The reaction from Sunderland Echo writers James Copley and Phil Smith as Régis Le Bris is appointed as Sunderland's new head coach.
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00:00Actually, he's going to be bringing in a bit more staff than we thought he was.
00:04So there seems to have been a little bit of flexibility,
00:08appears to have emerged quite late in this process.
00:10The fans really became sort of disgruntled all over again.
00:30Sunderland, they've got a new head coach, Phil.
00:32We're going to have a little conversation about that.
00:34A long, protracted, drawn-out process has come to an end after quite some time.
00:39Michael Bale was sacked in February.
00:42Mike Dodds took interim charge.
00:45It's had a lot of twists and turns, this process, it seems.
00:49How smoothly do you feel that it's gone?
00:52Obviously, there was the big Will Still elephant in the room at one point as well.
00:57Yeah, I think that's probably it.
00:59I think that, like everybody else, probably my first emotion, actually,
01:03when it was clear that Regis Labrie was getting the job, that it was happening,
01:08I think it was probably relief more than anything else.
01:11And that's probably not a great place to be in, to be honest,
01:15because I think most people are just sort of like,
01:17thank God that's done and we can sort of move on with our lives,
01:20which is probably never really where you want your fan base to be.
01:24How smooth has it been?
01:27Not very.
01:28I think there's probably a couple of factors.
01:30One is that Sunderland's kind of deliberately started a lot later
01:36than they would have in this process,
01:37because I think this took some time to sort of look at themselves and say,
01:42how did we get it so badly wrong with Michael Bale and what do we need to change?
01:45So that was part of the reason.
01:47And obviously, as you say, from Sunderland's view,
01:50what they thought was going to happen when Will Still became available
01:54was that they could start that process, hopefully get it done.
01:57And let's be fair, if Will Still had accepted the job,
02:00this would have been done a month ago.
02:03And I think at that point, I think fans would have gone,
02:05well, actually, they've bided their time,
02:08they've waited for the person they really wanted and he's in with.
02:11At that point, it would have been three, four weeks before pre-season started.
02:14I actually think there would have been a lot of excitement and enthusiasm
02:17and people would probably have said that
02:20the timescale had been about what they expected.
02:23So that clearly was the main factor why it was taking so long.
02:27And once Will Still decided to go elsewhere,
02:31that slowed the process down significantly.
02:34The one thing that we should say is that Sunderland have been pretty clear that
02:38the main reason why this took so long after Will Still turned down the job
02:41was because they had to get a work permit to reduce LaBrie.
02:45From what I hear, obviously, there's criteria whereby
02:48you can automatically get a work permit.
02:51LaBrie, from what I understand, missed that by margins,
02:57which meant that they had to go through the process of a formal hearing
03:00and all that kind of stuff.
03:01And obviously that negotiated with Lorient
03:03because there is a compensation fee involved.
03:06So it's not been smooth, it's not been great.
03:08Off the back of the Michael Beale disaster, if you like,
03:12it's really not been good to have such a long drawn out process,
03:15but I suppose there are a few reasons for that.
03:18I think the big question is, isn't it,
03:20is that rubbish end to the season where it just completely drifted
03:24and it felt like the club was lacking leadership.
03:25The whole idea was, well, this will give the club time
03:29to get a really high calibre candidate who'll be available in the summer.
03:33Is Regis LaBrie that guy?
03:34That's the question.
03:35We don't know, don't we?
03:36And that's where this will kind of sink or swim on.
03:41No, absolutely.
03:42I don't want to dwell on it too long, Phil,
03:43just because we want to talk about Regis LaBrie,
03:46but the Will Still sort of debacle,
03:51obviously Sunderland were keen on him
03:53after Tony Mowbray went and couldn't get him.
03:55They got pretty far down the garden path this time around
03:59and I actually felt a little bit sorry for them
04:01as we've heard details sort of come out in the wash.
