Sunderland

• Norwich have lost their last three home league games against Sunderland – they had been unbeaten in their previous 10 at Carrow Road against the Black Cats (W7 D3).

• Sunderland are looking to complete their first league double over Norwich City since the 1984-85 top-flight campaign.

• Norwich City have won seven of their last nine home league games, including the last four in a row. The Canaries last won five in a row at Carrow Road in April 2019.

• Sunderland have lost seven of their last 12 away league matches (W1 D4), including each of the last two. They haven’t lost more in a row since December 2019 (four).

• Norwich have scored a direct free kick in each of their last two league games against Cardiff (Gabriel Sara) and Blackburn (Marcelino Núñez) – the last side to do so in three successive Championship games was Sheffield United in April 2008.

Nick Barnes has completed his latest set of iconic commentary notes ahead of Sunderland's Championship clash with Norwich City.

You can listen to commentary from the game with Nick Barnes and Black Cats legend Gary Bennett via BBC Radio Newcastle (Saturday 15:00 GMT) on DAB and Freeview.

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Mike Dodds has spoken to Nick Barnes ahead of Sunderland's trip to Norwich.

The Black Cats' interim head coach has spoken about how irreplaceable Jack Clarke is, revealed Corry Evans is back in full training and more.

Listen to the full interview here.

We asked for your thoughts on Sunderland's 2-1 defeat at home to Swansea.

Here are some of your comments:

Tony: Very poor first half for Sunderland who obviously missed Ballard. However a strong performance by Swansea whose two wingers were unplayable for the first half. Despite a lot of Swansea timewasting second half, Sunderland played a lot better. I can’t help thinking that if Hemir and Rigg had come on ten minutes earlier they could have rescued a point.

Richard: This is now a mess. No proper manager will want to touch this with a barge poll. The director of football has to own this. His players are largely not good enough. The best players will leave and we will be left with kids who probably aren't good enough. If the season started now we'd be relegated. The model does not work. We need a MANAGER.

Michael: Why wait until we were 2-0 down before changing a system that clearly wasn't working. Five minutes in we were all over place. Players didn't know what they were supposed to do and looked lost.

Colin: Same old, same old. Nothing will change unless the owner ditches his policy of signing young talent and get more experienced players in and appoint a manager who has been there and done it all before, but knowing Dreyfus and Speakman that is not gonna happen anytime soon.

Tom: What's the old saying, an old head is better than young legs? Joe Allen or Alex Pritchard come to mind.

Edward: That was without doubt the worst performance I have witnessed in a long time. We criticised the last manager for his performances and tactics then made excuse we did not have Clarke, but the reality is at the end of the day the players who started that game and the managers tactics were totally unacceptable.

Richard: Shambolic. Could have been 5-0 at half time. Replacements for injured are poor. Opposing teams have sussed our continually playing out from the back. Get a grip!

Si: Suicidal first 30 minute tactics left us chasing for the rest of the game. Dodds got it completely wrong by going 3 at the back and putting Hume up the field. Once we reverted to four at the back we looked much better. Patterson came close in injury time also. We really missed Dan (Ballard), Jack and Pat.

Swansea City took charge of the match at the Stadium of Light to beat Sunderland 2-1.

Brazilian winger Ronald scored twice in the first half to give Swansea an early lead.

Luke O'Nien gave the hosts a fighting chance by scoring in the 77th minute but Sunderland couldn't find an equaliser.

The defeat means the Black Cats are without a win in their last three league matches.

What did you think of the match? Have your say here.

Image source, Getty Images

Mike Dodds has spoken to BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland commentator Nick Barnes on the eve of his first game back in charge of the Black Cats.

"I'm relaxed. Obviously I didn't expect to be sat here as early as I am but I'm super relaxed, I love working with the group. We've some good players so I'm looking forward to it.

"We can do all the preparation that I'm quietly confident around but as soon as the whistle goes, the players have got to execute their bits. Thankfully last time round, two of three the games went really well, I'm still frustrated about the last game if I'm completely honest with you."

Dodds led the club on an interim basis for three games in December last year following the sacking of Tony Mowbray.

He won two of the matches but lost 1-0 away to Bristol City thanks to a penalty in the 20th minute of the game.

"I've had a lot of compliments after the last spell which is lovely but I can't get that last game out of my head. And as much as the West Brom and Leeds games were positive performances, rightly or wrongly I'm the type of person who'll look back at the things I didn't do well rather than the things I did do well."

"Whether this time round is 13 games or beyond, the preparation will still be the same. I'm relaxed but at the same time it's not lost on me the size of the football club or the expectations."

There were rumours during the week that Jack Clarke and Leo Hjelde had both suffered injuries and would be unavailable for this weekend's game against Swansea.

"Jack rolled his ankle against Birmingham. He played 90 minutes and felt very relaxed. The plan was for him to have a couple of days off and train on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but that hasn't happened.

