Four things we learned from Régis Le Bris' first Sunderland interview - and two things we didn't

Régis Le Bris officially began work as Sunderland's new head coach this morning, with the players now back in full pre-season training.

Over the weekend supporters heard from the new boss for the first time as he conducted an interview with the club's in-house media team. Here, we run you through a few things we learned from Le Bris' introduction, and a couple of things that we didn't...

Four things we learned...

You do pronounce the s Unsurprisingly, one of the first questions for Le Bris was to finally get some clarity on exactly how you pronounce his name. The Frenchman confirmed that you do in fact pronounce the s. Case closed. There'll be no language barrier Club sources indicated that Le Bris had a strong command of the English language and that came across strongly in his first interview, with the 48-year-old speaking confidently and insightfully about his move and plans moving forward. Interestingly, he revealed that he had been learning the language for two years in order to be ready for an opening in English football. It's well known that Le Bris was of interest to Leeds United before they appointed Daniel Farke last summer and it's clear that he has long wanted to work in a place so passionate about football. Crucially, it means there should be no issues getting his message across to the players in the dressing room from day one. Le Bris is quickly learning about the club's history In one of Le Bris' first sentences after being appointed, he pledged to immerse himself in the culture of the club and the city. He has quickly started to make good on that promise, meeting with supporters in the club shop over the weekend as he prepares for his first official day in charge today (Monday). Le Bris also held a meeting with club historian to lean about the club and city's rich history. He also spoke to former Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone, who he worked with at FC Lorient, and unsurprisingly received a glowing recommendation from the former fan favourite. And he has, of course, watched Sunderland 'Til I Die on Netflix. The intensity of the job and the scale of the support should come as no shock to him moving forward. And he’s is a deep thinker about the game Le Bris spoke about his love for developing players and sharing his ideas about the game with his players. Even in this brief introduction, he came across as studious and measured. That should help him manage the rollercoaster of a Championship campaign with Sunderland but key will of course be how quickly he can get the players to understand his methods and execute them.

And two things we didn't...

Backroom staff

As of yet there's been no confirmation on Le Bris' backroom team. It's understood that there will be multiple members of staff joining to support Le Bris, in a wider restructuring of the senior coaching team than we have seen after the last few head coach appointments. Sunderland are thought to still be working through the red tape necessary to confirm the appointments, as was the case with Le Bris himself. Mike Dodds, Michael Proctor and Alessandro Barcherini are there with Le Bris for the opening days of the pre-season programme, with more support to follow. Playing style Sunderland have made clear their determination to reinstall an aggressive playing style under Le Bris after a deeply disappointing second half of the 2023/24 season. While Le Bris was clear that building a clear identity over pre-season was key, he's not yet gone into details about what Sunderland might look like during his tenure. Fans should hear more on that front when he speaks to the media later this week. Though in the way he spoke about the energy and intensity of the fans he has already met, you can perhaps glean that he'll want to play a high-tempo style. Here's hoping.