Ex-Middlesbrough boss delivers Sunderland and classy Regis Le Bris message ahead of play-offs
Coventry City v Sunderland: Regis Le Bris’ side have their first Championship play-off semi-final tonight.
Experienced EFL manager Tony Pulis has delivered his verdict on Sunderland’s drop-off in form and head coach Regis Le Bris ahead of the play-off semi-final.
Sunderland face Frank Lampard’s Coventry City tonight in the first play-off with the return leg at the Stadium of Light next Tuesday. Sunderland head into the game on the back of five straight league defeats, hardly ideal preparation but they had secured their fourth place several weeks prior.
Former West Brom and Middlesbrough boss Pulis has been speaking about Sunderland’s form - and has a message for Le Bris.
Pulis told OLBG: “You just don’t know if the players, because they got the number of points they needed early, knew they were going to be in and they dropped off the top two or top three. You don't know whether the players psychologically have taken a step back. You don't know whether the manager has eased up a little bit. You don't know. It's a shootout.
“I've been in the situation myself a couple of times and it's very, very difficult to call. If you look at the clubs, you look at Sheffield United, they've been in the Premier League in the past few years and dropped down and gone back up. You would say they would be favourites along with Sunderland because of their support and everything else and where Sunderland had finished. But really, you never know, you never know.
“I didn't know Regis Le Bris up until he joined Sunderland and he's really, really impressed me. I think he seems like a very level-headed person. They play some very attractive football. They've got some very, very good young players and everybody has bedded in and everybody seems to be comfortable with everybody.
“In the last six or seven games it has dropped off. Whether they can regain that confidence and whether they can regain that rhythm that helped them win games, only time will tell.”
What has the Sunderland head coach said ahead of the play-off game?
“This all started with a massive achievement,” said Le Bris at his pre-match press conference at the Academy of Light on Wednesday afternoon. “We were in the top four all season and secured the fourth place. After that, probably after the games against Leeds and Hull, we felt that the automatic promotion became unrealistic.
“But at the same time, the fourth place was secured really early, so we didn’t really have anything to chase. In that situation, I think it’s tough for all of the teams in the world.
“If you look at Paris St Germain in France, for example, they won the title and went unbeaten all season. But when they started to prepare for the semi-final, they lost two games in a row, one at home and one away. Even the biggest teams in the world can struggle in that situation, and I think it was the case for us as well.
“Now, we play for a specific event and we have something to chase, so the mindset will be completely different.”