04:07They say that Will Still had sort of verbally agreed contracts
04:10and parameters and it was all set to go ahead.
04:12And then, you know, a club in France
04:15who were going to be playing European football have come in.
04:16That's turned his head and he's gone there.
04:19He's perfectly entitled to do that.
04:20He's looking after himself and trying to get the best possible deal.
04:24But that really exacerbated, didn't it,
04:28the need to find Michael Beale's permanent successor
04:31because it had been so long
04:32and they had gone down that garden path.
04:35Obviously, they had other names in the frame as well.
04:37There were four others, including Will Still.
04:40But that seemed to really knock this sort of process back
04:44as you would expect.
04:45And fans really became sort of disgruntled all over again
04:50in the summer, which is a shame
04:52from a sort of public relations standpoint.
04:55Yeah, I think one of the interesting things
04:56about this manager search was that it struck me
05:00that Sunderland were in a lot of ways being quite ambitious.
05:03So, you know, they were going after names
05:05with decent reputations in the game.
05:08I know we all rightly look at Sunderland as a huge club,
05:11a huge opportunity, 40,000 fans and what have you.
05:15It's also the case that it's a long time
05:16since they've now been in the Premier League.
05:18They haven't got the biggest budget at this level.
05:20And so they were being quite ambitious
05:21with the names that they were going after.
05:23You know, people like, for example,
05:25Danny Rowe has now a pretty big reputation in the game
05:29because of his background at Bayern Munich
05:30and what he's done in one season at Sheffield Wednesday.
05:33So what was interesting to me was this ambition.
05:35But we were also looking at going, as we know,
05:38because of Sunderland's structure,
05:39the head coach role at Sunderland
05:41is quite a restricted one.
05:43So, you know, whether you're for or against it,
05:46the facts are you're not going to have
05:49an absolutely central role in recruitment.
05:51A lot of that work is going to be done
05:53sort of outside of your control.
05:55We know that there were, you know,
05:56parameters around your coaching staff.
05:59And so what was interesting to me
06:00is how are you going to bring this to a conclusion
06:01when you're going after ambitious,
06:03you know, you're making ambitious moves
06:04for people who have offers from top tier clubs,
06:07offers from clubs playing European football.
06:10Yet you're offering them a relatively
06:11sort of restricted role.
06:13What's really interesting is obviously Regis Lebrie,
06:16all the early indications are,
06:17from what we understand,
06:19is that actually he's going to be bringing in
06:21a bit more staff than we thought he was.
06:23So there seems to have been
06:26a little bit of flexibility,
06:27appears to have emerged quite late in this process.
06:30And maybe some of the initial assumptions that we had
06:32and that Sunderland started off with
06:33in terms of, you know, the coaching staff
06:35and what have you,
06:36there seems to have been a little bit of flexibility shown
06:38to get this deal over the line.
06:40What's really interesting is that
06:42I think had it been Will Steele,
06:44had it been Danny Rowell,
06:46even if it had been, for an example,
06:48Marty Sifuentes to an extent,
06:50I think we would have been hugely excited
06:52because we would have been going and saying,
06:54hang on, has Sunderland shown
06:55that little bit of flexibility
06:56we've all been crying out for
06:57to get one of these really high calibre candidates?
07:00Now, Sunderland really feel that Regis Lebrie
07:03is of that stature,
07:04he's of that coaching quality.
07:07It's hard for us to make a judgment on that
07:08because he's had two seasons in senior football,
07:11one of which went very, very, very well
07:12and one of which went very badly.
07:14So it's quite difficult to sit here, isn't it?
07:16And be wildly enthusiastic and say,
07:19you know, how exciting is it
07:21that Regis Lebrie is coming in,
07:23he's bringing some more of his own staff,
07:25exciting new era.
07:26We just don't know that.
07:27I feel like it's impossible
07:28to make that judgment at the moment
07:29because of his track record.
