Last season’s play-off winning captain, Dan Neil, has kicked his last ball in a Sunderland shirt, with his loan deal at Ipswich Town taking him to the end of his contract with his hometown club. Anthony Patterson has also left on loan, joining Millwall, and while he is due to return in the summer, it remains to be seen whether there is any prospect of him forcing his way back into Le Bris’ plans.
Patrick Roberts had already headed through the exit door, joining Birmingham City on loan in the summer, but any chance of him returning to the Stadium of Light disappeared on deadline day when his transfer became permanent.
All three featured in May’s play-off final win over Sheffield United; all three also played crucial roles in the club’s successful promotion from League One. So, while they might no longer be Sunderland players, Le Bris is confident their legacy will endure.
“We spent last season, a long, long season, together,” said the Black Cats boss. “So, I had a special relationship with them, especially with it being my first year in England. It was a perfect season.
“We struggled at times because it was tough and long, but this group with Dan, with Pat, with many players, was really impressive and the connection is still there, even if they don’t play for Sunderland now.”
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Trai Hume was another member of last season’s promotion-winning group, and along with Dan Ballard and Enzo Le Fee, his presence in the current line-up helps ensure there is a thread running from the Championship team to the side that is doing so well in the Premier League this season.
Hume is delighted to have been able to prove himself in the top-flight this season, but will not be forgetting the debt of gratitude he owes the group of players who were never able to properly experience the Premier League in the wake of winning promotion.
“They’re 100 per cent heroes in my eyes,” said the Northern Irishman. “They brought us from League One to where we are now. Without them, none of this is possible. I can’t thank them enough. They’ll be a big miss, but I wish them nothing but the best.”
It is thanks to the likes of Neil, Patterson and Roberts that Le Bris was able to develop and nurture the strong sense of togetherness and a ‘team before self’ mentality that were so crucial to everything that was achieved last season.
It is to the head coach’s immense credit that while the personnel might have changed this season, the sense of unity and common purpose driving Sunderland forward has remained intact.
There are a number of reasons for that – Le Bris’ astute management, the recruitment team’s careful assessment of character as well as talent, the attitude of the players that were signed in the summer – but Sunderland have only been able to continue on the path Le Bris had set last season because the buy-in from the players that have subsequently left was so strong.
“I think, now, the identity of the club is clear,” said Le Bris. “It is well connected with the game model, with the way we want to recruit as well. Because we are aligned, I think we can work together and we can avoid mistakes about profile, about personalities.
“Then, the core of the group is still there, even if it's a bit different to what it was. We have leaders, we have a strong identity and when we don't play like that, we struggle.
“In this league, you can play a good game and still get punished, but if you don’t play with your identity, then at the end you will have many regrets.”