According to Fabrizio Romano, Régis Le Bris has agreed to become the next Sunderland manager. So the lads got together to give our thoughts.
Brad and Lee join to share their initial reaction to his impending appointment, what are the positives, the negatives and will he bring success?
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[Music] [Applause] [Music] hello and welcome back to the what the Fulk podcast we have rebranded as an England podcast recently um but as we thought it might at some point we are back in red and white temporarily after the news that Sunland are probably most likely fabito Romano said that we’re going to do it point to manager or a head coach if you prefer after 845,000 days Reggie lebre appears to be the man that the board have picked I mean the L are going to just give our initial reaction to it really because I mean it’s been a while and we’ve made jokes about it for about the last seven or eight podcasts so it’s nice to finally uh have someone that we know is going to lead us in the next season but uh The Lads joining me as always is H Brad sha Brad how are you mate you okay yeah very good today mate um sun shining I’ve got my team’s presentation their piss up thing in a couple of hours so yeah it’s a good day and couple that with the imminent announcement that we’re going to have a gaffa um I’m quite in a positive mood compared to what I was was it two days ago where literally I was I might sounded some people suicidal but who know who would have known a couple of days later that a manager could perk me up a little bit you know what’s funny what people won’t realize if anyone’s been listen to the euro shows we obviously were doing the reactions to the the England games and stuff and then I went over at Frankfurt for the Denmark game and uh my idea got like progressively worse if anyone wants to like question my commitment to this podcast we recorded that podcast and I sat there editing it until about 1: in the morning and then realized I’d booked the wrong airport and had to rebook the flight and pay 500 quid for a new flight so uh if anyone ever questions my dedication to this podcast which I don’t even like Anyway until you’re not subscrib to you can get yourselves to and because I’m 500 quid down because I don’t check my flight things CU I’m editing stuff but uh here we are you know what it is you only live once it’s just it’s just money just money try telling the you at least you’re willing to pay compensation Lee have you wasted any money recently how are you doing you’re all right I um he first bit a direct de came out the beginning end of last month or something like that so it’s bit a waste of money and but I all right myself really it’s about time we got new a coach and who would know sun which sun which hear everybody up because England disappointing everybody I mean the appointment to be honest we’ll get into it as the whole point of the podcast but I’m just I think I could have been anyone at this point I just wanted to know who we were going to have in charge um I’ve got reservations about some things I’m positive about others but I think the overall feeling from you know not everyone because I don’t speak for anyone in the fan base but myself but I feel like the bulk of us are just like relieved that it’s going to be somewhere but like the name itself like I’ve never ever heard um but I did want to pose a question to you Lee um when I seen the name Reggie Leb you know when did we start naming um people after cheeses and why did we stop specifically a BRI was was on the spot there gri you never hear a cheddar de or or any of that no cheese cheese slice labre cheese slice L we’re gonna stick with Reggie the business you’re gonna kept going got Louis dunkables the thing is there’s a lot of there’s a lot of children called Bri but for some reason we haven’t seemed to uh kind of go past that point but anyway we hit chat about manages ANW not cheese um so Brad with adling to marriage still rinia Lampard random Managers from random places that are going to get the job and we’ve landed on regil liur from Laurent um looks like he’s going to be handed the Reigns if that falls soon now I’m going to be shocked what are your initial thoughts just on the appointments I know it’s a bit of a left field one but um when you heard the name and when it seemed like it was going to be nailed on which it is he might even be anoun was won this podcast what were your thoughts um instantly I thought of the likes of Danny W and sentes and people like that they were pretty much unknowns and theyve came into the championship and being outstanding and ultimately fans have been clamoring for them so is it our chance now to find our own little gem I mean I had really heard of marriage beforehand and the more I think about will still right if it wasn’t for the social media Sensation that he was unbeaten in so long but despite having a not having these Badges and that he would have been unknown as well it’s it’s only because it went viral on Twitter if he I’ve had these Badges and was just doing what he was doing then in that season Reggie leb’s team finished higher than him anywhere so he would have been a relative unknown um so if we are going to go down that route it it’s you meet it with a bit of apprehension but you you also meet with a little bit of optimism a little bit of excitement I would say just to see what what it’s all about it’s a European coach um you instantly go and look at his his records as head coach of laal and I just said he finished higher than all right Joey Bon hell oh we he finished like he finished in places higher than still um where