Régis Le Bris' reaction to Sunderland's late escape act was extremely telling

10/07/2024 01:00 AM

The head coach engaged in a rare show of emotion after Friday's late twist, and it revealed a side of his personality that we'd not previously seen.

For a man who's been the epitome of composure, quiet authority and confidence in his ability as a head coach, the reaction of Régis Le Bris to Sunderland's late, dramatic and frankly surreal equaliser against Leeds United on Friday was noteworthy.

As the minutes ticked by and it looked as though our proud unbeaten home record was set to be ended at the hands of the visitors, Le Bris might've been in philosophical mood on the touchline, aware that it was always going to happen at some stage and that his players would have to deal with the fallout.

But then came Illan Meslier (whose connection with Le Bris goes back to their days at Lorient), an inexplicable goalkeeping error, and an explosion of joy that signaled a priceless point and the preservation of a record that had looked in real jeopardy.

Beating us at home and striking an early blow in the race for promotion? Not this time, lads.

On the touchline, there were no arms folded from Le Bris and no stoic expression etched on his face as the ball rolled into the met. Instead, he pumped his fists and roared. You could see exactly what this meant to him, with the energy of the crowd filtering down into the technical area and everyone being caught up in a moment of huge relief.

Of course, we'd all like to believe that this was the first sign of Le Bris being pulled into the romance and madness of Sunderland, just as our club has done to so many others down the years.

However, such is the nature of this fascinating and quietly charismatic Frenchman, the real intrigue comes from not knowing exactly what he's thinking and what this job might mean to him, even if he's won almost everyone over since he arrived on Wearside.

In many ways, Le Bris is a difficult kind of boss to profile, and I don't say that disrespectfully.

In comparison to recent Sunderland bosses, he doesn't have the rugged, fatherly demeanour of Tony Mowbray and he's nowhere near as abrasive as Alex Neil. Going slightly further back, he doesn't seem to be as single-minded and as intimidating as Roy Keane, nor is he blessed with the Scouse-bred confidence of Peter Reid.

Externally at least, there seems to be no sense of ego with this man; no feeling of 'Aren't you fortunate to have me as your leader?'.

Instead, he seems genuinely grateful to have been given this chance and as such, is clearly determined to do everything in his power to propel Sunderland AFC towards a return to the Premier League.

Although the role of the modern-day football coach has changed, with bosses often needing to double up as poets, philosophers and diplomats, the ethos of a team and the values and principles that can so often make a difference are still vitally important, and on this front, Le Bris is succeeding.

We've all seen Lads teams down the years who barely bothered to hide the fact that they weren't enjoying playing under a certain boss, but this is different.

In contrast to the grind of much of last season, there's a genuine sense of enjoyment emanating from these players, and even as we were forced to graft hard against Leeds, it felt as though they were relishing the battle and the chance to show they've got the steel to match their skill.

Of course, as the new era continues to take shape, there'll always be things we could do better.

Could we have pushed on with a bit more authority after Chris Rigg's opener, for example? Yes. Do we need to develop the ability to control the midfield more effectively? Yes. Is the ability to grind out results a vital quality of any successful side? Yes.

We aren't the finished article and Le Bris has never claimed otherwise, but what we're seeing at the moment is a Lads side that's light years away from the disheartened group of players who limped over the finishing line last season.

Fundamentally, this has all come from Le Bris, and as we sit proudly atop the Championship after a start to the season that few could've seen coming, he can rightly take a great deal of pride in the job he's done so far and the belief he's instilled in everyone- players and fans alike.

If this season is to be a successful one, Friday's late show might prove to be one of the defining moments, and it was great to see that even for such a level-headed boss, the elation of salvaging a positive result was enough to bring about such a passionate reaction.

To paraphrase an iconic former Lads striker who celebrated his fifty-eighth birthday at the weekend, Le Bris might've learned his trade at Lorient, but if Sunderland is getting under his skin, our own Wearside French revolution might have more potential than even the most optimistic of us could've hoped, and that's tremendously exciting.