"I think that game will be a game too early for him and then we'll reassess where we are on Monday.

"Leo is fine, I don't know where that's come from. The rest of the group are where you'd expect."

Because of injuries and Dan Ballard's two-match ban, Dodds will be forced to make changes to the squad.

"Without giving too much away, it's an opportunity to tweak and change a few things. I will make changes that are best for the group. When you have someone like jack who's been taken out of the team you have to try and come up with solutions to that.

January signing Callum Styles could make his debut for the club on Saturday:

"Callum's trained for the last two weeks and he'll be in the squad for tomorrow."

Sunderland have slipped to tenth in the Championship after back-to-back defeats but Dodds is still confident going forwards:

"There's a huge amount of football still to be played. The league has shown that anyone in the league can lose back-to-back games. We've got to do what we've got to do."

You can listen to the full interview with Mike Dodds here.

In the first episode of the podcast since Michael Beale's departure, BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland commentator is joined by Phil Smith from the Sunderland Echo to dissect yet another managerial change for the Black Cats.

You can listen to the latest episode of the Total Sport Sunderland AFC podcast here.

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Sunderland Interim Head Coach Mike Dodds has said he is "delighted" to welcome Anthony Hayes as the club's new First-Team Coach.

Hayes previously spent seven years in various roles at League One club Charlton Athletic, including in a Caretaker Manager capacity for three games in 2022.

Speaking about the appointment, Dodds said: “I’ve known Anthony for some time and we are delighted to welcome him to our coaching team.

"This is a position we wanted to add and following the changes made earlier this week, our requirements shifted a little as did the timeframe. Anthony immediately made himself available and like Graeme Murty, he will bring added value to our coaching and match preparations."

Graeme Murty joined Sunderland in 2022 as Head of Professional Development Phase, but will now support the First-Team throughout their training schedule and match programme.

Dodds added: "[Anthony's] also been an Interim Head Coach before, which will not only support me but also our players as we adapt and move forward together in the coming weeks and months.”

We asked for your reaction to Michael Beale's sacking as Sunderland Head Coach. Here's what you had to say:

Dan: The Beale appointment was always a mistake, unfortunately he doesn't have any decent track record behind him. He's a proven youth coach but clubs like Sunderland and Rangers are just too big a job for a novice coach.

Joe: Glad to see the owners recognising they made a mistake and dealing with it before it got too bad.

Ian: I don’t feel it’s Beale's fault but he didn’t do him self any favours equally, must have been tough not to feel wanted from the start. Fault is that of the board and Speakman for disrupting a perfectly fine season. If anything, Speakman should come out and address this shambles of a decision overall. What is it they are hoping to achieve?

John: At last some sensible decision making after a series of bad ones.

Steve: A complete waste of 8 weeks, never the right appointment in the first place. Whilst the football under TM had its issues, fans seemed largely on side and life was fun under TM. Beale single handedly sapped the fun out of following the club and there was no area of improvement under him.

Colin: A poor appointment by the club and no real surprise that he’s gone. After the Trai Hume incident at Birmingham there was no way back. His excuse didn’t sit right with me. He definitely wasn’t an upgrade from Mowbray .I hope the club has learnt a lesson from this debacle.

Do you agree? Have your say here.

Former Sunderland striker Marco Gabbiadini has had his say on Sunderland's latest managerial sacking.

Speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle's Total Sport, Marco said:

I think we're wading through quicksand as a team. There was a lot of things going on when Michael Beale [joined the club]. He walked into a tornado with everything going on with the derby game.

Sunderland had been drawn to face rivals Newcastle in the Third Round of the FA Cup prior to Beale being appointed as Head Coach. The game would go on to be Beale's fifth match in charge.

"That game was a huge event for him to have to deal with.

"There was also a lot going on with the transfer window and where the squad was at that moment and he had to come in and deal with that.

"I think it's fairly clear to say there was a bit of a kickback from the playing group. There clearly was a great relationship with [Tony] Mowbray and that was broken up by the powers that be and we can still question if that was the right thing to do."

Tony Mowbray was sacked as Sunderland Head Coach in December last year and led the club to the Championship play-offs in 2023.

"Realistically we had a coach who was getting the best out of these players last season.

"I do think there was a drop in performance even when Mowbray was here and I'm not sure if that's was down to the coach, the lack of experience, a lack of goals, lack of firepower, or lack of player rotation. Will a different coach be able to do anything about it?"

Michael Beale had struggled to please fans during his 63-day spell at Sunderland, despite the club sitting just four points off the play-off places when he was sacked.

Marco said: "He was fighting a losing battle unfortunately and it's difficult to do that when results aren't going your way."

You can listen to the full show here.

Now that Sunderland have sacked Head Coach Michael Beale, we want to hear your views on his time at the club.

Beale was appointed as Head Coach a week before Christmas last year and lost his first match in charge on December 23.