07:31But I do think it seems to me
07:33that we may be seeing a little bit
07:35of a flexibility emerge late on
07:38to get this done.
07:40And that's quite interesting moving forward.
07:41We already know that while the model,
07:45I think I've got eight minutes
07:47before using the word model,
07:48which is a huge bonus.
07:49But the indications are there's going to be,
07:52the model's going to stay,
07:53but there might be some tweaks.
07:54We are going to see some players coming in
07:55with some championship experience.
07:57Obviously the first time this summer is Simon Moore,
07:59which is maybe a little bit revealing in that sense.
08:02So it does feel like
08:03there's a little bit more flexibility now.
08:05But everything rests and falls on,
08:07you know, how good really is Regis Labrie
08:09because, you know,
08:10some of them have been clear that he was,
08:11as you alluded to earlier,
08:13he was on that five-man shortlist from the start.
08:16They went for Will Still.
08:18When Will Still became available,
08:20that was clear the direction they wanted to go down.
08:22But they feel they've got
08:23one of their top candidates.
08:25They feel that's a coup
08:26to get him to come to the championship.
08:28Very difficult to make a judgment on that
08:31on what is a fairly small sort of body of work.
08:33At first team level,
08:35he's been an academy coach
08:36and an academy sort of manager
08:38at a good level for a long time.
08:41Yeah, lots of people asking about
08:43the backroom staff, Phil,
08:44which you mentioned there.
08:45Our friend Graham Falk
08:47of the What The Falk podcast
08:48and also of the Scotsman,
08:50big Sunderland fan.
08:52He's broken the news
08:53that there are three coaches linked,
08:56really, with Sunderland, Ingo Goetze.
08:59He's also revealed that Sunderland
09:01are in talks with Jean-Marie David
09:03and Erwin Lepostek.
09:05I think I've got that right.
09:06My French isn't very good,
09:07as you well know, Phil.
09:10Where does that leave Mike Dodds
09:13and Michael Proctor, Phil?
09:14Because obviously they've been part
09:16of this first team coaching setup
09:18at Sunderland for a considerable
09:20amount of time now
09:21under Alex Neyland and Sonny Mowbray
09:22and then taking the club
09:24on an interim basis.
09:25I think three times it is now,
09:26obviously, last season from February
09:28up until the end of the season.
09:30It's a really interesting question.
09:32On the one hand,
09:32you would say that, you know,
09:34in terms of coaches that know this squad,
09:37know what it needs,
09:38can be an ally in the dressing room,
09:41can explain the demands of the fans,
09:42the demands of the stadium,
09:44the way Sunderland is,
09:45it's a real benefit.
09:46But on the other hand,
09:48it's not hard to envisage a scenario
09:50in which maybe ideas do clash
09:52a little bit and camps develop.
09:54It's a really interesting
09:55sort of side story
09:57to the transfer window this summer.
10:00It's going to be really interesting
10:01to see how that plays out.
10:02I mean, the one thing I would say
10:03is that Mike Dodge
10:05is always pretty clear
10:06towards the end of last season
10:07that he loves it here.
10:08He loves it in the area.
10:10He loves working with the players.
10:11He feels he's got a relationship with them
10:13and he wanted to continue that.
10:14But he also kind of said,
10:15you know, the relationship will be
10:17dictated by the new head coach
10:19and he was fairly comfortable with that.
10:20And even in his short time, really,
10:22at the club,
10:24it's been different
10:25from head coach to head coach.
10:27So from sort of my understanding,
10:28Tony Mowbray gave him
10:30a huge amount of latitude
10:33to develop,
10:34to do a lot of analysis,
10:35to do a lot of preparation.
10:37I think that just reflected
10:38Mowbray's leadership style.
10:39Very, very comfortable in his own skin.
10:42Knew his qualities,
10:43knew his strengths.
10:46And so I think he was happy
10:47to delegate, really.
10:49From what I gather,
10:50I think Michael Beale
10:51took a lot more control
10:52of a lot of that stuff.
