Comment: Sunderland show West Brom and rivals how being bold pays off
Sunderland have flown through the Championship, overtaking Albion and many others in the process, and are now a Premier League club once again.
In doing so, the decision to appoint relative unknown Regis Le Bris almost a year ago has been totally vindicated.
It was seen as a gamble and a risk turning to a largely untested Frenchman in his late 40s, mostly with a youth and B-team background, last summer.
Le Bris had done some decent things with Lorient in his homeland, but ultimately he oversaw a relegation from Ligue 1 in 2023/24 and was dismissed afterwards before the Black Cats made their move.
It was said Sunderland bided their time for Le Bris. They identified him as the preferred candidate and played the waiting game to get their man. The club’s French owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, 27, pulled off a masterstroke with the appointment of the head coach, a compatriot almost twice his age.
Yet some naysayers were unconvinced. Perhaps understandably, to a point.
The tired, age-old claim of ‘no experience of English football’ and ‘no Championship know-how’ did the rounds.
Saturday’s dramatic last-gasp play-off final success against Sheffield United well and truly put those shouts to bed to cap a highly-impressive debut campaign.
