Sunderland appear to have found their new manager, with the club in advanced talks with Lorient boss Regis Le Bris, according to journalist Sacha Tavolieri.
It’s been over four months since the Black Cats parted ways with Michael Beale, sparking one of the longest and most frustrating manager searches in recent memory.
Will Still looked to be coming until he didn’t, whilst former Hull City manager Liam Rosenior nipped things in the bud before anything got too serious between the pair, to name just two of the candidates Sunderland had identified, only to see them slip through their fingers for various reasons.
They’ll be hoping that good things come to those who wait, as they appear to have finally found their new manager, although Sunderland fans will probably not be counting their chickens until it’s officially announced.
Le Bris presents as a big Black Cats gamble
Taking up your first managerial job in English football is never an easy task for a manager, and it will only be made more difficult if in your only job to date in senior football management, you experienced relegation.
Well, that’s precisely what 48-year-old Le Bris has endured, having seen his Lorient side fall out of Ligue 1 in four seasons, finishing in 17th place with just seven wins during the campaign.
Not exactly an emulation of the exploits of the aforementioned Still and his Reims side, but are there more positive signs for Sunderland fans to hold onto if you look deep enough?
| Regis Le Bris Lorient record (all comps), per Transfermarkt | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses |
| 76 | 24 | 18 | 34 |
To some degree, yes. Lorient scored 43 goals in Ligue 1 last season, three more than fifth-placed Nice, and one more than ninth-placed Reims, with their 1.3 goals scored per match the ninth best in Ligue 1 in 2023/24.
Scoring goals was not the issue last season, and would suggest that if the Black Cats can make some quality additions to their forward line this summer, Le Bris could get a lot out of them.
Instead, it was their inability to stop them from going in at the other end, that ultimately saw the club finish where they did.
Lorient’s 66 goals conceded was the most in the entire French top-flight, with their 1.9 goals conceded per match also being the worst record of any club last season – per FotMob.
Favouring a more counter-attacking approach, Le Bris tended to deploy in a 3-4-3 or a 3-4-2-1 system, but he did also dabble with a flat back four from time-to-time throughout the season.
This chopping and changing of the formation potentially speaks to Le Bris being unable to decipher what his strongest team was, in a potential display of tactical weakness, or it could be seen as him simply accommodating his shape to match his opponents.
Recent reports from Mohamed Toubache-Ter suggested that there is a €5m (approx £4.2m) release clause in the Frenchman’s contract with Lorient, not exactly a small fee to pay to bring him to Wearside.
Sunderland fans will expect better than Lorient showing
Fans of other clubs don’t need to watch Netflix to understand the size of Sunderland AFC, or the expectations its dedicated supporters have for their club.
The Stadium of Light looms over the Sunderland skyline, acting somewhat as a metaphor for the weight of expectation the city has for their team.
Therefore, having just overseen a Ligue 1 season that has ended in relegation, Le Bris will arrive in the North East knowing he needs to improve upon that, and prove to the fanbase that this was a blip and nothing else.
It isn’t like he’s going to be inheriting a Sunderland squad that is devoid of talent either, with the team laden with promising young players and proven senior commodities.
Jack Clarke, Jobe Bellingham, Pierre Ekwah, Dan Ballard, Trai Hume, Dan Neil and Chris Rigg are all examples of the untapped potential that this squad possesses, should the right manager take hold of the reins.
As such, Black Cats supporters know that they have the talent in the squad, that with a couple of the right additions, could be a real force to be reckoned with in 2024/25.
This could create a very interesting dynamic between the boardroom and the terraces, as after taking this long to seemingly finally get their man, club chiefs will want to give Le Bris as much time as possible to prove their decision to be right.
But if he and the team get off to a slow start in the Championship, an already largely frustrated and unsettled Sunderland fanbase could quickly turn on those in the dugout, and indeed top brass figures.
