On the bus back from the play-off final, I had a look at the Premier League table. Go back five years or so, and you could look at the final table and spot two or three teams that might struggle the following season, but no more. At a push, West Ham might save one promoted team from the drop, but I concluded all three promoted teams were going down.
Still euphoric after the final, I decided to just enjoy next season. I thought maybe we would make a fight of it. Perhaps make up for that horrendous cup tie and beat the Mags at home, with a following wind, maybe even away.
It has come as a bit of a shock that the club has splashed the cash, and since the final, I have gradually moved from pessimistic to hopeful, but here’s my plea. If things do go badly, can we please hang on to Regis Le Bris and not take the mid-season change route?
History shows that changing managers in a desperate attempt to stay up has not gone well over the last five seasons. Approximately 73% of the teams relegated changed their manager mid-season. It didn’t help. Worse still, many of those teams dispensed with their replacement shortly afterwards.
Sheffield United v Sunderland - Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
How has switching managers gone for Sunderland? In Premier League relegation seasons, we gambled (and lost) on changing managers twice. We stuck with Peter Reid (wise move) and David Moyes (don’t get me started). To be fair, we did recover from dire situations by making a change. However, from our list of saviours, I would only have taken Big Sam as a long-term manager.
So, back to Regis Le Bris. I saw fit to criticise him twice during the season, but in hindsight, I was wrong. I wasn’t happy with the lack of substitutions. Also, although I saw the logic, I was far from impressed with resting players at the end of the season and the resulting poor results. I thought the lack of momentum would cost us in the play-offs.
In his defence, Le Bris stated that his lack of substitutions was down to a lack of options from the bench. I remain unconvinced by that argument but admit substitutions were more regular by season’s end. More to the point, they were effective — an assist from one substitute in the final and a goal by another.
Resting players, although high risk, also paid off. We were dominant in the final period of extra time against Coventry and scored very late. We looked a lot fresher than Sheffield United towards the end of the final and again scored late. Was that Kieffer Moore pass that set us up for the goal down to tiredness? Probably.
Sunderland v Sporting CP - Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images
I am no tactical genius, but it appears to me Le Bris is tactically astute, and he seems to be getting better. Mike Dodds was probably more of an early-season crutch than has been admitted to date, but Le Bris and those who remained got us over the line.
I get that the “model” is based on the theory that coaches are dispensable if the structure remains, but I don’t buy it. It takes time for anyone new to get their ideas across. There are also human factors at play. Across an expanding group of players and coaches, there are relationships to be built. The club has been smart in bringing in young players that, after a season of Premier League football, will have significant sell-on value if the worst happens.
That said, they have taken a significant financial punt on staying in the Premier League, so if those in power get twitchy, it’s understandable, but please, whatever happens, let’s stick with Le Bris.