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Regis Le Bris learnt from early mistake & one thing in particular wowed Granit Xhaka

Management is fraught with stress but you wouldn't guess it by analysing the behaviour of Sunderland's boss.

And Le Bris' calm and composed approach is not just an act he puts on.

In his two years as Sunderland's head coach, the Frenchman says he has never once lost his temper with the players.

That's not to say he doesn't dish out some home truths when he feels it's necessary, but Le Bris is direct and to the point without losing his rag. There are never any repeats of Sir Alex Ferguson's hairdryer treatment in the Sunderland dressing room.

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Why? Well early in his career, Le Bris did lose his cool but he says he instantly realised afterwards he'd made a mistake. The key for a head coach, says Sunderland's boss, is to remain balanced - which means not ranting and raving when things don't go to plan and not allowing himself to get too high with success.

Le Bris' approach has clearly struck a chord with Xhaka. The Switzerland international has worked with some elite managers during his illustrious career but recently revealed he'd been blown away by Le Bris' calmness and asked his boss how on earth he always manages to stay so controlled.

"As a manager you set the tone for the players," said Le Bris.

"If you are too high or too low it becomes a problem but you have to stay real."

He added: "It's a privilege to coach a player like Granit Xhaka. He's so demanding with himself and he creates the condition to be demanding with others.

"It's not explicit but for the players and the coaching staff it lifts the standards. It's a real pleasure and a privilege to be the manager of this kind of player.

"After that the personality is the personality. Granit is emotional and intense. When he becomes a manager - I don't know when, there's no rush - he'll have to respect this personality as well."

Le Bris hasn't had much to be angry about during his two season in charge of Sunderland, guiding the Black Cats to promotion in his first season and a seventh place Premier League finish and with it Europa League qualification in his second.

But it's still quite something that he's never once lost his temper with the players.

"When I was younger, yes, but it was a big mistake," he says.

"Not really now. When I feel something to say it should be intense, at half-time sometimes, at the end of the game once or twice this season.

"It's important to express and stay authentic about your feelings but it's also important to stay balanced because it influences everyone.

"This is my job, so if I go up here and we need to stay balanced it's a mistake. When I was younger I had to make these mistakes to learn from them."

Sunderland will be joined in next season's Europa League by Crystal Palace after the Eagles won the Conference League this week thanks to a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano.

Palace will join Bournemouth and Sunderland in going straight into the league stage of the Europa League and not having to go through any qualifying rounds.

Palace became the ninth English team to qualify for Europe. Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool will compete in next season's Champions League and Brighton are in the Conference League after Sunderland climbed above the Seagulls on the final day.

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