Regis Le Bris is 'on the edge' - and Sunderland's boss wouldn't have it any other way

Yahoo

24-05-2025

REGIS Le Bris lives life "on the edge" as a football manager - but Sunderland's boss wouldn't have it any other way.
"This is the flow of the competition," he said.
"If you accept we are on the edge then it's much easier to accept the unpredictability and sometimes you can't control everything."
Le Bris is speaking from relatively recent experience.
A year ago this week, Le Bris' Lorient side suffered relegation from Ligue 1 in the most devastating circumstances.
Despite thrashing Clermont 5-0 on the final day of the season, favours needed elsewhere didn't materialise and Le Bris' side ended up going down on the head-to-head away goals tie-breaker rule.
Twelve months later, the 49-year-old is hoping to experience the complete opposite end of season emotion.
Win at Wembley today and Le Bris, whose appointment raised eyebrows 12 months ago on the back of that relegation, is a Premier League manager.
"In football it can be quick," he smiled.
"So you are here and then, a month later, you have another opportunity. It's like the whole game, it's unpredictable, with many ups and downs. Life is not definite."
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"With players, squad, staff, manager, we are always on the edge," he repeated.
"We can't think that at this level we are in a comfort zone, it doesn't exist.
"We have to embrace this doubt, this feeling that you can lose or you can win sometimes on just one decision or detail."
Le Bris thinks the psychological strength of his players has been Sunderland's secret weapon this season, which gives him immense confidence ahead of today's final at Wembley.
"We didn't change the routine ahead of the final," he said.
"I think the psychology is connected to the gameplan and the concepts we use all season. Everything is connected. We did it from the beginning until now so we don't need to change something. If the players are connected with their main strengths I think they will manage the final."
Le Bris has spent the last couple of days deliberating over his team selection for the final. Much will depend on the fitness of Romaine Mundle and Patrick Roberts, who have both been nursing minor injury issues over the last week or so.
Mundle's availability will dictate where Enzo Le Fee will play today. If Mundle misses out, the Roma loanee will likely start out on the left but if the winger is fit Le Bris will be able to field the Frenchman in a central role, where he believes he's at his best.
"Enzo is really important for the group but it was in a specific period with many injuries," said Sunderland's boss.
"We had to manage his position. He played as a left winger 95% of his game-time.
"We had to manage this season many injuries. He was really useful but like another teammate because we went through some different moments."
Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham are nailed on starters in midfield for the Black Cats, with Bellingham, the Championship's Young Player of the Season, looking to cap a superb campaign.
'For me personally, to get promoted this year would be everything to me,' he said.
'The lads and myself have invested so much this year but just speaking for myself, I've given everything.
'After last season and the way that it ended, I wanted to make sure that I was still here and that I was ready to go. To right the wrongs and take Sunderland back to where they should be, where they should always be.
'I've worked tirelessly to be in the best shape and play the best football that I can, I think I have done that.
'It would mean everything to me, if we could all share moment at Wembley it would be really special.'
SUNDERLAND PROBABLE XI: Patterson, Hume, Ballard, O'Nien, Cirkin; Neil, Bellingham, Rigg, Roberts, Le Fee, Mayenda