Editorial: Backroom appointment expected — there's no rest for the wicked at Sunderland!

10/07/2024 01:00 AM

Whilst there will be a brief break in the schedule for Sunderland due to international football, we mustn't rest on our laurels — this is our chance to solidify our plans for the season ahead.

We're top of the league going into the second international break of the season — not even the most optimistic Sunderland supporter could have seen this coming, but here we are.

I've got to admit, I'm astounded by the job that Régis Le Bris has done so far.

I knew that this was a talented group of players, but still... what we've achieved already this season is nothing short of excellent, and a large chunk of the credit for that start has to go to the man in the dugout.

That said, you do have to take a breath, step back and realise that we're nowhere near the finish line yet - we're not even close. We've only played nine games in the Championship, so really, this is just the start.

During the last international break we had two weeks to get our heads around playing Plymouth having had a perfect start to the campaign, and we all know how that went. I wrote at the time that I was worried about us losing momentum, and you have to say that we did in that second half at Home Park. We didn't look like the same side, and whilst we recovered well in terms of getting back to winning ways, we have to learn from that.

The draw against Leeds felt just as good as any win I've seen us get recently due to the way it all played, and we have to harness that energy somehow. It's difficult when you've got to wait so long for a game, and with players jetting all over the world to play international football, but that's a task for Régis to relish.

You have to imagine that the competitiveness in training over the break is going to be through the roof. We've got a bunch of injured lads back available, and then there are new signings like Connolly and Samed who are expected to be involved in the group, ready for selection when we play Hull and Luton.

On top of that, there are youngsters like Tommy Watson, Harrison Jones and Trey Ogunsuyi making their mark in training, hence why they were all rewarded with places in the matchday squads over recent games (and in Watson's case, he's been getting minutes towards the end of games).

Then there's Milan Aleksic, who hasn't featured at all yet but will be shown more and more responsibility over the coming months — he's clearly talented and he hasn't just come here to make up the numbers.

This, really, is the ideal situation to be in.

There are changes afoot behind the scenes also. It's my understanding that, after months of deliberating, the club are going to finally appoint a new assistant manager during the international break after a period of reflection, and then an interview process which was taken in order to find the ideal candidate. From the continent, the new member of staff has previously been an assistant manager before briefly stepping into senior management, so arrives with a wealth of coaching experience, albeit outside of English football.

It should be interesting to see how this changes things. There's no denying that there had been an appetite to allow Le Bris to make his coaching team his own, but the successful start we've had to the season has come in part due to the hard work of the staff already in place, and it wouldn't make sense to rock the boat too much.

It certainly can't harm to have even more quality footballing minds on the scene, and Le Bris has earned the chance to bring his own people on board. It's a sign of how brilliant his abilities already are that he's started as brilliantly as he has despite coming in on his own, and I'm excited to see what else he can do after the break.

I'm sure like me, many of you are trying really hard not to get carried away. It's hard though — I WANT to get carried away. It's the fear of ending up disappointed that stops us. Let's just see how things go after this break... I don't think I'm going to go overboard, because I probably did that heading into Plymouth, and ended up burned.

This period is important, so let's sure we don't waste a second.