Over the course of his 63-day spell on Wearside, Beale took charge of twelve matches and suffered defeat in half of them.

He led Sunderland in the first Wear-Tyne derby in nearly eight years and was the first Sunderland boss to lose the tie since Steve Bruce in 2011.

Beale's final match in charge proved to be Saturday's 2-1 defeat away at Tony Mowbray's Birmingham City.

How do you rate Beale's tenure in charge? Have your say here.

Image source, Getty Images

Sunderland defender Dan Ballard picked up a two-match ban on Saturday after receiving his tenth yellow card of the season during his side's 2-1 defeat at Birmingham City.

Ballard spoke to BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland commentator after the match:

"It's obviously frustrating. I've been on the threshold for a while now so I've had to be a little bit more cautious but it's sort of the way I play. I tend to pick up more bookings than others."

Although he accepts the punishment, Ballard didn't feel like his challenge on Birmingham forward Tyler Roberts was worthy of a booking.

"I didn't feel it was a booking today but there's been many like that this season. It's frustrating having to miss games. I never go in to hurt players but those are the rules so I'll miss the next two unfortunately."

Teammates Luke O'Nien and Abdoullah Ba are both close to a suspension too with O'Nien on nine bookings and Ba on eight.

"When you play most games, most players will get up to that tally so it is extremely frustrating."

Speaking about Sunderland's performance more generally, Ballard said:

"I think we did have a really good first half which again makes it frustrating. We knew at half time we needed to do the same thing but they changed. They pressed us a lot higher and I think we struggled to keep the ball and struggled to change to go a little bit more long ball and keep the pressure off us.

"Of course they're chasing the game so they can throw a lot more at it and we never caught them on the break to finish the game."

You can listen to the full interview here.

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Beale has spoken to BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland commentator Nick Barnes after the Black Cats' 2-0 defeat away to Birmingham City:

"I thought in the first half we looked a really good team. We deserved our 1-0 lead.

"Our pressing was really good first half. We could've probably been 2-0 up but it was a great save by John Ruddy from Romaine [Mundle]. I thought Romaine on his debut looked sharp."

Beale admitted that Sunderland lost the upper hand in the second half:

"We caused Birmingham a lot of problems in the first half. They were trying to press us but our press was stronger than theirs and then it was the complete opposite in the second half.

"We didn't handle the second half well. I tried to make some changes to halt that but it's fair to say that they weren't good decisions because the players that came on didn't really impact the game better than the guys that were already playing."

Sunderland have only won four league games away from home this season and Beale says that isn't good enough:

"Our home form will keep us in the fight. I'm certainly not giving up on anything with this amount of games left but we came into this week hugely optimistic after a really good home performance and the two away games have given us nothing but doubts in terms of our credentials."

Dan Ballard picked up his tenth yellow card of the season after a challenge on Birmingham forward Tyler Roberts and will be forced to sit out the next two matches.

Beale said: "He's played the ball there and I think the referee today let some crazy things go and others he gave. I'm not one to go for the referees, we didn't win or lose this game because of the referee's performance, but I didn't think it was a yellow card.

"I thought he played the ball and you'd like the official to help because that boy now misses two games he doesn't deserve to miss."

Trai Hume was substituted off the pitch in the 88th minute and appeared to have been ignored by the Sunderland Head Coach.

Beale said: "I didn't see him to be honest. Trai passed a fitness test today and he was on a booking so when we made the change it was easier to keep Leo [Hjelde] on. So if I missed him I'll have to go and say that to him now.

"Me and Trai are probably as close to each other as I am to any player on the squad. So there was nothing there between me and him.

Listen to the full interview here.

Birmingham City came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 at St Andrew's.

Sunderland took the lead in the first half thanks to a goal from Jack Clarke.

The hosts equalised and subsequently took the lead in the second half, meanwhile Dan Ballard picked up his tenth yellow card of the season giving him a two match ban

What did you think of Sunderland's performance today? Have your say here.

We asked for your thoughts ahead of today's match as Sunderland travel to Birmingham City to face former boss Tony Mowbray. Here's what you had to say:

Michael: 3-0 to Birmingham on Saturday. Sunderland going nowhere under Beale. No plan A, never mind a plan B. Confidence is shot.

Ian: Birmingham match prediction is another Sunderland loss. 2-0. Mediocre mid table form to continue?

Richard: All optimism gone. If Clarke does not score, expect a 2-0 loss. Our club has been let down by incompetent management.

Bob: I don’t think Beale is the right man for the job but ask Speakman why he hasn’t got an established centre forward when both Mowbray and now Beale are telling him - both will eventually go but the damage has been done.

Have your say on all things Sunderland by clicking here.

As they travel back from Sunderland's midweek defeat to Huddersfield Town, BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland commentator Nick Barnes and Black Cats legend Gary Bennett discuss the latest happenings on Wearside.

You can listen to the latest episode of the Total Sport Sunderland AFC podcast here.