- 22/06/2025
Phil is back to reflecting on Régis Le Bris's first year in charge of Sunderland and the legacy that he is already leaving at the club
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00:01Morning everyone, I hope you're doing well, enjoying the lovely weather and the summer.
00:06Yeah, I guess a kind of special edition of sorts of On The Whistle
00:11because of course it's one year to the day that Sunderland appointed Regis Labrice as a new head coach.
00:16And I felt what a great opportunity to not just reflect on what fantastic year he's had as Sunderland head coach
00:22and what makes him tick and what it's like to work with him, I guess, from my perspective.
00:25I also thought a great chance to reflect on the impact he's had on the club more generally
00:30and why I think, even though he's only a year into his tenure, I think he's had a huge impact on the way Sunderland operate
00:36and will operate going forward.
00:38And yeah, I thought it might be something that you might be interested to sort of hear a bit more about
00:43and get some more of my thoughts on.
00:44And I thought also what a fantastic opportunity, which I think it's important that we never miss at the moment,
00:50to celebrate that promotion season a bit more and indulge in a little bit of nostalgia.
00:54I think that's allowed, isn't it?
00:56It's really interesting, you know, looking back to this time last year when Regis Labrice was appointed
01:03and I guess some of the easiest ways to sort of consider and explain his success is to think about some of the things
01:09that you had reservations about at the time.
01:12The first one obviously being you always worry a little bit about the language barrier, the communication,
01:17how is he going to be able to communicate with the fans, how is he going to be able to communicate with the players.
01:21And obviously that was dispelled immediately from his first press conference when he spoke in borderline fluent English really.
01:29And I think that's so interesting looking back now because I think it reveals Regis's very, very understated
01:35but determined ambition, very, very driven, ambitious man.
01:39And I think that's summed up by the fact that, you know, he'd chosen to learn and start learning English two years before
01:46because he was interested at some point in his life in taking up an opportunity abroad
01:50and he wanted to be in the best possible position to do that.
01:53Quite a bold thing to do when you're going to Cinder at that point.
01:55He hadn't actually worked as a head coach when he started learning.
01:58And I think that shows his belief in himself, his determination.
02:02Also gives you a real insight, I have to say, into his intelligence that he is able to adapt and learn so quickly.
02:08His English was excellent from day one, but it just continued to improve.
02:11And one of the really funny things that I enjoyed, and I thought some of them up as a character over the course of the season,
02:16was picking up all the little sort of words that he was obviously learning around the training ground,
02:21things that he was clearly talking about, picking up from the players.
02:24Started talking about good vibes all the time about midway through the season,
02:28which is really interesting because it's clearly something that he was picking up from the players.
02:32And I think that gives you a great insight into the way his mind works and what he's like
02:36and how he's always picking things up, always learning, always adapting.
02:39Then there was the obvious bigger concerns, which was around the footballing aspect of it,
02:43because LeBrice had obviously just come off a relegation season at Lorient.
02:47Not only that, but looking at a lot of the data and the stats behind his Lorient team in the second season,
02:53it was clearly, especially defensively, they had some major issues.
02:57They were not just a team who conceded a lot of goals, but they were a team that were conceding a lot of chances.
03:02So that suggested there wasn't bad luck and there was something kind of structurally wrong.
03:06And I thought it was really, really smart at Sunderland to look past that,
03:12to understand some of the reasons why that was going on.
03:14And I remember being hugely reassured in his opening press conference when he talked about the fact that,
03:19so at Lorient he'd been playing predominantly with a back three without wingers.
03:23It looked like a really clunky fit for Sunderland's squad.
03:26It was really interesting in his opening press conference that he'd made clear that that wasn't the way he wanted to play.
03:31It was mainly because of the players that had been sold at Lorient because of the spectacular initial success they had.
03:36And it was about him trying to find a way to get the best out of the players he had,
03:43which obviously didn't work, but he was very clear that that wasn't his preferred style.