did he finish is D he finished in D position in his first season uh he finished on this and and still finished in ons which is 11 I think I’m going back it’s been 18 years since I’ve done French so I’m just trying my best here but in all seriousness no and there was mitigating factors last season why his team got relegated and you have to look at that but I’ve done a little bit of more listen there was an excellent piece last night I don’t know if people have heard it but going BBC sounds and isn’t a total spot they had a French well they have their French correspondent on there and he’s got a very good coaching background how he’s been brought through under laurant Academy and he he has brought through quite a few uh decent players as well who now play in the Premier League he was at Ren beforehand as well for a long time there I think he’s he’s been like kind of an academy coach since like 2003 I think he started at Ren and and went to to um I’m just going to say Laurent I was going to try the French pronunciation but I’m not going to do that La so he he has B through a you and it is worth it is worth listening to if you’ve got five minutes on BBC sounds because listen that’s actually G me a little bit more optimism um but like the Po’s going to be in the pudding um I’m just glad he’s he’s he’ll be announced touchwood over this weekend and he’ll at least have a week before the lads come back into training get his feet under the table because a lot of it’s going to be just in and around the academy the staff there like the people who working the desk people who work in the kitchen he’s going to get to know all these people first it’s not going to be brand new and then he can get stuck in when the boys come back next week so ideally we’ all wanted it earlier all of us would have it’s 50 60 is too late this in my opinion but let’s just try and park that put it behind us and just see what the what the L can do and a little bit more I think I think people are more willing to get behind them than they were with the last appointment um so yeah let’s let’s just see how we how we get on how are you feeling about it yeah um I think you know when Mory got sacked and we chatted at the time and we said oh they must know who they want we all know the kind of kuule that has came after after that in the be situation and the Dodge situation in this period of time but I think it’s came far too late and like I’ve lost a lot of trust because of how long it’s talk and all the other things that have gone with it but like on the face of it this is sort of the appointment I expected after Mor went I thought this is where they would go so in many ways I’m okay with that and I don’t watch like French football much but I do know that Enzo lefi and I think it was H muy that he had is was he Striker sort of in his first season they both got let go they were like both massive uh to like what they were doing evidently especially if you look at the stats and stuff and I think you only have to look at Sunland losing dallo and sort of maybe uh a striker last season and you see what happened to us so wild might sound like an excuse because he got relegated which means that there’s some bad stuff that he’s done that needs to learn from I do think it’s not like it would be unfair say there’s not been a caveat to that from from the little stuff of French football that I know but I’m I’m okay with it actually to be honest um I think it makes sense I thought this would be theout that would go down when they got rid of mry so I’m kind of pleased that they have in in many ways but the proof going to be in the pudding I don’t care what kind of football he plays I don’t care what signings he makes I don’t care about anything as long as he wins football games ultimately because that’s where the that’s where the um proof on whether he’s been a good manager will lie um Le are you kind of in the same board or uh are you like Angry raging that we’ve got a Cheeseman in charge no the same as you it’s like just to Echo what you said there it feels like this is the first appointment that suits the model sort of speak so like all the appointments that have come previously are like more obviously have been UK based and feels that it’s just been the there so suits but this feels like the first time where it suits the model La in players at the football club as the same as I expect an appointment like this is when when M got sacked back back in November whatever it was but I am happy with it mate and you hear the surroundings that bringing his own people with him it’s small positive signs which is right in a huge summer for the football club I wanted to touch on that as well kind of brought on we don’t give I don’t give you any script by the way but you’ve literally just walked into the second question um look I I I think I posted yesterday on my personal account that I’m aware that and GZ is coming in who I believe is like a I think he’s background in like sports science and sort of um the the mental side of coaching so I’m guessing he’s coming in to continue that job and he’s multilingual as well I think he speaks German French and English so he’s bringing that coach with him I’m not aware of the rest of the setup but forit Romano seem to be fairly well connected I think we could say that um and he believes he’s going to bring in like his own coaching staff I don’t think it’s going to change um dod’s being part of it whether he’ll be the assistant I doubt it um but I think he’s still going to be part of it but it looks like the bulk of people coming in um whether that’s you know gz and another G and another two are going to be part of