We legit should get a ‘Ha’waaay the lads’ plane just to piss the cloggers off seeing it parked.
Europa League Campaign
- Thread starter Pure River Slut
- Start date
-
Please bear with us on the new site integration and fixing any known bugs over the coming days. If you can not log in please try resetting your password and check your spam box. If you have tried these steps and are still struggling email [email protected] with your username/registered email address
-
Ha’waaay the lads on one side, **** the mags on the other… so it’s visible to them as we depart.
Absolutely fantastic read, a lot of thought has gone into that article and some of the more personal touches make it even better. It is how real journalism looks and makes you appreciate a well written piece.Sunderland were Premier League ready. Expect them to be Europa League ready, too
Sunderland were Premier League ready. Expect them to be Europa League ready, too
Regis Le Bris defied the sceptics by leading Sunderland to an eye-catching seventh-place finish, and this resurgent club will not stop therewww.nytimes.com
Decent article in The Athletic
This is crazy:Sunderland were Premier League ready. Expect them to be Europa League ready, too
Sunderland were Premier League ready. Expect them to be Europa League ready, too
Regis Le Bris defied the sceptics by leading Sunderland to an eye-catching seventh-place finish, and this resurgent club will not stop there
Decent article in The Athletic
" Having not spent more than £3million ($4m) on a player on the way to the top division, the £16m transfer from Roma of Enzo Le Fee was confirmed "
Both facts are eye-opening. The very shrewd business on the way to getting promoted then getting a player of Le Fee's quality for £16 million. I guess we paid a loan fee for him in January 2025 so a bit needs adding to that figure.
It's something that has underpinned the club's rise: buying very high quality players for knock-down prices. Ballard, Jobe, Cirkin, Clarke, Stewart, Brobbey, Mukiele, Alderete, Reinildo, Xhaka, Isidor, just off the top of my head.
yet WE'VE OVER SPENT AND GOING TO BE IN TROUBLE WITH FPP AND SCR
Great comment below the Athletic article:
Shaun L. Friday 29.5.26
Someone asked me how we've managed it, and I thought about it for a few days afterwards.
In my view, the key word that they use is 'alignment'. Everyone, owner, senior management, manager, coaching staff, players, and now fans, are aligned. This was not always the case, and I think if you look around the league, you could quickly find examples of teams where their ownership, senior management, and manager, are completely at odds in their vision of how to progress.
In no small part, this stems from an owner who actually has a true footballing vision, rather than simply a business one. The contrast with Sunday's opponents in that regard is stark. Todd Boehly speaks openly of not really knowing what to do when he'd bought Chelsea, appointing successful business people to develop a strategy that has failed because it is incoherent, and drawn up by people who play a percentage-based game that ultimately revolves around the financial picture, more than the footballing one. In essence, they know they can 'fail' on the pitch, but if they 'fail' in the right way, they still grow the asset's value. That has meant players being bought regardless of the needs or wants of managers, and everyone is fighting internally for power over their future direction.
Not so at SAFC, where failure on the pitch has been punished in the past with the complete devaluation of the club. Kyril Louis-Dreyfus understands football, it's in his blood, he studied and watched, wargamed every way to build clubs up. If you or I sat playing Football Manager, it'd be a leisure pursuit. KLD did so knowing that it was one day very possible he would live out a real version of it, and he has a core set of principles that he applies to how the club is managed. That starts with getting value for money when acquiring a player, which invariably leads you to younger players, but occasionally yields a Xhaka, Reinildo, or Alderete, because what they pay for them is still good value.
That means Sunderland won the transfer battle for 25/26 after 3 weeks of the season. Roefs, Alderete, Xhaka, and Mukiele were all signed for under £13m. All of them would be worth at least double that on the open market. Noah Sadiki (£17m) looks like the prototype of a £65m+ PL midfielder, and outshone Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez (both £100m+ players) in last weekend's battle at the SOL. Not that they need to, but it adds headroom to buy £65m worth of players, and know that if they had to be sold for any reason, you'd more than double your money. That's before Le Fee, who would be my player of the season, and who is a genuinely game-breaking player. God knows what he could do in a 'big' team with more possession.
But the biggest word I would use is 'Trust'. Fans trust the club, because KLD's ambition is to turn the club into whatever it can be. He sets no upper limits to ambition, he takes opportunities, and he balances loyalty with decisive action when it's needed. He brought in Ghisolfi to manage transfers, but was careful not to simply discard Speakman immediately. The debacle around the NUFC FA cup game 3 years ago was followed by the departure of people who embarrassed the club, and of course, was symbolically exorcised this year, when they were simply labeled as 'Visitors' on the scoreboard at the SOL.
