Sunderland AFC director drops Regis Le Bris and Mick Beale claims | OneFootball

Dave Jones has revealed more details regarding Sunderland's appointments of Regis Le Bris and Michael Beale.

Sky Sports presenter and TV host Dave Jones is a non-executive director of Sunderland, and he has explained the appointment of Regis Le Bris following the disappointment of Michael Beale in 2023/24.

Beale took over from Tony Mowbary at the Stadium of Light back in December, and managed just four wins from his 11 games in the Championship. During his 12 games in charge in all competitions, Sunderland drew a further two and lost six times.

He was an unpopular appointment with Black Cats supporters, and he failed to win over the doubters during his two-month spell at the helm. It derailed their season, but Le Bris has breathed new life into the club after a positive start to the current season, where they have only recently just dropped outside of the automatic promotion places.

Dave Jones explains Regis Le Bris and Michael Beale appointments

Speaking via an interview with George Elek of the Not the Top 20 podcast, Jones explained the process of appointing Le Bris and fronted up to getting things wrong regarding Beale.

He said: "Regis has done really well, but I don't think he's done that much better than I probably expected him to.

"I think we always felt we had the quality in the group [of players] to sustain a promotion challenge, and a lot of people might write the team and squad off because of the youthful element of it.

"We never saw that as a weakness — we saw it as a strength. It was just a question of whether we could add one or two with a bit more experience and quality to help those younger players find their feet a little bit faster than they ordinarily might.

"Regis has delivered what we expected him to. We saw a guy that was, first and foremost, a really good coach. That's what we were looking for to come and lead out football club.

"We're slightly different to a lot in the way that we are run, and our structure, processes, and we have a great deal of confidence in the way that we're organised as a football club.

"But I think we were lacking that piece in terms of that coach who could deliver on all the promise and potential.

"What he has done is made us a lot more compact as a team. We are much better now than we ever have been in terms of transition, and I think we're confident when we lose the ball that we're not suddenly going to be exposed.

"There's a much better and more cohesive defensive structure."

Jones went on to explain some of the differences between his appointment and Beale's, which taught himself and the Sunderland hierarchy a lesson or two. He added: "I would say that in terms of the time to appoint him (Beale), that was not something we were unduly worried about.

"A lot of Sunderland fans would be unhappy with that because they probably felt that we almost gave up last season.

"That was never the case, but what we have learnt — we've not got everything right — but what we have learnt in the last couple of years is that it is a lot harder to find the right manager or coach in the middle of a season.

"That process becomes a lot easier when you get to May and June and clubs and coaches are reflecting and there is a bit more movement in that market.

"We had to be patient and we were prepared to be patient. Regis was obviously somebody we knew of previously because of his track record in France, albeit over a short period.

"We were aware of the quality of his work and Kyril [Louis-Dreyfus] was aware of the quality of his work with Lorient. He became on our list and we were having a lot of conversations with a lot of different people in that phase.

"Regis, we had spoken to a couple of times over zoom, and we did that with everybody; we tried to have as many conversations as we possibly could but felt he was a guy we had to follow up with.

"We found ourselves in front of him having conversations lasting five-six hours. At that point, it became apparent what we were dealing with here was a really serious football guy, a guy with very genuine and clear coaching qualities, and almost professorial in the way he went about it.

"I think what has surprised me a little bit is how well he has adapted to the Championship and the English football culture, and the way he been able to find a way to communicate with our fans as well.

"He has this real natural authenticity as a human being. He's got a real warmth to him. He doesn't try to pretend to be anything that he's not."

Sunderland's ambition under Le Bris

Sunderland find themselves in with a genuine shout of automatic promotion this season after a spectacular start to the season, and that is in large part down to Le Bris.

He deserves plenty of praise, even if the defeat against the Blades means Sunderland are six games without a win. They have lost ground on the top two in the race for automatic promotion, but are well-placed to improve again in January.

Despite the poor run, the fans have stuck with the team, and that unity will be key moving forward. The game on Friday evening was a real test for what is a young team, and whilst the result went against them, the performance showed that Le Bris’ men can compete with the best in this league.

It’s just a case of the fine margins not going their way. Ultimately, everyone connected to the club would’ve been delighted to be in this position before a ball was kicked, so there’s no need to panic.

January could be the time to kick on and ensure they have a strong second-half of the season, with an acquisition or two potentially the difference between finishing in the play-offs or vying for automatic promotion.