Celtic hero reignites ex Rangers boss feud over 'mad' Sunderland experiment as BBC host sends instant comeback

Chris Sutton has rekindled flames of a feud between himself and a former Rangers boss over his Sunderland stint.

The Hoops legend did not see eye to eye with Michael Beale during his time at manager, being labelled the worst Chelsea player in history by the then-Light Blues leader. Previously a coach under Steven Gerrard, Beale returned as the leading man with Rangers but his tenure proved difficult and he was sacked in less than a year.

Beale would move on to Sunderland where he lasted 63 days and 12 games before being axed, since working with Gerrard again at Al Ettifaq. Sunderland’s upcoming Championship play-off campaign was the subject of discussion on the BBC’s Monday Night Club and Sutton couldn’t resist a dig at the former Rangers boss.

Sunderland experiment turns Rangers dig

The former striker - who’s sole management job was at Lincoln City between 2009-10 - said: “Sunderland are really interesting because the wheels have come off completely there. But at the start of the season, you wouldn't have given them a prayer of getting in into the play off. Change of manager, I'm not so sure many people were too familiar with Regis le Bris when he came in.

“You go back to last season and they went through, I think, three managers in total. Tony Mowbray, and then they had the mad Michael Beale experiment and he ended up going. So they've had a rebuild now as such and they have really exceeded expectations. So it is really difficult to call.”

Host Mark Chapman was quick to spot Sutton’s dig at Beale, as he added: “I don't know whether they saw what happened at Rangers. Most people did. That was a strange appointment.” Chapman then had a loaded comeback, asking “Well, you can do badly at one place and still do well somewhere else, can't you? Otherwise lots of managers would never get another job, Chris, like you.”

Sutton wasn’t prepared to let it go over Beale as he added “That's fair, but that's two places now.”

Why Chris Sutton and Michael Beale didn’t see eye to eye

The former Rangers boss said in 2023 of Sutton to the Scottish Sun: “Growing up, I was a fan of Chelsea. So there is one pundit around here who is the worst ever player to play for Chelsea. That is why I won’t mention his name — I try to forget him. There are pundits that are comedy acts. There are ex-players who are comedy acts. They don’t speak about the betterment of the game, they don’t help our game at all. All they do is bring it back down to the gutter. I don’t know why that’s where some people go.”

Those comments came after Beale allowed Partick Thistle to walk the ball into the Rangers net during a Scottish Cup clash that year, after Malik Tillman had misread a game restart following an injury and netted at the other end. Sutton questioned whether Rangers generosity would have been handed out had the opponent been his former side, Celtic., saying at the time: “Here’s a question, just a yes or no answer. Do you think Michael Beale would have done that had they been playing Celtic?”