With Régis Le Bris leaving FC Lorient and going Sunderland this summer, it’s time for the French media to wrap up how his work at the Ligue 1 side went.
The coach had been at the club since 2012, when taking charge of the U-19 squad. Then he had different jobs there until getting to the first team only ten years later, in the summer of 2022.
Newspaper Ouest France today features a long story where they recall that despite his very good start as a manager, he lived some tough times at Lorient in the past couple of seasons, and he won’t exactly be missed now that he leaves for Sunderland.
That all started in January 2023, with the French club club selling their best attacking players. Le Bris went public to claim they wouldn’t be able to compete with such a weakened squad. It’s said they never really recovered from that episode.
What actually happened back then was the start of a very bad relationship with Lorient chairman Loïc Féry. That got to a point where the manager asked to leave, hinting at failures at the club’s structure, and getting an offer from Nice.
The president ruled that out, and even gave Le Bris ‘full sporting powers’ to continue in charge. That didn’t work well, though, as the season ended up being a nightmare ‘from start to finished’. He lost support from fans, who booed him in the final game of the season, and led him to leave the club through the back door.
That’s why his exit to Sunderland isn’t regretted, and Lorient look forward to a fresh start with their new manager, Olivier Pantaloni.
However, for Sunderland fans it gives some reasoning for the torrid time with Lorient, which may not have been a fair representation of the manager’s abilities.
