Regis Le Bris has been told his next steps in the midst of Sunderland’s early promotion push.
Sunderland have ensured a fine start to the 2024/25 Championship campaign, with them sitting at the top of the table by five clear points, and they will be hoping to extend that in an upcoming away trip against QPR.
The Black Cats have had several issues thrown at them, from the untimely injuries handed to Anthony Patterson, Dan Ballard and Eliezer Mayenda throughout the campaign already, however Sunderland’s squad depth has seen them plug up the gaps and they have continued their brilliant start to the season.
There will be plenty of hope that Regis Le Bris can continue this emphatic start that has without a doubt taken many by surprise up until this point, and with a favourable upcoming run of fixtures, there is little standing in the way of Sunderland.
However, one former Sunderland manager has discovered a potential stumbling block for Le Bris in the near future, and it is one that he has emphasised must be discussed with Kristjaan Speakman.
Sam Allardyce urges discussion between Regis Le Bris and Sunderland board this January
With the January transfer window somewhat looming already for the Black Cats, there will likely already be internal discussion at the club over their plans, and this is one what former Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has emphasised the importance of.
Via the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast on YoutTube, Allardyce said: “I think he’s hopefully of the mind to say what does the future look like in the next month or two after Christmas and what would I need in January because if you’re there you’ve got to hammer the board for what you need and not just sit on what you’ve got because the board will say to you or can say to you well you are where you are it’s all right isn’t it?
“You’ve got to say no just a minute this is happening, that might happen, we need this or we now need a couple of players, even if you’ve got no injuries, because then you can push on.
“I would say Sunderland should have four players coming in.”
The Black Cats must not replicate key tactic they followed in summer transfer window
Sunderland certainly took their time in the summer transfer window when striking deals, with four out of their eight first-team signings all arriving on Deadline Day.
Many clubs looked proactively to get their business done, but the Black Cats went alternative with their approach, and whilst in hindsight this wormed out well in the end as they had the budget available to strike a loan deal for Chris Mepham, whilst also clinching a move for Wilson Isidor, such a strategy should not be taken this time around.
The Black Cats must be looking to get their business done as early as possible in the January transfer window, as whilst the squad depth has led to the injury situation at the club being manageable, any further losses could have easily brought up key issues for Le Bris, and that is something that Speakman must be fully aware of.