Sunderland appoints Regis Le Bris as head coach

Le Bris was named to the initial five-man shortlist after the dismissal of Michael Beale in February.

The Sunderland management had spent the last several weeks of the previous campaign evaluating their alternatives.

Will Still was first approached after leaving Reims, but negotiations fell through when the Englishman chose to take over at Ligue 1 club Lens.

Subsequently, Sunderland determined that Le Bris was their first choice; nonetheless,

the endeavour to assign the 48-year-old Frenchman has presented challenges.

originally, the Black Cats needed to make sure Le Bris could obtain a work permit in the UK,

which required going through an appeals procedure as he didn’t originally satisfy the necessary requirements.

After that, Sunderland had to work out Le Bris’ release from Lorient,

who are going through a lot of transition after being relegated from the top division of France the previous season.

It was rumoured that Le Bris, the head coach of Lorient,

had a €5 million release clause in his contract when Nice attempted to hire him midway through the previous campaign.

A final resolution is still pending, but there is increasing optimism that an agreement is near after

Sunderland held a number of talks with top Lorient authorities regarding a compensation package for Le Bris.

If all goes according to plan, the Black Cats will confirm Le Bris’ appointment in the coming days.

This means the new manager will be in place in time for the start of pre-season training at the end of next week.

Prior to joining Laval and Ronse in the French lower levels, Le Bris began his playing career with Rennes.

In the summer of 2022, he was appointed head coach of Lorient for the first time,

and he led the team to a remarkable tenth-place result in his first season.

Nevertheless, the Sunderland administration is certain that Le Bris is the forward-thinking and creative head coach

they want to lead the team to success in the upcoming campaign, even though he was let go in his own country last month.

Under Tony Mowbray, Sunderland qualified for the playoffs two seasons prior, and when Mowbray was fired in December of last year,

the team was still in a respectable position.

But Beale’s selection as his replacement was a complete bust,

and Sunderland’s decline down the standings continued in the last three months of the previous season under Mike Dodds’ temporary leadership,

ultimately culminating in the club’s 16th-place Championship finish.

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