In the modern, money-driven, high stakes, glitz-and-glamour world of the Premier League, it’s seldom enough for a head coach or a manager to just be a head coach or a manager, and as the nature of the game
that we all love has evolved, so too have the demands placed those who are fortunate enough to land the top job at one of the twenty big players.
With the majority of top flight squads being comprised of a litany of fascinating, mercurially talented and complex characters, bosses often have to be poets, philosophers, tacticians, motivators, unifiers and occasionally United Nations-grade diplomats, particularly when times get tough and the feeling on the terraces is less than harmonious.
Some — such as Pep Guardiola and his former assistant Mikel Arteta — have brought a far more theatrical approach to top flight management, with touchline histrionics, cryptic exchanges with the media and offbeat motivational tactics all part of their schtick, but on the red and white front, things are entirely different and currently unlike anything we’ve ever really seen at Sunderland.
Purely from an objective point of view, Régis Le Bris can’t be compared to any other boss who’s occupied the Sunderland hotseat — certainly during my time as a fan and perhaps many other supporters, too. This isn’t a case of getting carried away after such an encouraging start, but it’s provably true that Le Bris — ever since his arrival in the summer of 2024 — has represented something completely different as our upward trajectory has gathered pace.
Charming, worldly, insightful and thoroughly grounded, he’s shattered perceived wisdom about what it actually takes to thrive in the Stadium of Light hotseat, and despite the long-running acceptance that in order to succeed at our club, you needed to be an abrasive, no-nonsense character in the mould of Peter Reid, Roy Keane and Sam Allardyce, the unflappable Frenchman has started to alter that perception — which is no mean feat.
Reid, Keane and Allardyce were supreme motivators; hard-bitten characters who built a rapport with the fanbase thanks to their grounded natures and the fact that their sides would give everything in pursuit of victory. Work rate and fighting spirit are key tenets of Le Bris’ approach, but there’s also so much more to Sunderland under him.
Intricacy, fluidity and adaptability are key components of the Le Bris ideal, and to make the grade in this team, possessing a good engine or sharp instincts in front of goal isn’t enough on its own. Witness the sheer versatility of many of Sunderland’s frontline players and you’ll see what I mean. This is a highly evolved team playing a very advanced, streetwise style of football, and Le Bris is the man at the very heart of the machine.
I can’t recall a Sunderland manager of the past three decades who’s implemented such a deep-seated footballing philosophy at our club — and nor can I bring to mind a Lads’ boss who’s succeeded in moulding such a diverse group of individuals into a singularly cohesive unit— a feat achieved off a reasonably short run up, it must be said.
Of course, Le Bris isn’t entirely averse to displays of raw emotion, as we’ve seen regularly during a memorable 2025, but that’s not his defining characteristic. He clearly feels the power of the Stadium of Light and the raucous backing of our fans on the road, but you always get a sense that when it matters, he’s in complete control.
As Sunderland supporters, we’ve developed a good instinct for when players are fully behind their boss and are fully invested in his vision. That’s certainly the case right now, and it’s played a huge role in our promising start to 2025/2026.
Although in many ways he’s broken the mould for Sunderland bosses in the Premier League, one thing Le Bris certainly shares with Reid, Keane and Allardyce is presence.
He commands the touchline during matches, conducts effortlessly controlled media conferences and I suspect he’s a lively presence on the training ground — the sort of head coach who’ll keep the players on their toes and ensure that nothing is left to chance when it comes to preparing his charges for games. Post-Chelsea, French football expert Julien Laurens touched on Le Bris’ stellar reputation in his homeland, and it’s becoming easier to see why he was so highly rated before landing on Wearside.
He delivered promotion in the most memorable way last season; he’s taken to top flight management with impressive aptitude, and he’s won a place in the affections of the supporters into the bargain.
Here’s hoping that the Le Bris/Sunderland story still has many chapters to unfold. This man, if given time and ample resources, really could take our club into uncharted territory — and that’s very exciting.
