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Published 14:29 20 Feb 2024 GMT
Updated 14:29 20 Feb 2024 GMT

Less than 24 hours after Michael Beale was officially sacked by Sunderland on Monday, a controversial claim has already emerged.
Beale was relieved of his duties following the Black Cats' 2-1 defeat away to Birmingham City, who are managed by former Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray, and leaves them four points off the play-offs in 10th.
The former Rangers boss was in charge for just 12 games but will now be replaced by Mike Dodds, who will take charge on an interim basis until the end of the season.
From claiming he was unpopular due to have southern accent to snubbing a handshake with Trai Hume on Saturday, Beale has had his fair share of controversy but in the latest twist, Sunderland fans believe they have found an X account which they think was controlled by the 43-year-old.
Via the Second Tier Pod, the What the Falk podcast had discovered a series of different posts that allude to an account "Player__ID" that would routinely defend Beale in conversations with Sunderland supporters.
However one fan claims to have found a tweet from 2017 asking X users to follow the account, dubbed as the new business venture of the one and only Beale.
Give @MichaelBeale new business @Player__id a follow and check out the website. You'll not regret it!
— Aaron Cawley (@AaronCawley81) July 15, 2017
In another post, the account retweets a post from a Coventry fan calling Sunderland fans "toxic". It said: "If SAFC sack Beale who in their right mind would want that job?
"Owners that won’t back a manager in the transfer market and a toxic fan base who will boo the f**k out of him and want him gone as soon as they lose 2 games. The self entitlement is on another level up there."
The thread continued by sharing a page of Beale's LinkedIn account as well as tweets defending his time as a Rangers boss.
To finish off the quite unbelievable saga, the Second Tier Pod then shared another screenshot of the "Player ID" account, saying: "Ladies and gentlemen… we got him," after it had appeared to have been deactivated.
On the bio of the account, it reads: Development programme for players and coaches. Home of the Player ID podcasts - hosted by @michaelbeale. Beale's personal account has also seemingly been deleted.
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