In every regard, he is a perfect owner for Sunderland. He understands the game, he's grown to understand the club, and he enjoys the challenge of planning for our future. They are always a step ahead, not reactive, and they have plans upon plans. It can still go wrong, but with their approach, the consequences of a bad run, or even a bad season, are mitigated by excellent planning, and great execution. If we went down next season, for example, gone are the days where it would be existential. KLD's ambition is not to survive, though, and I suspect this summer, as the article alludes to, we will once again see Sunderland prepare with optimism for our first trip to Europe in most of our lifetimes.
Shaun L. Friday 29.5.26
Someone asked me how we've managed it, and I thought about it for a few days afterwards.
In my view, the key word that they use is 'alignment'. Everyone, owner, senior management, manager, coaching staff, players, and now fans, are aligned. This was not always the case, and I think if you look around the league, you could quickly find examples of teams where their ownership, senior management, and manager, are completely at odds in their vision of how to progress.
In no small part, this stems from an owner who actually has a true footballing vision, rather than simply a business one. The contrast with Sunday's opponents in that regard is stark. Todd Boehly speaks openly of not really knowing what to do when he'd bought Chelsea, appointing successful business people to develop a strategy that has failed because it is incoherent, and drawn up by people who play a percentage-based game that ultimately revolves around the financial picture, more than the footballing one. In essence, they know they can 'fail' on the pitch, but if they 'fail' in the right way, they still grow the asset's value. That has meant players being bought regardless of the needs or wants of managers, and everyone is fighting internally for power over their future direction.
Not so at SAFC, where failure on the pitch has been punished in the past with the complete devaluation of the club. Kyril Louis-Dreyfus understands football, it's in his blood, he studied and watched, wargamed every way to build clubs up. If you or I sat playing Football Manager, it'd be a leisure pursuit. KLD did so knowing that it was one day very possible he would live out a real version of it, and he has a core set of principles that he applies to how the club is managed. That starts with getting value for money when acquiring a player, which invariably leads you to younger players, but occasionally yields a Xhaka, Reinildo, or Alderete, because what they pay for them is still good value.
That means Sunderland won the transfer battle for 25/26 after 3 weeks of the season. Roefs, Alderete, Xhaka, and Mukiele were all signed for under £13m. All of them would be worth at least double that on the open market. Noah Sadiki (£17m) looks like the prototype of a £65m+ PL midfielder, and outshone Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez (both £100m+ players) in last weekend's battle at the SOL. Not that they need to, but it adds headroom to buy £65m worth of players, and know that if they had to be sold for any reason, you'd more than double your money. That's before Le Fee, who would be my player of the season, and who is a genuinely game-breaking player. God knows what he could do in a 'big' team with more possession.
But the biggest word I would use is 'Trust'. Fans trust the club, because KLD's ambition is to turn the club into whatever it can be. He sets no upper limits to ambition, he takes opportunities, and he balances loyalty with decisive action when it's needed. He brought in Ghisolfi to manage transfers, but was careful not to simply discard Speakman immediately. The debacle around the NUFC FA cup game 3 years ago was followed by the departure of people who embarrassed the club, and of course, was symbolically exorcised this year, when they were simply labeled as 'Visitors' on the scoreboard at the SOL.
In every regard, he is a perfect owner for Sunderland. He understands the game, he's grown to understand the club, and he enjoys the challenge of planning for our future. They are always a step ahead, not reactive, and they have plans upon plans. It can still go wrong, but with their approach, the consequences of a bad run, or even a bad season, are mitigated by excellent planning, and great execution. If we went down next season, for example, gone are the days where it would be existential. KLD's ambition is not to survive, though, and I suspect this summer, as the article alludes to, we will once again see Sunderland prepare with optimism for our first trip to Europe in most of our lifetimes.
Sunderland were Premier League ready. Expect them to be Europa League ready, too
Sunderland were Premier League ready. Expect them to be Europa League ready, too
Regis Le Bris defied the sceptics by leading Sunderland to an eye-catching seventh-place finish, and this resurgent club will not stop there
Decent article in The Athletic
That's a brilliant article.
