KRISTJAAN SPEAKMAN claims Sunderland are “better placed” with Michael Beale in charge than they would have been had they kept Tony Mowbray as head coach.

Mowbray was controversially dismissed earlier this month despite his Black Cats side sitting just three points off the play-off positions.

The popular Teessider led Sunderland to a top-six finish last season, before losing to Luton Town in the play-off semi-finals, and had developed an attractive style of free-flowing attacking football during his 15 months in charge at the Stadium of Light.

Speakman was keen to praise Mowbray’s impact during his time as Sunderland boss, but speaking alongside new head coach Michael Beale earlier today, the sporting director was also quick to defend his decision to change tack.

“We believe we're better placed now,” said Speakman. “On-pitch results will always be the barometer of how people judge that, but I've always said that what you see on a Saturday is a very small part of everything that goes on.

“There's so much work on training, development and evolution behind the scenes, and that's what we want to keep driving forward. That's one of the reasons we chose Michael - we feel he can enhance that. We have to keep progressing, and we know results are a huge part of that.”

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Sunderland were linked with a large number of head coach candidates this month, and are understood to have held talks with Reims boss Will Still and Kim Hellberg, who was recently appointed as the new boss of Swedish side Hammarby.

However, Speakman claims Beale was always the candidate they most wanted to talk to, with the 43-year-old proving hugely impressive at his formal interview.

“You have a bit of an understanding about the coaches on the circuit, and our paths had crossed a few times,” said Speakman. “We always try to ensure that we have a really good understanding of the coaches that are out there doing well, doing different things, and outperforming (expectation).

“Everything we've seen in the first two days from Michael is exactly what we thought we were getting. An excellent on-field coach, his preparations, his thought processes behind training and what the boys are doing is some of the best work I’ve seen. We're really pleased he's here.”

Beale’s appointment has not been universally welcomed by the Sunderland support, but Speakman insists it was important he blocked out any external noise during the recruitment process.

“Sunderland is one of the biggest clubs in the country and will attract worldwide attention,” he said. “We went into the decision with a clear understanding of what our (short)list looks like.

“What naturally then happens is you get bombarded from all different quarters about potential candidates. What we have is really clear criteria and a really clear process, so we then work through a really tough interview process to get the right person.

“You have to work through the speculation and the noise and stay laser focused on getting the right outcome, and we feel we’ve done that.”