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Hands up who had heard of Régis Le Bris before the summer? Be honest … yeah, thought so. Sunderland supporters could have been forgiven for feeling a little underwhelmed at the appointment given their club had been linked (somewhat unrealistically) with Graham Potter and Steve Cooper, as well as the elusive Anglo-Belgian tactician Will Still. Le Bris landed in the Stadium of Light instead and even those familiar with his work harboured major doubts, given he’d just been relegated from Ligue 1 with Lorient. It’s easy to dig at Sunderland’s owners in the post-Netflix era but perhaps Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, the 27-year-old billionaire owner, has struck gold this time. So forget your Simon Graysons, your Chris Colemans, your Alex Neils, your Lee Johnsons – how many have we forgotten? – under Le Bris, the Black Cats are five points clear at the top after 12 games.

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