his own backro staff rather than dealing with what other managers have had to deal with um which we’ve always said Le has felt like a negative and I think during this period we all wondered is having dods and Proctor as part of the and staff like a non-negotiable is that what’s putting people off it doesn’t seem to be the case which is a surprise but like how much of a positive is that that he’s going to be able to you know live and die by his own sort of himself and his own team it should be that case anyway no matter who comes in because obviously you you used to working with their said Team around you you should be able to bring them with you to get the best results possible it’s like it’s a bit us backside previously cuz I’m sure we did the same like 2014 when I think it was Moy got when Mo got was relegated we had that team of brell Stockdale and Adrien Tucker like constantly no matter who got the job and we never actually other than allad got anything out of it other than relegation battle after relegation battle so a fresh start but do well now his different voices around the around the uh around the training ground and you’re not just hearing the same people all the time and it to be honest I think it’ be hard for Dodge to drop down anyway I think it won’t be surprised he goes into some form of admin role in The Academy like a head of Youth Development instead of with the first team because with him being number one for so long last season he can of go back to being that good cup number two because he’s been number one for that long but I won’t be surprised if he goes into something like that and D TS into getting a potential head coach job elsewhere but I think it’s massive positive mive massive positive of the football is good for the the squad and the football club yeah I agree I think I’m I’m really surprised actually I thought might maybe one of the sticking points I felt like it was a sticking point with will still like couldn’t sort of bring his team in I mean I don’t know that but like it did feel like it was going to be a sticking point so the fact that we know at least one of those people coming in being gerer is one of his own men and you know a very a very well connected journalist has said that there will be more on top of that really does make sense and and that really does please me because I I don’t want to have the thought process that and you touched on bracewell and Tucker and and whatnot before and Stockdale they did really well under Alise really poly under Moise as a collective and that’s because sometimes it will work when you bring people in but most of the time you’re going to be better next to people let you know and like I imagine Reggie Leb and Mike dods I’ve never imagined working together so there like are they’re going to clash are they’re going to get on it could be perfect it could be horrible so for me bringing in his own people like he knows and he trusts is just a massive massive huge positive um whether you think the appointment’s good or not I think that side of it’s a really positive thing but um Brad there’s been a lot of chat about how well he did the season before last um which he did if you look at it he did really well he had them before the World Cup break he actually had them fifth uh which is like really really good to be honest this season he has been relegated um we’ll go on that a little bit later but none of us are going to be experts on on this guy um there’s absolutely no way I’m hoping to get someone on to chat about who might be more of an expert than we are but how much sense do you think the the appointment makes um I know they’ve said they’ve had him on the list for a while we’ll come on to that later as well and whether we think that’s true or not but um on the face of it do you think the move makes sense I do yeah um like you said that season you done well in the summer the olds I think five or six of the prized assets and then to try to replace them with youth if you if you want to be who does that sound like if you want to be the oh if you want to be I don’t know pesimistic about it that probably is going to happen to us but maybe he’s not to the extreme is what it happened at lauron we might lose one of two three at the most they literally lost their best players and then replace them with youth players or people from a league or two below um so if you want to be a little bit apprehensive you can say well that’s sort of the way we going down and he’s has he failed doing it has he failed really possibly but I don’t think I don’t think our recruitment is going to be quite as bad as that um we we do pick up some very good players and if he has got a a record of developing some young players do then move on in play Champions League teams Premier League um Sera just off the top of my head where they’ve gone to then some of the young players are actually going to buy into it as well so I’d like to think that they have done a bit of dueil due diligence on it and some of the players will actually get behind it as well my only problem is taken to it’s taken this long as some of the players that were hoping to keep all of as their mind already made up that they think it’s a so to be gone time will tell but this isn’t about how we’ve got to it this is he’s here now um and yeah I can only look at his first season and he done really well done a really good job and that that I think laon are in the bottom three or were in the bottom three That season for budgets which is very similar to us I mean we probably still have bit bit of a better budget really but for comparison I think we’re going to be in around the same on paying