Former Rangers manager set for Sunderland exit as his calamitous season gets even worse in shock fashion

Michael Beale is set to leave his role as Sunderland manager in a shock twist.

The Londoner has only been in charge for 12 games at the Championship club, following his sacking by Rangers earlier this season. But a 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City - coupled with a storm involving player Trai Hume when he did not shake hands with the player after subbing him - has seemingly proven too much.

Beale replaced highly-popular boss Tony Mowbray at the Black Cats and his appointment has proven divisive. In total, he won four of his 12 games, the club sitting 10th and four points outside the promotion play-off spot.

It's another disappointing moment for Beale in a calamitous season. A poor summer transfer window at Rangers brought his Ibrox reign to an end after less than a year.

He lost the League Cup final to Celtic last campaign, and was sacked after a 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen at home, trailing the Hoops in the title race. Philippe Clement replaced him and now Rangers are top of the league after a 3-0 win over St Johnstone, having bagged this term's Viaplay Cup honours.

According to the Sunderland Echo, Beale is 'set' to leave his position in charge of the club. He did not take training and an announcement on his exit is set to follow shortly. The Black Cats are still in the hunt for play-off football. They reached that frontier last term but were knocked out at the semi-final stage prior to the Wembley showpiece.