03:46And I think kudos to Sunderland for understanding that that wasn't the way he necessarily wanted to play,
03:50it was circumstance and what he could do with this group of players.
03:53You know, there's that famous quote that Labrie said in his opening press conference,
03:57he talked about his references, his admiration for Roberto Dezebi and Pep Guardiola,
04:01but saying, but we're Sunderland and I'm Regis Labrie, so we're not going to play that way.
04:05And of course, at times they played some great football, but at times they played totally different way, didn't they?
04:10Infamously, you know, the Coventry first leg, an absolute defensive and counter-attacking masterclass.
04:15And I think that, you know, that's something where I think you have to give the club credit to look past the headlines of what just happened at Lorient
04:22to understand what he'd done in his first season, to understand why his preferred style and the way he saw the game
04:28actually was a good fit for Sunderland's philosophy and for the players that they had.
04:32One of the only reservations that I had coming away from Regis' first press conference,
04:37and actually, I would say through the opening pre-season period, when, you know, he wasn't doing a huge amount of media,
04:44but we were speaking to him every now and then after games and stuff, he was so understated.
04:48I mean, I made the slightly tongue in cheek, but I felt it was a fair comparison after his first press conference with Arsene Wenger
04:54because he was clearly a very studious man, almost had quite a professorial manner and very engaging, very intelligent.
05:01But you did kind of fear whether the sort of intensity around Sunderland, the noise and the passion might swallow him up a little bit.
05:09And it's interesting to me now how completely wrong I sort of judged that and how completely wrong that reservation was
05:15because what actually became clear was a very engaging, very dry sense of humour and communicates really well.
05:23But that absolute calm that it brings in all circumstances, you know, I would say a lot over the course of the season,
05:29that you could never tell whether Sunderland had one loss or draw from the post-match press conference alone,
05:36because Regis Lebris would be exactly the same.
05:38It doesn't matter if you've come from behind, two goals behind at Swansea, you win 3-2.
05:42It doesn't matter if you've conceded in the last minute at Leeds United to potentially, you know, lose your chance at automatic promotion.
05:48Regis was exactly the same.
05:50And I think that helped him manage the highs and the lows of the season really well, a really strong quality.
05:57And I think that obviously came to a head towards the end of the season where there was a huge amount of noise,
06:02myself included, criticising the performance level, openly wondering whether the rest and rotation policy was the right thing.
06:08You know, Lebris was completely unmoved in his assessment, had completely stuck to the bigger picture,
06:13which for him was getting the high level of training going into those playoff games and getting as many players fit as he could.
06:19Now, I think he'd be the first to say, of course, it's fine margins.
06:21And you can't just look back in hindsight and say, what a genius decision.
06:24You know, if Dan Ballard doesn't score that header in the 127th minute, you can potentially get knocked out.
06:29But ultimately, it was clearly the right way to go.
06:32And I think that kind of sums up the success he's had.
06:36And I think that calm as well has manifested itself in building a real strong bond and trust within the dressing room.
06:43Lebris is always there for a chat with his players.
06:47He does have a, you know, very much an open door policy.
06:49I don't think he's a kind of Tony Mowbray figure.
06:51I don't think he's necessarily one to sort of put his arm around the play necessarily and have a sort of long chat.
06:57I don't think man management per se is his absolute sort of biggest asset.
07:02But I think that what the players really respect and really rate is, as I've just said, his mood never changes.
07:09They know what mood is going to be coming in every day in the academy of life.
07:12They know what's expected of them.
07:14And I think that calm manifests itself in him putting a lot of trust in them.
07:19And I think if you think of a lot of pressure points over the season, where it would have been easy for Lebris to criticise individual players when the form dipped.
07:26Or it would have been easy to make a bit of a knee jerk decision to take players out.
07:30He always backed them publicly and he always gave them a chance and a trust to develop.
07:34I'm thinking of a few examples, the obvious one being Eliza Mayenda over the Christmas period where he missed a couple of big chances.
07:39You might remember at Blackburn and at Stoke, you know, Lebris really stuck by him, kept giving him opportunities and look how that paid off.
