'Excited' Regis Le Bris reveals top six expectation for Sunderland

New Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has revealed what he expects his new club to achieve in the 2024/25 Championship season...

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris / Sunderland AFC

Regis Le Bris says that the top six is very much Sunderland’s expectation this season as he prepares for his first season in English football.

Sunderland collapsed horrible last season after a promising first half of the campaign, eventually sinking to 16th place after making a total mess of their coaching decisions.

That low finish juxtaposed with the obvious talent in the Sunderland squad makes them a difficult club to predict right now, although Le Bris is clear: He expects his team to be in the promotion picture come May.

"The first ambition is to represent the identity of the league,” Le Bris said. “This club has a big place in English football. We need to build strong relations, and we can create something different.

“The top six is our expectation for sure but will see, we don’t know. One of the points for this long run is we need to be involved, the way we have built the game model, and not be reactionary.

“We want them [players] to share our ideas and be proactive in the game.”

Sunderland travel to Cardiff for their Championship opener, and at this stage it is difficult to predict just how they will adapt to competitive football under Le Bris.

Preseason has been a real mixture in terms of performances, and whilst the high press looks very impressive, the defensive frailties are cause for concern. 

And, and candid Le Bris has admitted himself that he is taking a big step into the ‘unknown’ in the Welsh capital.

“The first games of the season are still different from the others because it’s a restart and no one knows exactly what will happen, he said.

“So it’s still open and unknown. For us the main principle is to focus on our plan, our game model and how we want to play as a team and then we will adapt with events, with the style of play of Cardiff, and other teams after this game.

“I’m excited. I like competition, I like the Championship, I like the hours before the game. We can feel that everyone is now connected to the competition and the pre-season was useful and now it’s competition and we are looking forward to this game.”