Michael Beale breaks silence to offer Sunderland ‘sincerest thanks’ after sacking

Michael Beale has offered his ‘sincerest thanks’ to Sunderland as he broke his silence on his sacking.
Beale left the club this week after just 64 days, making him the second shortest serving manager in the club’s history.
While it never appeared to be the smoothest of relationships between Beale and the club, as evidenced by his quick removal from post, he has put his respect for the club on record.
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“I am disappointed to have left Sunderland AFC after a short time at the club,” Beale said via the LMA.
"I would like to say a big thank you to the players who were excellent to work with. The squad has a lot of potential and I will follow their progress with great interest in the coming weeks and months.
"I would also like to extend my thanks to all the staff, both at the training ground and Stadium of Light, for the quality of their work, as well as their friendship.
"The communication with Kyril, Kristjaan and the board was always open and honest, and I would like to place on record my sincerest thanks for their support during a tough period personally.
"To the fans - I would like to thank you for the support shown to me and my family during the recent game against Plymouth Argyle. In this gesture, you showed huge empathy and warmth and that is something I will never forget.
"I wish everyone associated with Sunderland AFC all the very best for the future."
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Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football. Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion. Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk
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