07:46Anthony Patterson, who had one wobble, I think you would say, earlier this year when he made a couple of mistakes that cost some points.
07:52Completely steadfast publicly in his belief and made clear that performances would have to improve.
07:59He's not soft by any stretch of the imagination, but stuck by him.
08:03Of course, what happened is, you know, Patterson re-found his form and obviously we all saw how that played out at Wembley.
08:08Loads of little individual aspects like that.
08:10But I think that the players really respect that while he is ruthless, he is clear with them.
08:15And I think that was something that became very obvious in the early stages of pre-season,
08:19when obviously a lot of players were essentially moved on pretty ruthlessly by Lebris.
08:25He worked out quite quickly that he wanted to work with a small core of players who he felt had the intensity and the quality to execute what he wanted.
08:34And I think that was obviously a decision that set this team up for that brilliant start of the season where they just kept catching teams out.
08:39I think a lot of teams came into games, Sheffield Wednesday being the obvious example on the first home game of the season,
08:44thinking they were going to play the Sunderlands who sort of limped over the line the previous season.
08:48And what they found was something completely different.
08:50And I do think Lebris picked up the club and these players at the right time.
08:54I would say that for two reasons.
08:56Obviously, when I mentioned there about the players that Lebris moved on, he was completely backed on that.
09:00A lot of these players were players that the club had invested in a year previous and in the previous season
09:04and understandably wanted to see you get minutes and opportunities.
09:07By the time Lebris came in, there was an acceptance that maybe some of these players have to be moved on.
09:12And I think his opinions were shared completely by the club in a way that maybe hadn't always been for some of his predecessors.
09:17And I think he certainly benefited from the fact that although 2023-24, especially the second half,
09:23was a pretty brutal season for everyone, I think a lot of the players developed and matured a lot in that period.
09:29And I think a lot of those players came back with a real hunger and determination to put things right and to hit the ground running.
09:35You know, Joe Bellingham, Luke O'Nine, Trey Hulme, all these sort of key.
09:39Patrick Roberts, I think he was a different player really at the start of the season compared to the end of the previous one.
09:45I think these players came back with a real determination and a real strong mentality to try and put things right.
09:50So I think Lebris did benefit from a few things in terms of his timing was good.
09:54But I think that, you know, his management really from day one has been nothing short of superb.
10:00And what I think is really interesting, perhaps maybe more interesting, moving the conversation on a little bit, is what this means for the future.
10:08Because I do fundamentally think that Lebris has already left a legacy at this club in terms of strengthening the club's conviction and its structure and its plan.
10:17And I think almost changing perceptions or maybe not changing perceptions, but setting a new baseline for what someone head coach should be and some of the qualities that they have.
10:26It's really interesting to me that when, and I'm someone who's talked about this a lot in the past, something I have a really strong belief in, in terms of what makes a good someone manager, if we're looking at the old term.
10:38Always felt that the successful managers, some of the traits they shared was a complete conviction in what they were doing, but also a really, really outgoing, charismatic personality that really engages with the supporters.
10:53I think over recent times, my belief has changed a little bit in terms of what it needs to be a successful Sunday manager who connects with the fans, with us as a media.
11:02I don't think it is necessarily, I think Lebris has shown that it's not necessarily about having a gregarious personality and being really charismatic in press conferences.
11:11I think the fundamental trait that all Summerland now head coaches have to have is to be completely oblivious to the outside noise, to completely focus on what they're doing and to not be sucked in by some of the external criticism from the media, to just have complete conviction in what they're doing.
11:30And I think that's something that Lebris shares with Sam Allardyce and Alex Neal, I think even to a large extent Tony Mulberry.
11:38And so I think that's a really important quality.
11:40And I think that it's something that the club have learned and that yes, you can have your internal sort of measurements for what you want from a head coach in terms of their training methodology, their style of play, all these things.
11:52But you have to consider as well that the head coach has huge public responsibilities in terms of leading the club, being the number one public face of the club.
