Why Sunderland's appointment of Michael Beale might not be so bad after all

It might be the most traumatic festive development involving a Beale since Phil Mitchell left Ian for dead on the floor of the Queen Vic in Eastenders after battering him across the back of the head with a paperweight as revenge for inadvertently drowning Sharon's son, Dennis Jr, by locking him below deck during a boat crash on the Thames. Not to be overly dramatic or anything.

On Monday, Sunderland officially unveiled Michael Beale as their new head coach, and a fanbase collectively groaned. This was not the ambitious appointment we were promised, not the bespectacled continental turbo nerd that many in red and white had set their fluttering hearts on. By comparison, the 43-year-old Bromley native, still reeling from the aftermath of a thoroughly drab stint in Glasgow as Rangers manager, feels like, if not a backwards step, then at the very least a lateral shuffle. Wearside is a region known for its coal, but rarely do the locals rejoice when they find it at the foot of their Christmas stockings.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, had Beale anywhere near the top of their wish list of preferred candidates. For many, he will have barely featured in their top ten. I, personally, off the top of the dome, would have rather we'd stuck with Tony Mowbray, or put our faith in Mike Dodds, or scraped together the financial heft required to lure William Stilliam (to give him his full name). Hell, given his track record at this time of year, I'd have probably favoured the appointment of that other inescapable Mickey B, Buble.

But facetiousness aside, Beale is here, and while few are rapt by the news of his arrival, now is the time to dig deep in an effort to back him. And that means sifting through the pervasive chagrin for shards of faint optimism.

Certainly, to that end, the new chief speaks well enough to leave even the stoniest of cynics wavering ever so slightly. From the outset, Beale has made it achingly clear, that he is not here to manage Sunderland Association Football Club, but rather to act as a head coach and a head coach alone. There is an appeal to this caveat.

For one thing, he has unerringly been at his most effective when left to focus solely on matters pertaining to the on-field performance of his squad. At Ibrox, when tasked with a more holistic role, he seemed to buffer and splutter, like a web browser with too many tabs open at once. But it wasn't so long ago that he had a fairly average QPR side sitting pretty at the top of the Championship, or that he was bustling around on the periphery as Steven Gerrard guided Rangers to a first Scottish Premiership title in a decade.

Beale even spent some time in the home Joga Bonito itself, Brazil, working alongside Rogerio Ceni at Sao Paulo and getting to grips with the Portuguese language. (Quick digression; on the basis of Beale's linguistic skills alone, I now fully expect young Luis Hemir to break Aleksandr Mitrovic's 43-goal single-campaign Championship record this season. Only 43 to go!)

And again, facetiousness aside, his strengths as a communicator are another reason to be quietly hopeful about his looming tenure at the Stadium of Light. Beale's first signing for Rangers last summer was Todd Cantwell, and to hear the midfielder speak about his former boss is to bear witness to nothing but unending admiration. What shines through is an impression of a character who is attentive, personable, and respectful to those in his charge, and while those traits are desirable in any leader, you suspect that they could be doubly so when dealing with a side as young as Sunderland's.

There is, of course, no tangible way of measuring such things, but you would wager that a large part of the reason Tony Mowbray was such a success on Wearside was because he knew how to properly nurture a dressing room brimming with potential and inexperience in equal measure. If Beale can do likewise, then he could yet be an inspired appointment.

Make no mistake, this is not revisionism. I am still, on several levels, bitterly underwhelmed by Beale's arrival, which feels less like a moment of progression, and more like a convenient fix for a board who are becoming increasingly obsessed with finding a yes man for their much-fabled recruitment model. But that does not mean I want him to fail; far from it. In fact, I actively want to be proven wrong. I want to sit here next Christmas with egg on my face and the crumbs of a humble pie in my lap. My hopes are dim, but that does not mean they are extinguished entirely. I want to Beale-lieve.