10:53And from what I understand,
10:55you know, Dodge
10:56had probably not as huge a role.
10:59And I think that made the transition
11:00for him quite difficult
11:01when he came back in
11:02as interim boss for the second time.
11:07And that probably in the end
11:08was a bad thing,
11:08because I think Beale probably ended up
11:10quite isolated
11:11and probably ended up
11:12taking on too much, really.
11:13And that was absolutely
11:14not what was supposed to happen.
11:15You know, that was really
11:16the opposite of what
11:17was supposed to happen
11:18with the club structure.
11:19So I think it's fairly clear
11:22it's saying we shouldn't
11:23speculate too much
11:24before this is all confirmed.
11:25But I think it's fairly clear
11:27that Labrie is going to bring in
11:29more of his own staff
11:31and that might lead
11:32to a reshuffling.
11:33Will it lead to less of a direct
11:35sort of match preparation role
11:37for Mike Dodds?
11:37Possibly.
11:38But I do personally think
11:40it's probably a good thing,
11:41as long as those roles are defined.
11:43I think there's definitely
11:44a recognition that they need
11:45more championship
11:46experience in the squad.
11:47I feel like Sunderland feel
11:49they've got to a really
11:50good conclusion.
11:52But I do.
11:52I do worry about upfront most nights.
11:54That's what keeps me awake.
11:58What do you expect from this appointment?
12:02There's no doubt to me
12:03that this appointment
12:04is driven a huge amount
12:06by what Kirill wants to see
12:08at the Academy of Light
12:08and how he wants things
12:09to structure behind the scenes.
12:11And I think he clearly feels
12:12that Labrie is
12:14the perfect fit for that.
12:15And that's why he's pushed for him
12:18and why he's looked to appoint him
12:19even off the back of his relegation.
12:21And I think that's going to be
12:22a really interesting aspect
12:23of this kind of this next phase.
12:26And I'm really interested to see
12:27if those lessons
12:28from the Belia have been learned
12:29or if to an extent
12:30they're actually doubling down
12:32on what they believe
12:33is going to drive success.
12:35And so all these things
12:36are going to be really interesting.
12:37I do think this is a huge appointment
12:39for how people perceive Kirill
12:42and whether they feel he's leading
12:44the club in the right direction.
12:46It's really interesting, isn't it, Phil,
12:47the direction of football
12:48just more broadly.
12:50And I'm spitballing here slightly,
12:52but we've moved to the director
12:53of football model.
12:54You've got head of recruitments.
12:55You've got, you know,
12:56assistant coaches.
12:58The role of a manager
12:59is lessened, it's splintered.
13:00But it all, in the end,
13:02seems to come down to the head coach
13:04and how good or bad he is.
13:06And it's interesting,
13:07something sort of,
13:09you know, succession planning
13:11and moving away from the head coach
13:12being the most important figure
13:14at a football club,
13:15which I do agree with
13:16because I just think there's
13:17so much to do at a football club now.
13:20That it all does, though,
13:21seem to come back to the head coach
13:23and whether or not he's a success.
13:25And it's incredible, really, isn't it?
13:27Well, there's two parts to it.
13:28One is that, is that still true?
13:31So the thing that I think,
13:32whatever anybody thinks about,
13:33all of the individuals
13:34we've mentioned and stuff,
13:36I think every single Sunderland fan
13:37would say, well,
13:38it doesn't matter if it's Will Steele,
13:40Regis Labrie, Daniel Royal,
13:41Martin Sifuentes,
13:43unless you have better chances
13:44at Windows than you've had
13:45in the last two, right?
13:47So I actually think
13:47that's a massive part of this.
13:49I think everyone would recognise
13:50that the recruitment needs to be better
13:52if Labrie is to have
13:53any chance whatsoever.