players as what they were so yeah I’m quite excited by it actually but all the Rights and Wrongs of it I think you make a really good point there um I personally think I don’t I don’t like the fact that we’re not going to we seem to be doing a lot of things on the cheap but I can’t change it that’s not a control B that I’ve got so in many ways it has to be someone who’s proven that they can do good on on a budget and look there’s there the Michael be example of a a good Academy coach FAL Mickey that goes on to be an absolute stain on the world of football by being an absolute loser of a man I have no love loss for Michael bill um sorry if that’s harsh Michael what not a fan mate um but then you’ve got you know your Dan H you will Stills that have made a real Mark at the clubs that they been at it’s a risk either way he’s only had two years of management experience but he’s got almost sort of 15 20 years worth of Academy um experience that he’s then translated in one season of of having a good season okay last season he hasn’t there is caveat and I’m not saying that that caveat can’t be a permanent thing and might get relegated again and he might be awful I don’t know but there’s many reasons say that he would be positive I think I’m actually right in thinking I might to get the team wrong be NE or Le Before Christmas they were they were looking at trying to take him away from laon Ley fee was5 million Euros so he must have some about if if teams like that were actually having a look at him um but I would like to put him more on the Danny Ru the fentz sort of category where he’s cut his teeth elsewhere then right this is my chance to go to England MC Beal I don’t really want to talk too much about him but no he’s basically went he’s went abroad for a year or two he went to Brazil for a bit didn’t he went to Portugal for a little bit um and that predominantly just been in England I would like to think that he’s going to bring a completely different culture and different mindset to the players and they could be quite excited by it by looking at the same way that we are that these young exciting coaches are coming over to this country and they are making a mark you can even go into the Premier League the likes of Thomas Frank der Zerby relative unknowns before they came over here now they’re being t for some of the biggest jobs in World football I I feel like um I feel weird feeling positive about something because I think there’s L anyone who feels negative about this like 100% can understand why you wouldd feel like that like it’s in some ways a little bit underwhelming it’s a big risk it’s took ages to get to a point to a point manager that no one really knows anything about that will carry an element of risk but I just if this had happened after M got sacked whether R would done well or not I don’t know but it would have made more sense it just the appointment makes sense a bit but um one thing I will say Le and touching it a little bit yesterday look I think I talked about it and and I don’t like doing that I knew blah blah blah blah blah because I was told marage was also done a few weeks back and it wasn’t that’s obviously not happened um I was told that this one looked nailed on I think before I went to download so what 10 days ago or something like that um but I’d never heard his name before that like mentioned at any point whatsoever Le now there’s been a few people online that have said that he’s always been on the list um we’ve been very vocally critical of the club and in my opinion correctly so um for seemingly not knowing who wanted to bring in when Mo went and seemingly not knowing what they were doing come the end of the season despite having 100 I think it’s 120 days or something on at the moment but apparently this guy’s always been part of it um how much trust do you have in that because I I personally don’t like that line just be honest I don’t think he’s ever been part of this until recently um I don’t know that that’s just an opinion by the way I’d imagine if they saying they look at x amount of man before the appoint one that he’s always been in the top 20 or 30 I think it’s push to say he’s always been within the fiveman short list because surely if he was in the fiveman short list and there was B man has been talk when you look into it there’s been talk of him leaving lauan since the end of the season so if they wanted them that badly they could have pushed the B out and getting them after the season finished but obviously the flirtation will still put a stop with that but I don’t know I think they’re trying to save face and look people buy into it and go ah it’s right he’s been a part of five man shot list but racing history suggests otherwise I think so as well me didn’t I think and look Phil Smith’s fantastic journalist really good journalist and I think he posted that would had a eye on him since like last summer like when foli and all that were mentioned that to me would make more sense if they’ like noticed he done well and then like when they were going two people in like will still wasn’t happening the gone well what about this guy that we seen last season he’s not had a great season however but to say he’d always been part of this 5an short list look I don’t know Le but it just recent history smacks of that been absolute bollocks doesn’t it if it took them 12 days instead of 102 I don’t think that would have been would have been mentioned when how how however long it’s t them 120 days whatever it is the fact the proess has took them that long I think they’ve put that Court out they I’m not denying the were per things an issue because I imagine it is