Aaron Connolly on the 'honest' Regis Le Bris lunch that helped convince him to sign for Sunderland
The Sunderland striker has been speaking about the Black Cats’ head coach
Sunderland striker Aaron Connolly has opened up on the lunch meeting he had with head coach Regis Le Bris that helped convince him to sign for the club.
The Irishman had been a free agent since leaving Hull City at the end of last season, and eventually joined the Black Cats in late September on a one-year contract. Since then, he has registered 152 minutes of first team football across six outings, but is yet to find the back of the net in red and white.
Nevertheless, Connolly has settled well on Wearside, and attributes much of Sunderland’s early success this season to the impact of new boss Le Bris. Speaking to The Echo, the forward said: “He's the calming head that we all need leading the team. He's obviously tactically spot on as everyone has seen. The work we put in on the training ground with the help of the coaches, together you can see the amount of work they put in every day. It's up to us to work hard on the training pitch then Saturdays and Tuesdays come a lot easier.”
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When asked what Le Bris is like behind the scenes, Connolly added: “Calm, just very, very calm. And so much knowledge of the game. We had lunch [prior to Connolly signing] and we spoke openly and honestly, and you could instantly tell how much knowledge he had and how much time he puts into what he does. Obviously we're all seeing the benefits of that and long may that continue.”
After a period of building up his fitness through U21 appearances and first team cameos, Connolly made his full debut for Le Bris’ side during the recent 0-0 stalemate with Preston North End. Speaking after the final whistle at Deepdale, the 24-year-old expressed his belief that he can make a notable contribution to the Black Cats’ promotion push this season.
He said: “It’s been six weeks now, so I was never going to use the excuse that I had no pre-season - that’s not me. I didn’t have one last year at Hull and I was scoring goals. I know the goals will come. I’m not going to force it. It was disappointing, the way I played tonight, but it happens, it’s football. There’s 32 games left this season and I know I can contribute, I know I can score goals - that’s all that matters.”