We were just talking about the Saudi league at work today. Players and manager that go there, they kind of cease to exist as it's out of view / out of mind. There's plenty of other football to follow so they aren't missed.
Not sure if people saw but RLB did an interview with a French media outlet. A nice gentlemen OTR translated it Nice interview, though nothing really groundbreaking for us. Lucky for you lot I woke up stupidly early, so here you go - summary of highlights. Play-off final as an event affected the players a bit in advance (some of them “played the game in their heads beforehand”) but you can’t really blame them for that, given the stakes. He enjoyed it being tactical once it settled. Big club, phenomenal support, asks them “have you seen Netflix?” Impressed by squad and their ability straight away in June, but saw that they needed to develop consistency - which a coaching staff could bring. Was surprised by the diversity of the Championship on a tactical level, from clubs that play « un jeu très british » like Bolton (long ball, direct) at one end, to eg Coventry with their structure at the other. Impressed by Leeds as the right sort of balance in the middle. Adds in the fatigue element - Christmas period with 5 games in a fortnight with more or less the same team. Asked about how he turned the momentum around going into playoffs. He brings up the loss at Leeds and then Coventry away as the moment he saw that the team was shattered physically and psychologically (“lessivé” - has the sense of washed-out, but could mean frazzled). Decision by the coaching staff to reach the play-offs with squad in good condition - no injuries and players in form, even if the team itself had negative results. It worked because they only has one injury to Roberts - “un joueur de classe”. Pleased that the staff and players - and even local journalists - kept a positive mindset during that period, and was ready to accept that there would be some criticism from fans. On le Fée, he just decided to chance his luck and message him during the winter, saying “if you ever fancy it”. Thought he’d have about a 1% chance of success when he did. Describes him as a perfect teammate on top of his technical ability, and praises him for playing left wing to help out. Sheff Utd might have been individually more talented - or at least more expensive - but we had better ‘game energy’. Jobe is an amazing personality - intense, driven. Transfer is “a possibility but not certain”.
That's brilliant. Really interesting that he mentions the poor form and the intention around that. Came out of it 100% correct.
Pedro Ribeiro has been the manager’s assistant at Sunderland since October. Friday’s edition of O Jogo has published an interview with the 39-year-old and the chat is mainly around Sunderland’s promotion. Prior to discussing this subject, the Portuguese newspaper asked him why he accepted an assistant role after previously being the first team manager at B SAD, Penafiel, Académico Viseu and Leixões. When responding to that, he explained Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman’s role in his arrival at the Stadium of Light. He said: “As a coach, we have to understand where football takes us and what kind of opportunities arise. This came about as an assistant, through a symbiosis of ideas between people who approached me, namely manager Régis Le Bris and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman. They made me see that this path could be interesting.” Sunderland finished fourth in the Championship and made it to the playoffs. Le Bris’ assistant says they changed their strategy and started preparing for the playoffs after realising direct promotion [top two finish] wasn’t possible. “We prepared for it in advance, because at a certain point we realised that direct promotion would be very difficult, but at the same time we realised that we would end up in the playoff zone,” Ribeiro explained. “This allowed us to manage the team and convey the message that all the players would be important. We were able to recover players who were injured and others with physical problems. So, we reached the semi-final against Coventry and the final against Sheffield United at full strength.” Over the past two seasons, the six teams that secured promotion to the Premier League have been relegated a year later. O Jogo pointed this out to Ribeiro and asked if Sunderland have to worry about it. “We are aware of the competition we are going to play in and what has happened. Of course, this is a warning to chart the right path to follow, so that this does not happen to Sunderland,” he added. https://sportwitness.co.uk/pedro-ri...edia-about-sunderlands-anti-relegation-plans/
