Latest news with #Wearsiders
The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Sunderland promotion bonuses revealed as Jobe Bellingham and co share out huge £7.75m for reaching Premier League
A STUNNING £7.75million was split by Sunderland's promotion winners for reaching the Prem. Skipper Dan Neil and cult hero Luke O'Nien finished top of the table for appearances and will pick up more than £500,000 each. 2 2 The system is based on the number of games played in the campaign under Wearsiders' boss Regis Le Bris, who had his own personal jackpot. Each player received shares in the windfall. Starters were given four per game, subs received two and non-playing men on the bench got one. Neil and O'Nien, injured in the 2-1 Wembley play-off final win over Sheffield United, made 48 and 49 first-team starts respectively to qualify for the highest return. Most of the squad played a large chunk of games, so will earn between £400,000 and £500,000. That is a large boost to pay packets, with young Chris Rigg, 17, in line for around £400k - which is roughly the same as his basic salary. Even after tax, that should mean a terrific bonus for the players who took the Black Cats to glory. The total available in the initial bonus system for the playing staff was £8m if they finished top. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK But the consolation of winning the play-offs was just £250,000 less. That is a huge result for the players, who saw the club bring in extra income with the three play-off games. Sky Sports forced to apologise as Sunderland star swears on live TV after last touch for club earns them promotion The £7.75m is higher than many other sides offered in recent years and also dwarfs the figure paid out by League One play-off winners Charlton. Addicks only handed out £750,000 in bonuses among the players on a similar pro rata basis. SunSport revealed on Sunday that Roma are poised to make a shock move for Sunderland skipper Neil. The Italian giants are keen on the hard-running midfielder who is aware of their interest and a £15million deal could be thrashed out. Neil's move would rock Sunderland, though, who are preparing to lose teenager Bellingham. The 19-year-old is already talking to clubs in Germany.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Regis Le Bris' damning admission over the direction of Sunderland's season
SUNDERLAND wore one-off shirts for this one. They had better hope it was a one-off performance as well. Regis Le Bris warned beforehand that a playing pool that pretty much knows it will be in the play-offs will still need plenty of momentum when that time comes. Whether those words fell on deaf ears only those inside the away dressing room will know. Boss Le Bris put a duff performance from the first kick down to low energy levels and that seemed fair enough. The Wearsiders did look pretty weary so the international break comes at just the right time for a recharge and a reset. Coventry were the form team of the Championship with ten wins from their last 12 league outings and the fixture list has handed Sunderland nothing more daunting than a trip to West Bromwich Albion in an eight-game normal season run-in. As it stands, though, they will meet the Sky Blues again in the play-off semis and on this showing there can only be one winner, especially as Haji Wright is now back to his best. The USA striker suffered an ankle injury in the 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light in November that put him out of action for four months. He claimed the match ball on his second start since making a return that has made an excellent team even better and the Black Cats were already under the cosh when he opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Sunderland had invited City to come at them, either by sitting back passively or by squandering what possession they had cheaply. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Bobby Thomas had both gone close with early headers before Sunderland again gave the ball away and Victor Torp's pass saw Wright cut inside to evade Luke O'Nien and plant a low left-footer beyond Anthony Patterson from just outside the box. Sunderland could hardly deny it had been coming and gifted Wright another eight minutes later. Chris Mepham's leaving of a trailing leg for the forward to trip over looked the result of tired thinking and Wright despatched his spot-kick down the middle, with his right foot this time. Le Bris admitted afterwards that he could have substituted any of his outfielders at half-time so dominant were the Sky Blues, with captain Jamie Allen running the show in midfield. Yet the Frenchman opted not to change anything until the 57th minute when 4-3-3 became 4-4-2 straight after Chris Rigg had personified his side's frustrations with a hack at Sakamoto that sparked a brief bench-emptying brawl and a yellow that on another day might have been a red. That saw tired-looking skipper Dan Neil hooked along with Romaine Mundle and Wilson Isidore deployed alongside Eliezer Mayenda as extra firepower. It worked, sort of, as both forwards motored into decent scoring positions on the right of the box. Neither could hit the target however and when Torp sent Wright through in the 73rd minute for a delicate dink over Patterson that was that. Another headache for Le Bris was the loss in the 69th minute of left-back Dennis Cirkin to a hamstring injury. The former Tottenham man has played in 34 of the 38 league games so far. The Black Cats changed their badge for this one, bringing back the one with the white ship on it that was worn between 1972 and 1997. With a twist to mark Green Football weekend - the word 'Sunderland' underneath it was half obscured by waves to mark rising tide levels caused by global warming. Unfortunately that turned into a metaphor for the team's overall performance - they were swamped from the start - and Le Bris' task is to make sure it never applies again. The travelling fans certainly had that sinking feeling when Wright opened the scoring and will hope the emergency warning will have been heeded should the two teams meet again in May.