13:55But the other side of it
13:56is what I absolutely agree with
13:57in terms of the structures
13:59have changed a lot
14:01and that has taken away
14:02a lot of the importance
14:03or the seeming importance
14:04of the manager
14:05as we move to head coach model.
14:07But there are still some old school,
14:09when it's a club of Sunderland size,
14:11there are still some old school
14:13managerial qualities
14:14that are unbelievably important
14:16and communication and leadership
14:17are a big part of that.
14:20And I argued loads
14:21that I felt the appointment
14:23had underestimated that side of it.
14:27And it's impossible
14:27to make a judgment on Labrie
14:29because we just know
14:30so little about him.
14:32I get the impression
14:33that he's a very, very
14:34sort of calm figure
14:36and maybe that'll be
14:37sort of good.
14:38He'll have that
14:38sort of emotional balance
14:40and not too high, not too low,
14:41which I think is incredible.
14:42That's something that Alex Neal
14:43and Tony Mowbray both had.
14:45And that head coach sort of reach,
14:48it does expand to players
14:50and player acquisitions,
14:52player departures and contracts as well.
14:54You know, Chris Rigg
14:54and Dan Neal are two players
14:56that we know of.
14:57There may even be more
14:59that are holding off
15:01or have held off
15:02because they want to see
15:03who Sunderland's new manager is.
15:04And in that sense, again,
15:06you know, this appointment
15:07takes on added importance
15:08because, you know,
15:10who knows when Dan Neal
15:11and Chris Rigg retire
15:12at the end of their careers
15:14in 15 years time,
15:15how much accumulatively
15:16they will have sold for
15:17in the transfer market
15:18down the years.
15:19You know, Sunderland don't want
15:20to miss out on that,
15:23you know, whether it's
15:24transfer fees now or later.
15:27And again, it adds more importance
15:28to this appointment of Reggie Labrie,
15:31who we all hope will be a success.
15:33But it just sort of solidifies
15:35how, you know,
15:37the magnitude of it really
15:38and what he has to do
15:39and what his itinerary is.
15:42Yeah, and again,
15:43that goes both ways, though.
15:45So it's definitely up to Labrie
15:46to show on the training ground
15:48to give the players
15:49a sense of their importance
15:50and his plans
15:51and also to be good enough
15:53and to be clear enough
15:53to give them the clarity
15:54that, yeah, we're back on track here,
15:56we're moving in the right direction,
15:57I think we can have a good season.
15:59But that's also massively,
16:00massively incumbent on the club
16:02in the transfer market
16:03to send that signal as well.
16:05You know, I have no doubt
16:06that those players in the squad
16:09will be looking at Labrie and going,
16:11assessing him, judging him
16:12when they come back for preseason,
16:13trying to make a judgment
16:14on what kind of season is going to be.
16:16But I think they'll even more so
16:17be doing that in the transfer market.
16:19Yeah, they'll all know what the play,
16:21they were on the pitch,
16:22so they know even better than we do
16:24what the issues were last season.
16:25You know, red flash and light,
16:27shock horror, the final third,
16:28the penalty box.
16:30And so I think that stuff
16:30will be every bit as important
16:32as how good Labrie is.
16:34They'll be looking at going,
16:35are we going to get this
16:35sorted this summer?
16:37We all know what the problem is.
16:38We need it.
16:39You know, we need firepower up front.
16:41If Jack Clark goes,
16:42what are you going to do about that?
16:44Because we saw how important
16:45Jack Clark was last season.
16:46Are you going to replace him
16:47with someone who can, you know,
16:48produce something approaching similar?
16:51So I think there's all these questions.
16:52I do think for all we've talked there
16:54about how you can't underestimate
16:56the importance of the head coach role.
16:58It is all so important
17:00that we accept that there's
17:02a very different football club now.
17:04And I don't think that would be
17:05the be all and end all for these players.
17:07I'm not saying it won't be hugely important
17:08because it absolutely will be.