for someone want to come the someone from abroad want to come at the country but I just I don’t believe that he’s always been part of a fiveman short list when you’ve had about nine managers linked since the summit of the job so I can’t and he’s never been one of them up until yesterday when it came when it came out that he was get that he was getting the job so they either very very good at keeping things under wraps talk a lot of person I think and I think also the the um the statement that came out that said there was an imminent appointment coming like I get the feeling they were quite confident that res was going to happen yeah uh that that’s my personal opinion um look I on this podcast we like to have balance as best as we possibly can whether people think we have that or not I don’t know do I care probably not um but there’s a lot of things about this appointment for me that makes sense in general I feel really positive about it I’ve got to be honest I I know I might not be in the majority there cuz I know a lot of people are skeptical but I’m not going to sit there and go like oh yeah that makes total sense he was on the fiveman short list oh I totally trust in what you’re saying after all the absolute crap you spouted over the past few months and then said something was happening imminently when rinu was being linked and then suddenly rinu is not coming at Sunland and I mean forgot about Pascal Jansen that was the I mean like like Kale’s flirted with that many managers I’d be kind of concerned if I was his uh his his wife like to be honest with you because it sounds to me like his flirtation goes a little bit too far but I think however you look at the appointment and you can make your own mind up on this but I I I don’t believe that he’s been part of this forever I think he might have been on like a 30-man short list when they’re looking through managers last summer who did quite well it’ll be interesting to me to see who does the Ste when he gets appointment who no matter who it is because if you look at it from all the appointments it’s always been done by somebody else like I would say Alex was a po look one mbre was a Stuart Harvey appointment because he was made to Stuart Harvey Christian Speakman like M was quite clearly a Christian Speakman appointment and this one screams a kld appointment could been more of a couldn’t have been more of a Speakman appointment like it like do you think you’ve got that’s previous three head coaches have all been appointed by somebody else so that that bit has a little bit of skepticism for me as well as like seeing who’s really running it at the top I’ll offer a little bit of balance on this fiveman short list thing the the names that we have mentioned you lik of Bia D debris Lis not [Laughter] debris Reggie debris de de bris debris I do believe that they would have been on within the top 10 all of them the mitigating factor is they were all in work towards the end of the season some still are they might have looked at Le and then saying that nce wanted him and the five million euros was the the buy out so they might have tracked him throughout the rest of the season and thought well if they’re going down there could be a chance possibly and then there’s just a matter of Whitland through them the work permit how long to take to get Ren’s work permit sorted four five weeks on it now I’ve been Ultra critical of K day and speaking over the last few months despite before that game you know I was a big supporter and a defender of them so they’re not going to get off Scot three but I am trying to look at it as the mitigating factors that will have been involved is the when they were looking towards the end of the season all these managers were in post um there has to be the discussions that has to be had and you sometimes you just don’t get your first second third choice but if he is someone that was in the top 10 or top five I mean there’s no confirmation that they said top five it’s just what people are saying and if they’ve got to him and he was identified du his season previous fine that’s absolutely fine I hope when he comes out and says whoever it is comes out with the statement they don’t say he’s one that would just been talking to from De dot because that would like that that that would be a point blank lie but if they come out and say like you said we identified how we’ done last Seas a season before last we didn’t think it was the right time to pay the compensation in the in the in the January February and he’s here now I’d go along with that I’d be fine if they were just open and honest and saids we identified them previously wasn’t the right time or the right fees to be paid but now he’s available and someone that like we feel he’d be a good fit I could get back on board with that 100% but they have to be very careful how they word it because a lot of lot of fans are going to start picking up on every minute detail that they’re going to say from now on and rightly so yeah yeah I was going to say and and rightly so that’s certainly not criticism um couple of other ones I was going to ask what the concerns are but I think we’ve kind of covered that anyway to be completely honest with you I don’t think we could um add any more to that so we’ll go for a couple I think one of the big ones for me is one of the caveat of the reasons he got relegated last year from what we’ve been told and what we kind of know from a minimal knowledge of French football is that he lost his best players um so if we’re looking at Sunland one of the big reasons Le that we were so hindered last year was basically terrible recruitment that that was it