Regis Le Bris has been facing criticism of late. But after Sunderland’s win over Sheffield Wednesday, he’s a hero once again.
Sunderland’s form has been a bit patchy of late with back-to-back defeats before the game at Hillsborough, leading to a bit of debate about Regis Le Bris.
Fans have criticised Le Bris’ changes and tactics of late. Against Sheffield Wednesday though, he made five changes to his starting XI, and eventually left with all three points.
Eliezer scored twice as Sunderland beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in South Yorkshire, leaving just a three points gap between themselves and Burnley in 3rd place of the Championship table, though the Clarets now have a game in hand.
It’s a positive win all round and one that alleviates a bit of the recent cause for concern among Sunderland fans who’ve witnessed their side capitulate late on in games, also losing 1-0 to strugglers Hull City before the Wednesday game.
There’s also been a lot of anger directed towards the January transfer window which now seems to have been a very pointless month after injuries to Jayden Danns and Enzo Le Fee.
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Regis Le Bris makes January revelation after Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Sunderland
Despite the lack of many incoming signings at the Stadium of Light in January, there was no major player exits from the club; only the departure of Aaron Connolly and then a handful of loan exits too.
Speaking after the Sheffield Wednesday game, Le Bris revealed how he convinced his fringe players to stay with the club, which then enabled him to rotate as effectively as he did against Sheffield Wednesday.
Le Bris explained: “During the transfer window, we had some conversations with some of them, and we said: ‘Trust us, you will have opportunities in that team because you train well and you are good player, and during the second half of the season, everyone will be important’. That was the case this evening.”
A lot going on at Sunderland this summer
Needless to say, the upcoming summer transfer window will be a crazy one for Kristjaan Speakman, regardless of whether or not the club earns promotion this season.
There’s a handful of players who’ll attract transfer interest either way. There’s returning loan players and then there’s the likes of Dan Neil and a couple others who’ll be entering the final years of their contracts in the summer.
As Le Bris points out above though, depth is key. Whilst there’ll be some big turnover in the summer, Speakman just need to ensure that Le Bris has a good mix of quality and depth to either battle in the Premier League, or go again in the promotion race.
Sunderland return to action against Cardiff City on Saturday.