17:10But I do think because we've talked
17:11so much about,
17:13understandably so,
17:14about the head coach search,
17:15I think maybe the transfer window
17:16has fallen a little bit
17:17behind in our discussions.
17:19And actually off the back of
17:20a bad season and two pretty poor
17:22transfer windows,
17:23I mean, that is absolutely massive.
17:26And I do think the players on the squad,
17:28they'll absolutely be looking to Liberee.
17:30But I think they'll also be
17:31very, very interested in Chris
17:33Hutchinson and what his transfer
17:36plans are this summer.
17:37And just on that as well, Phil,
17:40to throw it back to the coaches
17:42and Liberee's potential
17:44arrivals at Sunderland.
17:46Sunderland have adjusted
17:48the model there.
17:48They've changed.
17:49It looks like they're going to change.
17:50It's not necessarily what they had
17:52in mind or wanted to do.
17:53There's a recognition maybe that,
17:55yes, we need to sort of move
17:57our thinking forward on that.
17:59Do you think that's going to translate
18:00into the transfer window as well now?
18:03I mean, I think we've all called
18:05for experience in this squad
18:07at some point over the past 12 months.
18:09We've had a sort of a bleed on experience
18:11with Danny Bath, Alex Pritchard,
18:13Lyndon Gooch going,
18:14you know, all different situations.
18:16But it's left Sunderland
18:18maybe a little bit rudderless at times
18:20just with the amount of youth.
18:22Obviously, there's some talent
18:23that plays there as well.
18:24We know the need,
18:25you know, central midfield.
18:27That's a position that needs
18:29additions in to add depth,
18:30experience, tactical variety.
18:33And the big one is, of course,
18:34we know that we need a striker
18:35that can score goals.
18:37Sunderland have tended
18:38to prioritise youth.
18:40I'm expecting them to do so again.
18:41But will there be a little bit
18:43of an acknowledgement that, yes,
18:44maybe we may have to spend
18:46a little bit more money to buy
18:48more of a ready-made thing
18:50compared to a Hamier
18:52or an Eliza Meander?
18:54Yeah, I think so.
18:55I think there's definitely
18:58a recognition that they need
18:59more championship experience
19:00in the squad.
19:01Now, what I would say is
19:02Sunderland see it very differently
19:04in terms of the age thing.
19:06I think they would reject.
19:07I think they would say
19:08it's not about age.
19:09It's about, you know,
19:10but championship experience
19:12is important.
19:13So I think they would now see
19:15Dan Neal, for example,
19:16as experienced at championship level.
19:19Dan Ballard, I think they would say,
19:20well, he's an experienced
19:21championship player.
19:23Now, I think last season
19:25there was too much
19:25put on those lads,
19:27even if we accept that
19:28they've matured incredibly well
19:29and that they're now
19:30quite experienced
19:31at championship level.
19:32So I do expect them to add
19:33championship experience.
19:35Will that be extensive
19:37or will it just be to replace
19:39Corey Evans and Bradley Dak?
19:40I'm not 100% sure on that one.
19:43I think that's a big thing
19:44to remember as well,
19:44is that Evans and Dak
19:45were meant to be kind of
19:47two of the experienced
19:48players last season.
19:48Dak more so because
19:49obviously Evans had an ACL
19:50that we knew he was going
19:51to miss most of the season.
19:53Dak was added really
19:54to cover that experience
19:56that was lost in Gooch and Barr
19:57and obviously potentially
19:59Alex Pritchard,
20:00who could have left in the summer
20:01and did leave in January.
20:03Now, that was a mistake
20:04because Dak just wasn't
20:05fit enough regularly enough
20:06to become a big voice
20:08in the dressing room.
20:08He needed to be a big
20:09leader on the pitch.
20:11So it's not just about
20:13adding championship experience,
20:14it's making sure it's
20:15the right deal as well,
20:16because clearly Dak wasn't.
20:20So I do think there'll be
20:21I do think there'll be some tweaks.