You must log in or register to see images
You must log in or register to see media
Chemsdine Talbi on his 1st season in England
"A good season. I was a little bit nervous to come to such a big competition like the Premier League. But I think I adapted myself and I did well. I really enjoyed every big game we played. Really enjoyed it. Football in England is not just football; it's like life turns around football and you feel it every game you play".
thenationalnews.com/sport/football…
Best moment and his chant
"The best was at Chelsea, when I scored the last-minute winning goal. But I had a lot of good memories this year. Then, after, the fans started singing my name, a song about me (to the tune of Zombie by The Cranberries). In the beginning it was a bit strange because it's the first time anyone has sung about me, but I understood it straight away because my mother's favourite song is Zombie. And then they were singing for me, 3,000 happy fans behind the goal. Even my mother heard it on the TV. She called me after the game and she was laughing. It was wonderful"
Goal against Newcastle
"Honestly, when I scored, I didn't realise it. It felt like a normal goal, but it wasn’t. Then we scored again, so important. I was told that if I scored against Newcastle I would be a hero and I scored against Newcastle. Even better, we won. Twice".
Ambitions for the future?
"I am happy at Sunderland but my ambition is to develop myself, to be better every day, and of course to be playing in the biggest club in the world. I have the capacity for it, so I will just work hard and just try to make my way to my dream".
Love this. Love it.
He be massive next season.
Couple more seasons growth and we will stop reading that last paragraph, but it’s not in any way offensive right now.
Xhaka wowed by Le Bris' Sunderland calmness
You must log in or register to see images
(29th May)
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/s...haka-wowed-regis-le-bris-sunderland-calmness/
GRANIT Xhaka sat down with Regis Le Bris recently and asked Sunderland's head coach how he always manages to stay so calm...
Le Bris' approach has clearly struck a chord with Xhaka. The Switzerland international has worked with some elite managers during his illustrious career but recently revealed he'd been blown away by Le Bris' calmness and asked his boss how on earth he always manages to stay so controlled.
"As a manager you set the tone for the players," said Le Bris. "If you are too high or too low it becomes a problem but you have to stay real."
"It's a privilege to coach a player like Granit Xhaka. He's so demanding with himself and he creates the condition to be demanding with others. It's not explicit but for the players and the coaching staff it lifts the standards. It's a real pleasure and a privilege to be the manager of this kind of player.
"After that the personality is the personality. Granit is emotional and intense. When he becomes a manager - I don't know when, there's no rush - he'll have to respect this personality as well."
Le Bris hasn't had much to be angry about during his two season in charge of Sunderland, guiding the Black Cats to promotion in his first season and a seventh place Premier League finish and with it Europa League qualification in his second.
But it's still quite something that he's never once lost his temper with the players.
"When I was younger, yes, but it was a big mistake," he says. "Not really now. When I feel something to say it should be intense, at half-time sometimes, at the end of the game once or twice this season.
"It's important to express and stay authentic about your feelings but it's also important to stay balanced because it influences everyone. This is my job, so if I go up here and we need to stay balanced it's a mistake. When I was younger I had to make these mistakes to learn from them."
Class headline but I've read the article and struggling to see where it's come from?
The writer says RLB is calm and never lost his rag, RLB says he is calm and doesn't lose his rag and says Xhaka is a privilege the work with and more or less says as the captain he is the one who can show his emotions and lose his rag and he sets high standards! But I see no quote of Xhaka that can form thay headline? Or am I being thick and missing summit?
No, that's my fault. I trimmed some of the article where it was the journalist (Dominic Shaw) writing rather than quotes from RLB. I should have left this bit in as it makes things flow a little better and still fits the headline:
Le Bris' approach has clearly struck a chord with Xhaka. The Switzerland international has worked with some elite managers during his illustrious career but recently revealed he'd been blown away by Le Bris' calmness and asked his boss how on earth he always manages to stay so controlled.
Edit: I did include that line. I think Dominic is referring to a separate interview where Xhaka talks about how calm RLB is
This is probably the best thing about our dynamic, we’ve got RLB calmly coaching the team and Xhaka managing the team on the pitch (with his Xhaka way)
Not going to lie mate I read what you quoted and the full article but somehow missed that. I have this thing for paying less attention to the reported parts and concentrating on the quote so assume I didn't read it properly
. I assumed it would be something he had heard from Xhaka at some point but missed this being said.Club: Adidas are making us a bespoke shirt!
Adidas: erm no we are giving you a template in your colours and we are pulling out as you aren't the type of club we want to put our name to!
Adidas: erm no we are giving you a template in your colours and we are pulling out as you aren't the type of club we want to put our name to!
No bother mate!Not going to lie mate I read what you quoted and the full article but somehow missed that. I have this thing for paying less attention to the reported parts and concentrating on the quote so assume I didn't read it properly
There's times when you wish you were still single so there's no arguments
You must log in or register to see images
I'm booked in Frankfurt 
Stupid what
Stupid what
