I played 200 times for Sunderland - and thought Régis Le Bris would 'struggle' after £15m transfer

Phil Bardsley has revealed he thought Régis Le Bris would struggle at Sunderland without Jack Clarke but has been pleasantly surprised by the Black Cats’ form this season.

Sunderland sold Clarke last summer to Ipswich Town for a fee of around £15million. Since then, his former teammates gave gone from strength to strength under Le Bris, with the Wearsiders now sitting three points off the automatic spots in the Championship following Monday night’s 3-2 over Middlesbrough.

“They've been really impressive this season,” Bardsley, who played exactly 200 times for Sunderland, told talkSPORT. “Obviously, there was a few eyebrows raised when the manager came in this season, but I think they've kicked on. They've gone to another level.

“The level you need to be at in that Championship. You obviously look at them top probably eight, nine teams. It's so competitive. And, you know, you have to perform week in, week out. And they've certainly done that. They've got a consistency to the performance and another great away win last night.

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“Listen, it's a huge football club and it's got a huge fan base. Listen, the competitiveness up there and Newcastle, have obviously come in with a new ownership and they've gone to a new level. It'd be great for Sunderland to get back into the promised land, the Premier League.”

Bardsley, a former Scottish international, came up through the ranks at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson before moving to Sunderland on a permanent deal during the 2007-08 season for an initial fee of £850,000.

The Salford-born right-back stayed at the Stadium of Light for seven campaigns before moving to Stoke City and then to Burnley. The full-back became a free agent following the Clarets’ relegation to the Championship at the end of the 2021-22 campaign. The full-back then enjoyed a short stint at Stockport County before retiring last year.

“I think it's a club that deserves to be there,” he added on Sunderland. “But, listen, you have to get things right behind the scenes with, obviously, the ownership, the recruitment, bringing the right management and the right players and it looks like they've got the right blend in the club at the minute and there's a good feeling within the group, obviously, from looking on the outside, looking in.

“Like I say, there's a good blend of experience and youth in there and I was surprised, obviously, I thought they might have struggled losing Clarke .I thought he was key to what they were doing. He moved over to Ipswich. I thought it was a bit premature from him but its people’s preferences and choices at their stage of their career. Hopefully they maintain the standards and they find a way to get promoted this year. But, like I said before, it's competitive and it'll be really difficult.”