20:22I do think they will see
20:23more championship experience
20:24come into the squad than
20:25we've seen in the last two windows.
20:26That's already obviously
20:27already started with Simon Moore,
20:28albeit he's probably more
20:29going to be more of a backup player.
20:32I don't necessarily see
20:34it getting much easier
20:36in the final third.
20:37I've got to be honest about that.
20:38I think they will try and add
20:39an experience-proven striker,
20:40but I think we'll see
20:41the same thing that happens
20:42or the same challenges
20:43that we saw with Keith Lamore
20:44in January, whereby
20:46most of the championship
20:47is trying to buy or loan
20:49a very, very, very small
20:50poodle of experience,
20:51championship-proven strikers
20:53and some of them won't
20:54have the biggest budget.
20:54And that remains a faith
20:56and they have got to be
20:56completely honest about that.
20:58Doesn't mean it won't get done.
21:00Doesn't mean that
21:00they won't manage it.
21:02But that is the one area of pitch
21:04where I think there's a part
21:06of me that thinks that
21:06we may well pin
21:08for another bit of a saga,
21:09to be honest.
21:10Yeah, yeah, no.
21:10Well, but I do absolutely think
21:13we'll see...
21:16Go for a third one, sorry.
21:18No, I was just going to say,
21:19I do see more championship
21:20experience than we've seen
21:21in the last two windows.
21:22I 100% expect that.
21:25But I do worry about upfront.
21:27Most nights, that's what keeps me awake.
21:30That striker position
21:31is interesting because,
21:32and I'm not trying to give
21:33Sunderland an out because it has,
21:35you know, this has been
21:35a long-running problem.
21:38For a long time.
21:39But you speak to fans
21:41of championship clubs
21:43with a few exceptions,
21:44and most of them actually say like,
21:46oh yeah, we need a striker.
21:48It is difficult to do that.
21:50Phil, have you got anything else
21:51you would like to get off your chest
21:53before we draw an end to this podcast?
21:55We will probably go into
21:57sort of transfer expectations
21:59and predictions in a bit more detail
22:01next week, perhaps.
22:02Just don't want to overdo,
22:05overcook the podcast
22:06because we won't have
22:06anything to talk about.
22:08Well, we should throw it
22:09out there as well.
22:09If anybody's got any stuff
22:11they want us to talk about,
22:13specifically around Regis Lebrie
22:15and Sunderland and stuff,
22:16then we'd be,
22:18I mean, I would be very happy
22:19to do a listener Q&A
22:20or something, wouldn't we?
22:21So if anyone's got any questions
22:22or big talking points
22:23I'd like to discuss in more depth,
22:25perhaps it gives a shout
22:26because we'd be really keen
22:27to do that, wouldn't we?
22:28But yeah, it's interesting
22:30because the final point
22:32I would make on the whole thing
22:33is I feel like Sunderland feel
22:36they've got to a really good conclusion
22:38because they feel they've got
22:40one of their really
22:41high caliber coaches.
22:43So I think they feel
22:44that this has been bumpy
22:46but ended up being very successful
22:48and it's just going to be so interesting
22:49to see how good Lebrie is
22:51because if, you know,
22:52people are going to make judgments,
22:54I think, on the hierarchy
22:56based on this judgment
22:57called they've made on Lebrie
22:59and it's kind of exciting
23:00and it's also kind of
23:01absolutely terrifying.
23:03So it's because you're only
23:04as good as your squad as well.
23:05You're only as good as your squad.
23:07Exactly.
23:08So, yeah, interesting times,
23:09but at least we actually
23:10know who it is now
23:11and we can all get on with our lives.
23:14Thanks for tuning in
23:16over to the Sunderland Echo website
23:18for all of your latest
23:19transfer content.
23:21And yeah, get in touch
23:22if you are, if there's any questions
23:23you would like answering.
23:24Phil, thanks for joining us.
23:26I'm James Copley
23:27and thanks for listening to The Raw.
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