LON: 'You don't win anything after eight games' Six seasons down and acting as the Club’s longest-serving player, Luke O’Nien is continuing to love life on Wearside, and it’s showing on and off the pitch. 273 games down in red and white and Luke is still savouring every moment of being in a Sunderland shirt. “Of course I am,” he said. “I am silly enough to enjoy every season. The ones that haven’t been successful is part of the process of why we are so successful at the moment.” An outstanding start to life under Régis Le Bris has seen the Lads win six of their opening eight games in the Sky Bet Championship, the most recent victory coming against Derby County in a midweek contest on Wearside. The squad have been hard at work conducting meticulous preparations to every game that they’ve been faced with so far. While that has paid off for them in the early stages, nothing has been achieved in the eyes of the Club captain. O’Nien continued: “The beauty of football is you don’t win or earn anything after eight games. Where we are right now is a product of previous seasons that haven’t gone well or have just gone well in parts. “We are just enjoying how things are being tied together and we are learning and improving as a group. Not just the fact that we are winning games, but in the manner we are winning them as well. “When we lose, the way we lose is just as important. The team is growing and it’s enjoyable. Watching Jobe’s goal against Derby, watching the whole team defend as a unit is really enjoyable to be a part of, but there is still a long, long way to go.” Ahead of one of the toughest tests of the season later this evening (Friday) l, O’Nien has delivered a resounding message that no contest will ever be taken lightly in his book. “When you’re at the Stadium of Light, every game is a big game,” the defender added. “That’s the way I see it. There are always two teams coming together wanting the points. please log in to view this image https://www.safc.com/news/2024/octo...YdLuap7TsLUhVCdAew_aem_vjMbqSP9cvP4FW9GVGGLbQ
Imagine being a scared 18yo foreign lad arriving at a club on the far NE coast and wondering what you've let yersel in for ... ... then being met by Luke O'Nien
Looking forward to this but not sure I’ll be there for it. Missed Tues due to being in coronary care unit. Out now and probably nowt to worry about but Mrs Yorkie has said no to me going. I’ll work on her tonight. Maybe she can be persuaded to come with me but i doubt it. I could be watching it at home with my son and his Leeds supporting mates. We’re more than capable of winning this so hopefully me and my son will be the ones smiling come the final whistle. It’s the sort of game that demands we’re on form and I reckon our players will be at it. I can see why people are saying Browne should play but I’d like to see Rigg get 30 mins as well - he won’t get phased by it.
I have said it many times before, he is a perfect example of what a Club Captain is all about, he never lets us down, he would play in goal if he was asked.
Cheers RTB great as always- gona be a tough one for sure but I hope we can come out on top gona plump for a little 2-0 to the lads COME ON
Nah, carpe diem mate ... ... he might be hit by a truck on Saturday then he'll wish he'd gone to the match. Lets all bully him into going
Regis Le Bris tells Sky Sports about three of his young stars who have driven Sunderland to the top of the league in Romaine Mundle, Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg. https://www.skysports.com/football/...RugKFfH3kcphBE_u5Q_aem_MlsUcoTlj4Bl4VsHAwWqPw
Hey Peeps, Feel free to pop over to the Leeds forum https://not606.com/threads/sunderland-v-leeds-utd-match-thread.414577/
I think I'm perma-banned but thanks anyway Edit - just checked and I'm banned until Leeds win a major trophy, so that's that I guess.
Head says score draw, most likely 1-1 Heart says 2-1 we get the win but feel we will concede at home for the first time this season.
