Fuming Sunderland fan pits against Michael Beale in battle to survive..

One furious Sunderland fan has taken a leaf out of the Daily Star playbook by pitting unpopular manager Michael Beale up against a lettuce.

Back in 2022, the Daily Star challenged Liz Truss to outlast our googly-eyed vegetable as she bid to remain at 10 Downing Street for as long as possible. It was a simple competition, and as the former PM resigned on her 50th day in post, the lettuce embarrassingly won.

Now, as the Black Cats’ performance on the pitch began to deteriorate, a fan made jokes about doing something similar with his favourite team. “I’m starting a motion, can Mick Beale outlast this lettuce?” he posted on X, the platform that was briefly known as Twitter. It’s the first day of the week!”

Seven games into his tenure, Sunderland supporters erupted in chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning…” after they witnessed their team suffer another loss at home against Hull on Friday night.

Beale addressed the supporters, putting their push for the play-offs in jeopardy, saying, “It shows Tony Mowbray did a good job.” Many people at the club are wishing him well because he is not returning. I like this man. That was unrelated to me. I entered afterward. You must possess mental toughness and endurance.

“There is nothing I can say to console the supporters or the locker room. With the help of this youthful group and the team we have, I’m doing everything I can to achieve our goal. I think you can see the positive aspect of the fact that we still have 18 games left and are in a better position than we were this time last year.

Live-streamed throughout its journey, the Daily Star lettuce outlasted Truss, who finally spoke out about the vegetable a few months later, declaring, “I don’t think it’s funny, I just think it’s puerile.”

It remains to be seen if Beale prevails in his struggle. The former Rangers manager was not a popular choice to replace Tony Mowbray, and he will have a difficult time winning over fans, particularly Connor, a Sunderland supporter who loves lettuce and is updating X on Sunday, the third day of play.