Regis Le Bris’ first season as Sunderland head coach has seen the club enjoy a remarkable rise from 16th-placed misery to promotion contenders.
Sunderland’s 2023/24 Championship campaign ended in unmitigated disaster.
Tony Mowbray was sacked after winning two in nine games with play-off hopes, and Sunderland’s league position, slipping from the previous season’s finish.
Mike Dodds’ interim spell and Michael Beale’s ill-fated appointment spelled further disaster on Wearside as the Black Cats finished in a disastrous 16th.
Since his summer Wearside arrival, Regis Le Bris has masterminded Sunderland’s revival from relegation candidates to having guaranteed a play-off place with five games to spare.
The Frenchman has been nothing short of brilliant in his first season, and five crucial changes he’s made has been pivotal to steering the Sunderland ship back towards their desired Premier League destination.
Five ways Regis Le Bris has turned Sunderland around
A style that suits Sunderland’s strengths
The most important component to Le Bris’ revival of Sunderland lies on the pitch.
Inevitable having three head coaches in nine months, but the Black Cats had no identity to their football last season. Far too often last season, plan A was pass to Jack Clarke, and hope he produces the goods. Plan B if that wasn’t working, was see plan A.
Clarke’s £15m move to newly-promoted Ipswich was looming over Le Bris during his first games in charge, with the winger notching a goal and an assist in his only two Sunderland games this season before his departure. Under Le Bris, Sunderland have become a side stronger than the sum of their parts, rather than relying on Clarke’s individual brilliance to be successful.
Clarke scored or assisted 19 of Sunderland’s 52 league goals last season (37%). Whereas so far this season, the goalscoring burden has been far more effectively spread out across the field, an improvement down to Le Bris’ set-up and execution of his game plan.
| Sunderland’s top goals + assists 23/24 | Sunderland’s top goals + assists 24/25 |
| Jack Clarke – 19 | Wilson Isidor – 14 |
| Dan Neil – 9 | Eliezer Mayenda – 12 |
| Jobe Bellingham – 8 | Patrick Roberts – 12 |
| Abdoullah Ba – 7 | Trai Hume – 9 |
| Pierre Ekwah – 7 | Jobe Bellingham – 7 |
Sunderland have never been an uber possession-orientated team, but one that wins more often than not with the intensity and danger to match their nickname namesakes, and Le Bris has been pivotal to the Black Cats showing their footballing teeth to their second tier rivals this season.
Made Sunderland much harder to beat
Not only has Le Bris molded his Black Cats outfit into being one of the Championships’ most prolific sides, they’re also far harder to beat since his arrival.
By the time last year’s Championship curtailed, Sunderland had shipped 52 goals. With five games to go this term, the Black Cats have conceded only 37. Anthony Patterson still managed 13 clean sheets last season despite the dwindling standards in front of him, but this season he and deputy Simon Moore have already kept 17 shutouts between them.
Sunderland have admittedly showcased some defensive horror shows this season, most recently the 3-0 defeat at Coventry, but are now far harder to beat under the Frenchman. Bournemouth loanee Chris Mepham and in-form full-back Trai Hume have been instrumental to their defensive success this season and are two defensive Sunderland stars well within contention for player of the season.
Developed Sunderland’s brilliant young talent
Le Bris has proven to be an ideal appointment to suit Sunderland’s youthful footballing philosophy.
The former decade-long FC Lorient academy manager has been imperative in developing the Black Cats’ litany of top prospects, especially in the cases of their talismanic teenage midfield duo, with Jobe Bellingham now wanted by Borussia Dortmund and Chris Rigg on the radar of Everton and West Ham.
Rigg’s value has increased an unbelievable 5260% in less than a year, amidst Le Bris’ time in the Sunderland dugout which is no coincidence. Tommy Watson’s first full senior season has came under the Frenchman and the academy graduate is now set for a £10m move to Brighton this summer.
Le Bris has placed his trust in the likes of Bellingham, Rigg as well as AS Roma target Dan Neil, and has been richly rewarded for his faith in Sunderland’s adolescent talent while increasing the value potential for owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus simultaneously.
Composed head coach with flickers of emotion
Aside from what Le Bris has managed on the field, his demeanor and character have been a perfect fit for the current Black Cats crop.
After Le Bris’ first day on the Academy of Light training pitch back in July, sporting director Kristjaan Speakman told Sunderland’s media: “In Regis, you’re just getting a really thoughtful, really diligent, really detailed coach, tactically really astute and everything he’ll be doing he’ll be geared towards developing the group, developing the team, the individual focus and ultimately winning games.”
Speakman’s appraisal of Le Bris has ultimately come to light, with the thoughtful head coach bringing with him an aura of footballing intelligence and his calm nature the perfect accompaniment to the side thriving with youthful exuberance.
However at times, such as the last-minute equaliser against Leeds thanks to an Islan Meslier howler or the stoppage-time winner at Boro, Le Bris’ mild-mannered mask has slipped and been taken over by raw jubilation which is a sight the Sunderland faithful love to see.
Regis Le Bris’ most important Sunderland change
Connected Sunderland fans back to the team
Away from the Academy of Light training field or Sunderland’s boardroom, the most important change Le Bris has overseen lies within the Stadium of Light stands.
Le Bris has persistently talked up the importance of “connection” between the team and supporters, hoping to create a 12th man for the Black Cats. With 40,000 home fans every week and the ever-present faithful making their voices heard on the road, Le Bris has certainly helped to foster this relationship, which was at risk of severing during last season’s disaster.
The head coach has made clear Sunderland’s high-pressure, intense style can “create that link with the fans” to make the Stadium of Light a stronghold once more. Le Bris previously told the BBC: “If we feel it, I think the opponents feel it as well. The momentum can be created or reinforced by this energy.”
That electricity amongst the stands has been tangible this term, namely during the 4-0 demolition of Sheffield Wednesday early doors and during the dramatic rescue of a point when Leeds came to town. Le Bris’ mission to make home soil hard to traverse for traveling teams has been a success with Sunderland boding the Championship’s third-highest win rate at home (60%) so far this campaign, bested only be title contenders Sheffield United (67%) and Leeds United (75%).
| Key statistic | Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland record |
| Matches | 43 |
| Wins | 21 |
| Draws | 13 |
| Losses | 9 |
| Points per match | 1.77 |
Sunderland’s revival in under 12 months has been staggering, and that has come to fruition in no small part thanks to the erudite Frenchman at the helm. His inexperience as senior head coach has reared its head on occasion this term, with sometimes puzzling substitution decisions and lack of killer instinct costing crucial points. However, having achieved a Championship play-off place with five matches to spare – after the side he took over ended six points from the drop zone last term – his appointment must be seen as an unequivocal success.
If the Frenchman can go one better and be the man in the dugout to lead Sunderland back to the Premier League promised land – during his first year in charge – Le Bris’ name will forever be etched into Black Cats folklore forever.