Luke O’Nien has spoken highly of Regis Le Bris after his arrival at Sunderland last month.
After four months of searching for a new manager, Le Bris was named as Michael Beale’s permanent successor almost three weeks ago.
It wasn’t until last week that O’Nien and his Sunderland teammates were able to properly meet the Frenchman, having returned to pre-season training last Monday.
Le Bris already seemed to have made a good first impression as it was confirmed that Chris Rigg had signed a new contract shortly after.
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Sunderland are already gelling to Le Bris’ style
O’Nien also seems to be enjoying his time at the Academy of Light, explaining what he thought had been really ‘good’ on the training pitch so far.
Speaking to the club, the defender said: ““We’ve gone over the philosophy and he likes it when it goes into training straight away. Even though we are six or seven days in, the philosophy and the style is in there straight away so that is good.”
The Black Cats coach is building an ‘identity’ first
Le Bris has already spoken a lot about building ‘foundations’ and an ‘identity’, so it is very clear that he is looking to transform the team from the ground up.
There is obviously a lot of talent and potential in this squad, but for various reasons they haven’t been gelling on the pitch and they look far from the free-flowing side that reached the play-offs over a year ago.
Le Bris understands that he can’t just walk in, demand results and that’s that. He knows there is work to do in every aspect and needs to make changes off the pitch before we can welcome changes on it.
While there was rightfully concerned around the 48-year-old after he was relegated with Lorient, everything that has been said since his arrival certainly seems promising and it does feel like many fans are now excited for what is to come – albeit a little nervous.