12:00And I think they've learned a lot about how you have to consider that in those appointments.
12:04And I think Lebris has shown you don't necessarily have to be a massive personality, but you have to be a really strong communicator.
12:10You have to be really calm and you have to have complete conviction in what you're doing.
12:13And I've said it a few times, I think, you know, Alex Neal is certainly someone who has that.
12:17And I think that Lebris and Neal actually, although they're very different personalities, share a lot of positive qualities, in my opinion, in terms of their steeliness, but also their tactical flexibility.
12:28And I think that's a big thing moving forward, that you can have your preferred style of play and we know what someone looks like.
12:33It's high press, counterattacking quickly when you win the ball back, really intense.
12:37But you need to be flexible in certain situations to be successful over a long season.
12:40I think that's what Lebris has got right.
12:42And I think that, like Alex Neal, I always hoped he would be a good playoff manager.
12:46I am on record saying that somewhere, it's not hindsight, because I think he's very good at setting the team up for specific games.
12:52And I think that's a big quality that's been a real positive.
12:55And I think the one thing as well is that a big lesson that the club has learned moving forward is that, ultimately, they were right to wait until the end of the season for a higher calibre appointment to become available.
13:08I think they were operating in a much stronger pool of candidates after Tony Mowbray's departure.
13:13And I think they learned a huge lesson from that where, you know, clearly Tony Mowbray left and they didn't have their ducks in a row and they weren't able to get their initial choices for head coach.
13:21And that had a huge destabilising impact. I think that while there was rightly a lot of criticism for the way the season ended and it was painful for supporters to watch.
13:31Ultimately, they were able to get a higher calibre of head coach because of that.
13:36And I think that's a big lesson going forward in terms of how you manage your succession planning when you make decisions.
13:42I think that's something that they will have learned some harsh lessons from in terms of making that change, I think, quite impulsively mid-season.
13:48So I think that's a big positive going forward. But I think ultimately, looking back to bring the conversation full circle, looking back to a year ago, a lot of the debates that I think we were understandably and rightly having were,
13:58can you attract the calibre of coach you need in this structure, i.e., can you get somebody of the level of tactical acumen and coaching that you need who will be prepared to come in and working under this structure?
14:13I think that was a big reservation that we all had. Labris has shown that you absolutely can, that there doesn't need to be big clashes of personalities, that you can have your input in the transfer market.
14:25We all know how influential he's been in bringing, for example, he's stolen a fan to the club, while also acknowledging that the club has to make certain decisions for its long term development.
14:32You know, he's shown that you can be a high calibre coach, but also trust in young players and buy into the club's model of using academy players.
14:43Obviously Labris's really big legacy. Hopefully he has a long and prosperous time at the club moving forward, I'm sure he will.
14:49But I think he has fundamentally changed, you know, our minimum expectations of what a Sunland head coach likes.
14:55It should look like he should be prepared to come in and use academy players, can sort of give his thoughts and have a big impact in the transfer market,
15:02but ultimately do that within the club parameters. And I think he has really vindicated the club's belief in their structure, really,
15:09and that you can work collaboratively within a football club and it doesn't have to be a big kind of clash of egos.
15:15And that you can find a modern head coach who's willing to work within these parameters.
15:20And I think Labris often talks about the fact that he enjoys the fact that a lot of the work at the club goes on around him and allows him to focus on what he loves doing best,
15:29which is training, coaching, developing and working on the tactics.
15:33So, yeah, that's a bit of a chat about Labris one year on. I hope you've enjoyed it.
15:37I hope you've found it interesting. I just thought it was worth reflecting because I do feel like it's been a hugely impactful appointment.
15:43It's going to sort of reverberate for a long time to come. Yeah, a man I have a lot of respect for and working with.
15:52And hopefully in a year's time, we'll be talking about the second year anniversary of Labris,
15:56and we'll do a video on how he masterminded someone's survival from the Premier League.
15:59So here's hoping. As ever, thanks so much for watching.
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