81) July 15, 2017
The account would go on to retweet a tweet from a Coventry City fan which called Sunderland fans “toxic.” The tweet read: “If SAFC sack Beale who in their right mind would want that job?
“Owners that won’t back a manager in the transfer market and a toxic fan base who will boo the f**k out of him and want him gone as soon as they lose 2 games. The self entitlement is on another level up there.”
An incredible development in the Mick Beale/Sunderland saga…Honestly, you NEED to see this.THREAD 🧵(Credit to @WhatTheFalkPod for the great detective work) pic.twitter.com/8aQWOfIOlB
— Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) February 20, 2024
A thread by the Second Tier podcast showed Beale’s association with the account on his LinkedIn page and also showed tweets from the account defending his tenure as Rangers manager.
Since fans made their alleged discovery, both Michael Beale’s Twitter/X account, and the Player__ID account, have subsequently been deleted.