A familiar face was in the home dugout as Regis Le Bris began his Sunderland tenure with a victory at South Shields. Former Sunderland academy coach Elliott Dickman remarked that the club possesses a significant number of young, talented players and urged them to seize opportunities to impress the new head coach, Regis Le Bris.
Le Bris was in the dugout for the first time since his appointment, and his team secured a 5-0 away win at Dickman’s South Shields in their opening pre-season friendly. The hard work was done in the first half, with goals from Patrick Roberts, Trai Hume, Chris Rigg, Eliezer Mayenda, and Adil Aouchiche, helping Sunderland cruise to a win over their National League North hosts. Numerous academy players, including Tommy Watson, Harrison Jones, and Ben Crompton, were introduced after half-time, giving them a chance to shine in front of Le Bris. The youthful Black Cats had several bright moments in the second half, and although they didn’t add to their lead, they managed to impress Dickman, the former Sunderland Under-23s head coach.
Dickman told The Echo, “It’s not easy at that level to push through into a first-team environment. I watched many of them towards the end of last season and enjoyed their play. They have a good number of young, talented players. Chris Rigg, Tommy Watson, Caden Kelly, and Harrison Jones have all developed well. The second-half players gained valuable experience and needed to impress their new manager. Today’s match was a great opportunity, and hopefully, some will go to Spain this week and get another chance to showcase their abilities to the new manager.”
Dickman also believes the win at South Shields positively impacted Le Bris, as the new Black Cats boss saw his tenure start on a high note at the 1st Cloud Arena. Le Bris now turns his attention to the upcoming trip to Spain, where Sunderland will face Premier League club Nottingham Forest and Segunda Division side CD Eldense. Dickman commented, “I think it’s a great start for Le Bris playing against us. It will be good for him and whet his appetite for English football. His program will likely get tougher. He has to prepare his team for a challenging start to the season, but I am confident they will manage it with their fantastic staff and squad.”