When Sunderland found themselves facing one of the toughest decisions of the Kyril Louis-Dreyfus tenure, there was never any suggestion that the Black Cats would deviate from those underlying principles.
The Stadium of Light bosses may have been burned by a disappointing 2023/24 campaign. They may have been forgiven if they had opting for a proven, ‘been there and done it’ Championship operator as they dipped into the market once again in pursuit of a new head coach.
But Sunderland, like they have done in the transfer market too, placed emphasis not on those with second-tier football on their CVs but on those who possess the values the Black Cats are looking for.
And, when explaining the increasingly inspired decision to hand the reigns to a hitherto little-known Regis Le Bris, Louis-Dreyfus admits that not even FC Lorient’s relegation from France’s Ligue 1 last season affected their admiration for the 48-year-old tactician.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus explains why Sunderland hired Regis Le Bris
“We’ve been following Regis Le Bris’ progress for a long time,” Louis-Dreyfus tells RMC Sport. “I think since he was appointed head coach of the Lorient first team [in 2022].
“We started following him closely because we had a lot of very positive feedback on him and his work from players, owners and other people in the world of football in France.
“For us, it was more important to see the person’s qualities and way of working. We think that, as long as these things are aligned with the club, it is more important than having concrete experience of the championship.”
Eyebrows were raised when Sunderland hired Le Bris on a three-year contract in July.
Now, only a few months into that long-term deal, the appointment of the former Rennes youth coach is looking more ‘high reward’ than ‘high risk’.
Le Bris’ Sunderland are top of the table with a game in hand. The Wearsiders can extend their advantage over Leeds United with a victory over Luton Town on Wednesday night.
And Sunderland deserve huge credit for maintaining their outside-of-the-box thinking. England coach Anthony Barry was another the Black Cats had considered prior to Le Bris’ arrival, alongside Will Still and now-Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin.
Sunderland chairman highlights Le Bris’ best qualities
“There is one thing that I found very intelligent on the part of Regis Le Bris is that he understood that not being able to speak English,” Louis-Dreyfus adds, the Frenchman’s communication skills one of the most effective weapons in his armoury.
“Regis Le Bris’ English is very, very, very good.”
But the manager’s ‘greatest quality’, Louis-Dreyfus argues, may be his ability to instil a ruthless winning streak in a very young team. Sunderland have triumphed seven times out of ten in the Championship so far, losing only twice.
“His greatest quality? It’s very difficult to say,” adds Louis-Dreyfus, who acquired a controlling stake in the Stadium of Light back in 2021.
“One thing that excites us all within the club, even before the arrival of Regis Le Bris, which really encouraged us to take him is that he is relentless. It’s the idea of never stopping and always trying to progress.
“And what we saw in him is that he sees the development of a team and a club as something that never stops. He is always looking at how to improve things at all levels and in all aspects. That is also, in terms of mentality, the thing that we were trying to do as a club.
“One thing that really connects us is this passion for progress, to try to improve as a club both individually and collectively.”
Louis-Dreyfus hails ‘extraordinary’ Le Bris
Le Bris has instilled consistency and a clear, coherent game-plan at Sunderland, with rising stars Chris Rigg, Jobe Bellingham, Trai Hume and more going from strength to strength both on and off the pitch.
“If I give for example a quality that is really striking in him, it is his work methodology and in particular on the development of a team collectively and individually,” the Black Cats chairman concludes.
“I think that there are a lot of coaches today who like to do a lot of different things in clubs. We have coaches who want to do recruitment, others who want to do other things. But him, I think that where he feels most comfortable is on a field coaching the team.
“We think that is where he really has extraordinary qualities, with the level of detail in his analyses and in his daily work with the players.”