Next Sunderland manager: How and why Régis Le Bris emerged as the overwhelming favourite
It has been an interminable wait, first as Sunderland’s already flatlining season collapsed and then as spring slowly turned to summer (well, sort of) without news.
Now, 123 days since Michael Beale departed, we may finally be nearing white smoke above the Academy of Light. Régis Le Bris has emerged as a clear frontrunner for the Sunderland vacancy and though the deal is not yet done, the expectation from all sides is that it is now in all likelihood just a matter of time. Le Bris is still in post at FC Lorient and while his departure is expected and has been widely trailed across French media in recent days, it is not yet rubber-stamped and so negotiations between the two are continuing.
There is no getting past the fact that it is a huge gamble on Sunderland’s part at a time when the dismal end to last season, two disappointing transfer windows, Beale, the Black Cats bar and the rest have left trust in the club hierarchy arguably as low as it ever has been since Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’ arrival in 2021. Le Bris, after all, is still relatively inexperienced as a head coach in senior football and FC Lorient’s most recent campaign ended in relegation from Ligue 1. It was not an anticipated relegation given the budget and so given both the length of the process and the struggles of his predecessor, there will inevitably and understandably be scepticism as and when the new era begins.
Sunderland’s view is that it’s worth scratching a little below the surface in that regard. Le Bris’ initial promotion to the top job at Lorient was hugely successful, finishing in a widely-praised 10th-placed finish. Le Bris is understood to have been on the club’s longer-term radar since around that time, at which point he was heavily linked with the job at OGC Nice – only compensation prevented him taking one of the biggest jobs in France. With key players (whose development Le Bris had played a key role in) departing as a result of that strong campaign, the belief is that there are mitigating circumstances for last season and that it may have presented them with an opportunity to hire a coach of a calibre who may otherwise have been out of the reach of a second-tier club.
Other factors in Le Bris’ favour is his record in youth development, having spent long periods both in the academy at Lorient and also at Stade Rennais. His English is said to be good and Sunderland believe both his coaching and playing style will suit both the squad and the wider strategy. On both of those points, the scrutiny over the coming months is going to be intense. Much the same was said about Beale around the time of his appointment and yet the front-foot, fearless football of Tony Mowbray seemed to evaporate in a matter of months. A huge gap between what Sunderland were said to be and what they actually were rapidly emerged, and there will inevitably be calls for more widespread change if this next appointment does not fix that error.
