Phil and James answer reader questions following Regis' Le Bris' first press conference at the Academy of Light
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00:00Hello and welcome to a special edition of On The Whistle. Sorry, I'm just getting used
00:15to my new selfie stick, so if it bobbles a little bit, then that's why. James and I have
00:19just met Rajeesa Brees for the first time at the Academy of Light. He's held his first
00:24press conference. He's sent in a few questions, which we'll get to in a bit, but you can join
00:28us on the start of our walk home. James, first impressions?
00:32Very French, isn't he? I like him a lot. I think his humour's quite good. He answered
00:36a lot of questions in quick succession very well, I thought, with good humour, with a
00:42smile on his face. Very direct, very to the point. I feel like he's got a strong vision.
00:48Yeah, I just think the proof's always in the pudding, though, isn't it? But my first impressions
00:52was really likeable guy. I think what's really interesting, we've spoken a lot on the Raw
00:55podcast. You've spoken about it on The Whistle as well. That ability to connect, and I felt
01:01like he did that, despite English not being his first language. I thought that was hugely
01:04impressive. But, you know, I didn't sit there during Michael Beale's press conference and
01:09think this guy's a terrible head coach and it's not going to work. So you just never
01:14know, do you? But first impressions were very good, and I thought he made a good couple
01:18of jokes, and he sort of read the room well. So first impression's good.
01:21You never know, do you? I remember Chris Coleman gave the best press conference I'd ever seen
01:25when he first came here, and that didn't really foretell what was going to come. Listen, we
01:28definitely learnt a few things about him. Very studious, very meticulous. I can see
01:32straight away why he's got on with Kyrill, because he's obviously got really strong ideas
01:35about coaching, about the process. That's obviously his focus, rather than transfers
01:39or that kind of thing. It's a lazy comparison, but it's an obvious one. Arsene Wenger definitely
01:43came to mind. No, it's true, though, isn't he? Very thoughtful, intelligent, deep thinker.
01:48Very methodical, I think. And I think the main thing I got was, I don't think it's going
01:51to be... I think he's going to sound the same after wins and defeats. I think he's going
01:55to be very detailed tactically, but he's probably going to keep... I don't think we're going
01:58to get loads of answers on him in transfers and stuff. So I think very methodical, very
02:02thoughtful. And I think it'll be a calm presence, which is good, whether it'll be any good beyond
02:05that. Obviously, time will tell. OK, James, get in with some questions here.
02:08Yes, let's get in with some questions while we have a little walk. Ethan Todd, our friend
02:12Ethan Todd, says, was it typical talk, a good game in the first presser, or does it genuinely
02:19seem as though the club have the perfect fit in RLB?
02:24Yes, I think, well, obviously, you never know. Everyone is happy with the process and everyone
02:29is happy with the recruitment model and everyone's happy with their roles in the first press
02:32conference. You know, Michael Beale was as well. And then actually, when you get in the
02:35heat of it and the pressure's on, things change a bit. I definitely think, you know, I've
02:39probably answered already a little bit, Ethan, but I think you can tell straight away why
02:41Kirill and him got on, why Kirill was really keen on this appointment. I think that you
02:45can tell that he's focused on coaching, he's focused on individual development, very interested
02:50in details. When he talked about his coaching staff, he talked about wanting, hinted he
02:54might want a set-piece coach, all these kind of things. So I think the main thing I took
02:58about from it is that I feel like there's going to be a lot better alignment behind
03:01the scenes. I think everyone's going to be a bit more polite. I don't think he's sort
03:05of an old-school manager who's going to be frustrated with his limitations. And I think
03:09hopefully that'll mean it'll be a bit more seamless and there'll be a bit less friction,
03:13certainly publicly. So I've no idea whether he's going to, you know, whether it is just
03:17sort of first press conference, honeymoon kind of thing, but he definitely feels like
03:20a better fit than probably some of the predecessors.
03:23And it could be just honeymoon period as well, but the impression I get, having been around
03:27the place today, is that he's actually given the place a little bit of a lift. People seem
03:31quite happy. I spoke to a couple of staff members who sort of said that he's a really
03:35nice guy and he's really lifted the energy of the place. So I think those are really
03:39good signs. But as you say, I mean, it's a honeymoon period and there's no games to lose
03:43here, so you just never know, do you? Let's have a look at another question that we have
03:47here. John Ridley says, where can I buy the home shirt, Phil? Nowhere, John.
03:50John, you're asking the wrong person. I'm assured it'll be back in stock soon, but you're
03:54asking the wrong person there, as I suspect you well know.
03:57Chris Scott asked a really good question, actually. He says, are the club more committed
04:00to RLB than they were Neal or Mowbray? Obviously, Neal had a rolling contract. Mowbray came
04:06in on a short notice, only doing very well. Even Beale felt like an afterthought, no assistant.
04:11I think, listen, I think that, as I said, I think RLB is a better fit for what they
04:26want and so that gives me some confidence that I think they probably, I think this could
04:30run a lot longer than any of those managers did.