that’s not deny it it was bad borderline terrible recruitment where maybe one of those players made an impact I can’t think think of a second one so how important is it that um Reggie the business as we’ll call him from here on in um which was I can’t we said that I think with Stephen Kennedy very funny I’m going to stick with it but how important is it that Reggie the business is a backed and B also given experience to work with these young players massively important and if you read if you’re taking what people are seeing the club have learned the lessons and they are doing that based on the they ass signed s over yesterday OB see experien goalkeeper coming in and as Speakman send his thing he’s coming in as the number two as two P to provide competition so it’s a good start but yeah we need it we need you can’t expect to go in with a bunch of kids again after what happened last season because that was just handicapp them then you’ll think yourself well I’ve just come from one situation where the ball took me best players away and replac them with youth and they’re doing exactly the same thing here so I think the for the money they’re investing in this fell I think they’ve got to if they paying compensation for him let bring his stuff in they’ve got to provide them with the tools to succeed the need to it’s actually s Mo um just so you know that that’s that’s his name um Brad same question how important is it that he’s how important is it that he’s backed for one um with players in the right position because look it doesn’t matter how much sense the appointment makes if we don’t send a defensive midfielder if we don’t send some experience if we don’t get a good striker in in the recruitment again you might as well appoint Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola it’s not going to make a difference yeah it’s vitally important um and they’ve got to know that because it’s been vitally important for the last three four transfer Windows otherwise every every Sunland podcast every radio station every pundit on every TV show wouldn’t be saying the same thing over and over um but I do look at some of the people like he’s coached at like lower levels younger ages and seeing where they got to now he’s actually coached Jan at Ren has he oh well I’m now that’s it I read that yesterday well that’s me I’m well I’m happy with that then a great appointment been on the list since February if if you want to come closer at home he caused ad Alish so he’s got a good relationship with him I’m I’m now out of the uh I’m now out of the reg libery in I was in for a minute I’m now out how important how important is it that um I think one of the big thing to me we talked about bringing in this European coach and a lot of it was because we got so many European players I touched before on gerer how he’s like multilingual I think libr is I don’t know but I’m pretty certain he is um even if he’s not how important is it that he’s got this bunch of young French players that he can speak fluently too um and also he speaks English so he can do the same with English Bo well Michael Bale was multilingual really matter did it but I do get it not cotne is not an accent mate and that’s obviously the reason I hated him yeah I mean I do I do think is it is important but the modern game the things in place to overcome them sort of barriers you you you can put translators in there is it the same message that’s going to be coming across probably is not because it’s not what you say it’s how you say it in some sense um so if if not him if his coaching team can speak just two or three languages that that’s it’s a big plus it is a big plus I think when you look at it talking about you know foreign coaches coming in Andre po who was Australian and he communicated perfectly fine with the English players which I think is really impressive um um so you know it can work it can work but uh we’ve got like a couple minutes left um there’s probably not much more we can cover until we actually see what he does but um in the mainly where are you on the scale of 1 to 10 in terms of being happy about this appointment assuming it happens I mean but it looks like it’s happening doesn’t it so I’ll go with a seven it’s a I’m I’m happy with it’s actually physically done I’m happy they’ve actually gone down the model route he obviously had high success the season previous and clean SL with his coach and stuff about seven out of 10 I’m happy with it yeah I agree with you on that I I I don’t like the model but I think if to tweak it a bit and getting a manager that makes sense with the original model that can also get a bit of experience I’m dead happy and I’m very easily pleased and here comes an eighth place finish in the championship and all of our dreams are coming true Bradway you on the RoR scale of a happiness at the minute that sounds so wrong I’d say about it I I I would it’s I just feel like this could be an appointment like these unknown foreign coaches that are coming in and just looking at his track records um which is what all we can really go off because we don’t know too much about them it just it does excite me um but I also just have to put it in there I do love the English translation of his name Reggie lebre is govern the breakage should we just leave it at that yeah right Lads thanks for joining appreciate it uh up the up the French in that apart from if the play England at any point cuz we are at the moment an England pod like And subscribe follow for more oh on subscribe if you want save me a job I want have pay 500 quit on flights sake [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] h [Applause] [Music]
