Focus on Chris Wilder and Regis Le Bris ahead of Championship play-off final

Rhyl Journal

14-05-2025

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the strengths and weaknesses of rival managers ahead of their Wembley showdown on Saturday, May 24.
Chris Wilder (Sheff Utd)
Five-time promotion winner Wilder, front second right, led the south Yorkshire club to the Premier League in 2019 (Danny Lawson/PA)
The 57-year-old is a proven winner, having guided the Blades from League One to the Premier League during his first spell in charge. He also won promotion with former clubs Alfreton, Oxford and Northampton. Wilder knows what it takes to get the job done.
His man-management and motivational powers are a real attribute. All Wilder's sides possess 'never-say-die' attitudes, under-pinned by a siege-mentality in a united dressing room – which gets the best out of his players.
No-nonsense Wilder is not just a tub-thumper either. His basic principles are non-negotiable, but his flexible, innovative tactics – he used and then abandoned overlapping centre-halves when last in the Premier League – won widespread acclaim and the admiration of Pep Guardiola.
Fiercely passionate and opinionated, Wilder can overstep the mark, with outspoken comments leading to several run-ins with the game's authorities and opposing players and managers.
He will also call out his own club's fans if he deems criticism of him or his players unfair. He can be confrontational and is sometimes perceived to be divisive.
Regis Le Bris (Sunderland)
Le Bris has used youth to his advantage at Sunderland (Cody Froggatt/PA)
Many eyebrows were raised when the then little-known Frenchman was appointed by the Wearside club at the start of the season, having overseen Lorient's relegation to Ligue 2 last year.
However, the Black Cats – who finished 16th last season – have been involved in the fight for automatic promotion for large parts of this term and now stand just one match away from a top-flight return.
Le Bris' squad have the youngest average age in the league (23.2 years), with teenagers Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham playing central roles and the likes of Dan Neil, Trai Hume and Eliezer Mayenda having plenty of exciting years ahead of them.
Sunderland, who spent time atop the Championship standings early in the season, finished the regular campaign with five straight defeats and with the fewest goals scored out of the top six, but will hope to have turned a corner following their dramatic play-off semi-final win over Coventry.