04:32But you'd hope so. You'd hope so, yeah.
04:34It was my life's ambition to see a Sunderland manager complete a full season.
04:38Listen, but there's context to why, especially Neal and Mowbray came in. Neal was to get out
04:41of that division. Tony Mowbray was very much to stabilise and I think you always felt that
04:46they were not short-term appointments, but there was a specific reason why they were
04:50appointed. Whereas I think with Regis Lebris, I think that you can see there's a bit more
04:54of a long-term plan, especially because of his record in player development and the fact
04:58he worked so long in academy. So I think there is an element of that, but you know, he has
05:01to win at Sunderland. You know, it's all well and good development. He has to win games.
05:05Yeah, this one comes from Tony Byrne. Excellent question from Tony. He says, will we be playing
05:10an aggressive high press or does it sound like he prefers to sit back and concede possession?
05:15I think one of the main takeaways for me from that press conference was that he wants to
05:20instil a specific type of playing style, specific to Sunderland, and I think that will involve
05:25a high press. I think that's pretty certain from that press conference. I think one thing
05:29that came across very clearly was there was a lot of talk about his team at Lorient last
05:32season, which was 3-4-2-1 and very counter-attacking. And he said 4-4-2 defending, didn't he?
05:37He made very clear that was because of the players he had and because of the transfer
05:40window where they lost a lot of players. He talked about his influences, the two names
05:44he mentioned were Guardiola and Deserbi. He talked about the high press. He made it very,
05:47very clear, I think, that the Lorient team last season was not the team he wanted.
05:51So the indication is very strongly whether it's going to be a possession-based high-pressing
05:54style. The only thing he said was it's a long old season and they're long old games and basically
05:58you can't press the life out of the opposition all the time because you'll burn out. But yeah,
06:02he definitely did. I really, really like the answer where he said, he was asked in the press
06:06conference who is sort of a footballing idol as well, the people who he looked up to in a
06:11coaching sense. And he said Pep Guardiola, his time at Barcelona, and Robert Deserbi,
06:15his time at Sassolo. But then he said, but I'm Reggie Lepre and this is Sunderland,
06:19so I won't be doing that. And I thought that was actually brilliant because it got a little bit of
06:23a laugh. It broke the ice a little bit. And it's true, isn't it? You can't be Barcelona of 2008,
06:289, 10, because this is Sunderland. It's going to be slightly different. Let's move on to the
06:32next question. Sean says, do you think it's positive that we are interviewing new coaching
06:36staff or negative that they won't be from Le Bris old club? It's a really, really interesting
06:42question. Before you delve into it, I think one thing you do have to know is that when Steele
06:47was coming in, they were prepared to bring a couple of assistants with them. So I don't think
06:51it's a question of Sunderland being unwilling, but it seems to me like it's one of those where
06:56they just want to make sure they get it right. Yeah, I can understand why it's a question.
07:01Le Bris made it pretty clear that it would be his decision and it was his decision that
07:06he'd only been at Lorient for a couple of years as a head coach. He doesn't have a set of staff who
07:10he really wants to depend on, who he knows that well. He made it pretty clear that he was happy
07:14to take his time and that he wanted to add some new voices. So I can see it both ways. I think
07:19Michael Bale definitely suffered from not having people around him that he could lean on, I think,
07:22in difficult times. But Le Bris made pretty clear that for him it's about the attributes that the
07:26coaching staff bring. It's about what they add. And so to be honest, I think it seems fairly
07:31to me that it'll be his decision. And that means that I'm fairly relaxed about that.
07:36Should we just about call it there? James has been talking for a little while.
07:41Well, I asked him if he had an idea about where he wanted Joe Bellingham to play.
07:45And he gave a very interesting response to me, which he said, I have a very, very,
07:48very clear idea. But then he said, I haven't spoken to him yet. So I'll speak to him first
07:52and let you know. But it was interesting. He's clearly studied the squad a lot because he knew
07:56exactly where Joe was going to play. My main takeaway came from a question after
08:00a national journalist asked if he'd been watching the Euros. And he said, no,
08:03I haven't had a chance, not even the French games, because I've been so busy. So I think
08:07that sums up the magnitude of Reggie Le Brise's task and his dedication to it at the Academy
08:13Alliance so far. There you go. Just one other thing you mentioned, we were lucky enough to
08:16watch a bit of training when we came down as well. We got to see Dan Neal in full training,
08:20Jamie Tethier, Elliot Hamilton, Dennis Serkin. That's one huge positive, really. It looks like
08:25Le Brise's start pre-season was a pretty strong squad. Also good to see, like I said, Tommy
08:28Watson, Caden Kelly in there as well. Can we just say Anthony Patterson was unbelievable.
08:34Yeah, his reflexes are a joke, man. His reflexes are a joke. We'll leave you with that. Thanks
08:38very much for sending your questions in. Hopefully we've given you a little bit of insight. As ever,
08:41all the quotes and all the stories will be up on the website. So just head over to
08:44something.co.com for all the latest. Thanks for watching.