'Leeds aim to burst Sunderland bubble as Meslier meets former mentor' 'Régis Le Bris’s side top the Championship but the manager’s former Lorient student will stand in his way on Friday night' https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-bris-championship?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other What a save that was last season, I was in the South Stand and couldn't believe he kept it out. For anyone who can't pick this up ... Louise Taylor Illan Meslier represents one of the reasons why Régis Le Bris is now Sunderland’s manager but on Friday night he and his Leeds teammates hope to silence a packed Stadium of Light. As a teenage goalkeeper in a Lorient academy run by Le Bris, Meslier learned to fight under the tutelage of a professional boxing coach he now credits with having taught him “courage” during one-on-one clashes with centre-forwards. Significantly, Meslier also mastered the art of manipulating his body during countless hours working out on a trampoline and experienced frequent “séance mentale” sessions, designed to perfect psychological control under pressure. please log in to view this image It all dictated that when Marcelo Bielsa threw the then 20-year-old Meslier into the Leeds first team four years ago the Breton swiftly established himself as one of the Premier League’s brightest young goalkeepers. “The mentality Lorient taught us and the maturity they gave us in the academy made it easy to adapt,” said Meslier, who was also managed by Le Bris in the French club’s reserve side. “It was so tough.” Now he and Leeds are back in the Championship under the direction of a different manger, Daniel Farke, and competing for automatic promotion with, among several other teams, table-topping Sunderland. Given that Le Bris only graduated to senior management two years ago when he took charge of Lorient’s first team, the Wearsiders’ ascent to the second tier summit, trailing a 100% home record unblemished by the concession of a single goal at home has startled England’s football establishment. Those who had muttered that Le Bris’s doctorate in human physiology and biomechanics and his diploma in the preparation of elite athletes were all very well but would be irrelevant in the EFL, have been confounded by Sunderland’s discipline out of possession, intelligent pressing and the sheer quality of their wing play propelled counterattacks. Eighteen points have not been collected from eight games by pure luck. Considering that the average age of Sunderland’s squad is 23 and the much coveted Chris Rigg, 17, and Jobe Bellingham, 19, are key components of a formidable central midfield, the near two decades the 48-year-old Le Bris devoted to youth coaching in his native Brittany are clearly coming in handy. So far at least, it seems Sunderland’s owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus knew precisely what he was doing in hiring one of Europe’s most renowned developers of young players to hone the youthful unpolished talent his club now acquire from across the world. A £3m buy from Birmingham, last year Bellingham was an expensive, and unusually local, recruit by current Wearside standards but is probably worth £40m in today’s market. please log in to view this image Sunderland’s Jobe Bellingham celebrates scoring the first goal of the game against Derby on Tuesday. Farke, meanwhile, clearly has considerable admiration for a manager who nurtured not just Meslier but several other high flyers including France’s Lazio, and former Arsenal, midfielder Mattéo Guendouzi at Lorient. “Sunderland are a really dangerous side,” said the German, who will doubtless be wary of the home wingers Patrick Roberts and Romaine Mundle. The latter 20-year-old, a £1m former Standard Liège forward has fitted seamlessly into Le Bris’s first XI following Jack Clarke’s £20m defection to Ipswich in August. “I’m respectful of their work. We know we have to be at our best to give ourselves a chance. Sunderland have really good shape and good players and they’re strong on the counterattack.” Although Leeds sit fifth in the Championship with 15 points, last season’s beaten play-off finalists are still coming to terms with life without Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter after selling that trio to Tottenham, West Ham and Brighton respectively this summer for a collective £90m. Without that triple sale the club’s owners, the San Francisco based 49er Enterprises could have struggled to remain on the right side of profit and sustainability rules. Given that the £10m former Almería winger Largie Ramazani and the £3.5m former Fortuna Düsseldorf midfielder Ao Tanaka are among those newcomers still settling in at Elland Road and only one goal has been conceded on the road it seems harsh that Farke is deemed as being “under pressure’ with every point dropped. Yet with expensive plans to modernise Elland Road while expanding it’s capacity to 53,000 progressing apace, a swift return to the top tier seems imperative. The Leeds manager could have done without the injuries that will deprive him of his first choice central midfielders Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev for the coming weeks and betrayed a certain anxiety in conceding he “desperately needs” his No 9, Patrick Bamford back to his best following summer knee surgery. Not that Le Bris is about to underestimate Farke’s side. “They’re very strong, both in and out of possession,” he said, exhibiting a fluency in English that belies the reality he only began learning the language two years ago. “The game will be hard to win and we will have to manage it intelligently. Leeds are well managed, primed for promotion … and they have a very good goalkeeper.” As Le Bris addressed the north east media on Thursday offering an amused “tres bien” whenever a reporter managed half sentence of halting French, he smiled at mention of Meslier. “Illan’s a very good reader of the game and very strong mentally,” he said. “I like the person as well as the player so I’m very happy he’s done so well … But I hope he’s picking the ball out of his net tomorrow!”
Any idea on crowd numbers? Should be bouncing tomorrow. Friday night, loads full of drink and the lights before should add to the atmosphere (although I'd definitely make changes too them) Could be similar to the Sheff Wed play off game. Be a really tough game but if we can win the midfield I reckon we should win. Be a big statement if we did.
