Michael Beale has dismissed suggestions of strife behind the scenes at Sunderland as ‘far-fetched’.
The former Rangers manager denied that he told his players to come in for extra training following a humiliating defeat to Birmingham at the weekend, which lost him his job.
According to social media rumors, tensions between the head coach and his players were on the rise. This came after Beale appeared to reject Trai Hume’s handshake when the player was substituted.
The Championship club fired the 43-year-old following just 12 games in command earlier this week. It’s his second job loss this season, following his dismissal from Rangers.
“Just want to clarify that no players were given extra training after the game at Birmingham,” Beale told We Are Sunderland. “All players were off as scheduled on Sunday and returned to training yesterday as usual. Saturday was our third game in seven days, so everyone needed the day off as scheduled.
“I hope the club finds the appropriate manager moving forward. Fans deserve to return to the Premier League, where a club of this size belongs. I wish the club every future success.
“The players and staff were a pleasure to work with and reports of issues behind the scenes are a long way wide of the mark.”
Meanwhile, former Rangers loanee Malik Tillman is expected to complete a £12 million move to PSV Eindhoven in the summer after indicating a desire to stay with the club next season.
This might result in a £1.2 million windfall for the Ibrox side.
On loan The Bayern Munich ace was a key player for the Ibrox club last season, but the arrangement to make his loan to Scottish football permanent fell through this summer as the German giants reconsidered his future and transferred him to the Eredivisie with Rangers’ Champions League opponents PSV instead.
