Former Sunderland boss Gus Poyet cannot speak highly enough of the man currently in the Black Cats hotseat.
But if Regis Le Bris is to become the first manager to lead Sunderland to promotion out of the Championship since Roy Keane in 2007, then the January transfer window will first have to be navigated.
And with rumours swirling around some of Le Bris’ star men, Poyet feels that the mid-season market could potentially be the Black Cats’ biggest obstacle as they look to maintain a flying start to the current campaign.
Sunderland’s teen sensation Chris Rigg is on the radar of Manchester United. Goalkeeper Alex Patterson has admirers amongst the Premier League’s elite too.
Jobe Bellingham, meanwhile, was heavily linked with Crystal Palace over the summer. As the 19-year-old continues to hone his talents as a lynchpin in a table-topping midfield, Bellingham is almost certain to have even more admirers in the division above these days.
So, as far as Poyet is concerned, if Sunderland can get to February 1st with their squad intact, then Premier League football could finally be on it’s way back to the Stadium of Light.
Gus Poyet hopes to see Sunderland keep Chris Rigg and co
“You want to keep all the young talent you have as Sunderland have started the season so well,” Poyet, who took the Wearsiders to an EFL Cup final and secured their top-flight survival back in 2014, tells Football League World.
“You can see the coach is doing a great job by the freedom in which the players are playing, the goals and [the] creative football Sunderland are playing.
“With the current league table, Sunderland need to keep hold of their players as they can keep in the promotion hunt. It seems there isn’t a team who will run away with the title this season.”
“January is always a tricky transfer window,” adds the Chelsea legend, who was most recently seen in the dugout of the Greek national team. “But the main thing for a team like Sunderland is to ensure all players are kept because this season has started so well.
“They can maintain a promotion push in the second half of the season, and don’t want to lose any players who have helped them get into the position they are in now.”
Regis Le Bris is thriving despite lack of prolific strikers
With six wins from their first nine games, Sunderland went into the October international break ahead of Sheffield United on goal difference.
No team in the division has scored more than their 18 goals.
A tally which looks all the more impressive when you consider that Le Bris does not really have a particularly prolific centre-forward at his disposal. Sunderland tried and failed to sign Caen hitman Alexandre Mendy over the summer but have offset any lingering frustration by sharing the goals around in the opening months of 2024/25.
As Mendy continues to find the net regularly over in France, Elizier Mayenda, Luke O’Nien, Chris Rigg, Romaine Mundle and Wilson Isidor have a laudable 11 goals between them in league action.
Le Bris is backing Sunderland’s Zenit St Petersburg loanee Isidor to help fill a void left open by the departure of Ross Stewart back in 2023, however.
“We thought, at the beginning, that could be a left winger. But it is clear now that he could be a good striker as well,” Le Bris, who also coached Isidor at Rennes, told reporters after he scored in the 2-0 win over Derby County.
“I think, game after game, he create more links with his teammates. And they can [better] understand his runs, the way he can receive the ball. I think he is becoming better, especially during crosses for example because [this was] his second goal after a cross.
“So I hope he can continue like that.”