17 months later ..........
Jan 06, 2026
In the latest episode of my telling you how clever I am (!) you can see the notes below that I wrote on Sunderland ahead of last season when they had just finished 16th in the Championship. Today, just 17 months later, they sit 8th in the Premier League, are unbeaten at home and only leaders Arsenal have lost fewer games. A remarkable turnaround in fortune.
Sleeping (dozing) Giant (written July 2024)
Sunderland are also worthy of mention. They are an enormous club with terrific support and averaged a Championship high 41,158 attendance last season despite finishing 16th, which is insane! That would have placed them 9th in the EPL, just above Chelsea and a few hundred below Aston Villa.
16th seems low, but they finished only 8 points adrift of 9th and were outside the playoff spots only on goal difference through 31 games. We can forgive them that finish to a degree, it was the youngest squad in the Football league and by a mile in the Championship, with an average age in their starting 11 of 22.4 yo with the next youngest coming in at 24.1 and they were dealing with much upheaval at the Stadium of Light, with four different head coaches (two permanent) in charge.
Sunderland were only promoted to the second tier in 21/22 and finished 6th in their first season back, so had that postseason hangover to deal with too. However, performance levels were better and xP gave them 70 points, an additional 14 , just one shy of the team in 5th and actually better than they achieved in that debut season and all while the youngsters were dealing with a lot of disruption.
The owners are interesting. 26 yo (!) Kyril Louis-Dreyfus owns 64% and 43 yo Juan Sartori 36%, both are from mega rich families and with sporting backgrounds. Louis -Dreyfus studied sport at University which is odd in itself for someone from his upbringing (isn't it always business?) and he also has a small share in Olympique Marseille, the club which was owned by his father. Sartori is married to the daughter of a Russian oligarch and she and her husband are both on the board of AS Monaco, which is owned by her father. But Sartori is rich in his own right and also sits on the Senate in Uruguay and finished second in the race to earn his party's nomination for President. As I said, an interesting duo.
With that French football background for both and given the youth of the set up at Sunderland, which is very much the modus operandi established by the owners, the appointment of Regis Le Bris as head coach makes sense. The 48yo has been coaching since he was 27, usually working with youngsters. He had been at Lorient since 2012 , the last two seasons in the head coach role. RLB is very hands-on and there is a lot of video doing the rounds of him drilling the players in preseason, drumming into them , "faster, faster, higher tempo." RLB has a doctorate in sport physiology and biomechanics, later getting a DU on mental training of high level athletes and is very much a modern coach who is happy with analytics and outside the box thinking, whilst also having a long history in football, despite still being "young".
I like the signing of 24 yo Ian Poveda from Leeds United, he was at Brentford as a youngster and the next big thing at the time, before getting "stolen" by Manchester City for a pittance and was the catalyst for the Bees closing their academy at the time . Also, Alan Browne , he is going to be the grandad in this squad at 29yo, but brings with him a wealth of experience , 346 games in the Championship, 44 with Preston North End last season. His signing makes so much sense with all those youngsters playing around the CM.
Just don't tell anyone we are monitoring them!
Good luck!
We don't just sell football betting tips, as you can see there is an extensive analysis behind our asian handicap selections. Subscribing to our sports betting advice service need not break the bank. Learn more by visiting our subscriptions page.
Country:
Sport:
Competition:
Football Teams: