Regis Le Bris confirms off-pitch Sunderland AFC decision after Mike Dodds exit | OneFootball

Sunderland lost Mike Dodds from their coaching setup earlier this month

Régis Le Bris has confirmed that Sunderland will not be seeking an immediate replacement for Mike Dodds this month.

The 38-year-old departed the Stadium of Light in order to take charge at Wycombe Wanderers, replacing Matt Bloomfield at the helm.

Dodds was well regarded by the Black Cats as a part of Le Bris’ coaching staff, and was even put in interim charge of the first team squad prior to the Frenchman’s arrival in the summer.

His exit came as a blow to the team amid their push for promotion to the Premier League this year, with the role at Wycombe being the coach’s first as the main permanent manager at a club.

Régis Le Bris confirms Sunderland decision after Dodds exit

Le Bris has admitted that the club will not be seeking an immediate replacement for Dodds, instead opting to reshuffle his existing staff in order to make up for the loss in personnel.

The Sunderland boss opened up on the changes, including moving senior goalkeeping coach Alessandro Barcherini into a more general supporting role.

“Alessandro’s role will evolve a little bit,” said Le Bris, via The Northern Echo.

“He will still be connected with the goalkeepers because I don’t think he can think about a new role without still being involved with the goalkeepers.

“But he will now be more involved as an assistant coach, and that should be a very interesting role for him, and for the rest of the staff as well.

“Then Tom [Weal] will obviously be involved with the goalkeepers too.”

Further backroom alterations at Sunderland

The Frenchman also revealed that Pedro Ribiero will be taking on a new role, with the assistant set to take on a greater focus regarding opposition analysis before any longer-term decisions are made on replacing Dodds externally.

“Pedro’s role has a changed a little bit with relation to the opposition analysis,” he continued.

“Now, he is in charge of that side of things.

“It is too early to think longer term.

“At the moment, I think we are working well as a staff, so it is just a case of working well and enjoying it.

“Then, at the end of the season, we will see how things are and decide whether we need a new set-up.”

Sunderland are currently fourth in the Championship table, eight points adrift of the automatic promotion places.

Replacing Dodds mid-season could be too distracting

Dodds was an important figure behind the scenes at Sunderland, and his departure will come as a blow to the players.

However, replacing him with someone coming into the club at this stage of the season could prove too tricky to be worthwhile.

The Black Cats are in the mix for a top two spot, so the search for a new coach could take up valuable time and energy that can instead be put towards this push for promotion.

Waiting until the summer could prove the more sensible choice for the time being, with Le Bris putting a lot of trust in his remaining coaching staff until then.