Sunderland fans in 'dreamworld' led by 'nice guy' Le Bris

"We want to reach 40 points as soon as possible."

Sunderland are defying expectations this season, as they sit fourth in the Premier League after nine games.

But manager Regis le Bris remains pragmatic - so rather than entertaining talk of European football, he is instead insisting that getting to 40 points and securing Premier League safety is still the target.

The newly promoted side were among the favourites for relegation from the Premier League at the start of the 2025-26 campaign, with Opta's Supercomputer tipping them to finish bottom.

Yet nine games in, the Black Cats have 17 points - the best return by a promoted club at this stage of the season since Hull City, who had 20, in 2008-09.

"The emotions in the club so far are excellent, it's impressive," Le Bris said after the Black Cats' latest win - a 2-1 comeback win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

"We've found this togetherness not only across the squad but also across the club with the fans as well. They deserve this. When the energy is like that you can create many positives. For us the target remains the same."

The Frenchman is almost halfway towards reaching his 40-point aim, but who is the man masterminding Sunderland's impressive season?

It is fair to say that when Sunderland announced the appointment of Le Bris in June 2024, underwhelmed was the overriding emotion.

It had taken three months to find a permanent replacement for Michael Beale and the club had come up with a man who had just been relegated from Ligue 1 in France with Lorient.

But with the Black Cats ending an eight-year exile from the top flight by beating Coventry in the play-off final, that has turned to immense pride among the club's support.

"The fans love him," said BBC Radio Newcastle's Sunderland commentator Nick Barnes.

"The results are the first things that win them over, so he has achieved that.

"But they also see that he is a genuinely nice guy with a nice demeanour about him. In public and in press conferences, he smiles, he can crack a joke, he's very patient and I think people have responded to that."

With a doctorate in sport physiology and biomechanics to his name, Le Bris is not your typical manager. His popularity on Wearside meant that a trip to the seafront at Roker early on in his tenure caught him by surprise when he was mobbed by fans.

Learning his lesson, this calm and considered character has since sneaked in to Newcastle on occasion to enjoy an evening out.

However, it is at the Academy of Light where this student of football is in his element.

"Regis is a bit shy, but he's very personable and he has a wry sense of humour and he's become a bit more comfortable in his own skin," said Barnes.

"He is very, very focused. He seems to spend his life immersed in the job. He jokingly refers to being at his happiest in front of his laptop, watching matches.

"He purposely learnt English to come to this country to make a name for himself and you could argue he has done that."

Le Bris had a modest playing career, during which time he featured in Ligue 1 for Rennes, but this proud son of Brittany found his true calling when he turned his hand to coaching at the age of 27 with Wasquehal.

He quickly obtained his badges and was soon returning to his old club to take on a youth coaching role.

He had success there winning the French equivalent of the Youth Cup and the U18 Championship before taking on a similar job at Lorient.

Again, he was heavily involved in the youth programme, being successful with the under-17s and then becoming reserve team manager.

But behind his involvement in youth football was a burning desire to improve himself and take on a top job.

"Regis has always been very ambitious," said Mathieu Pelicart, Lorient correspondent for regional newspaper Le Telegramme.

"While preparing to make the step up to be a number one, he had already done a few trips abroad to clubs in Germany and Spain and he had never hidden his desire to learn more about other leagues."

His wish was granted as he took over Lorient in 2022, and after eight wins in his first 10 games the club reached second in the table.

They eventually finished 10th, but still enjoyed wins against Lyon, Lille and most notably at Paris St-Germain - a side containing Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

However, things went awry in his second season which ultimately ended with relegation on the final day. He left the club by mutual consent on 22 June 2024.

One man who had been keeping an eye on events at Lorient was the Black Cats' French owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.

Sunderland had put together a talented but youthful squad and they needed a guiding hand.

Although there was no experience in English football and only two years as a number one, Le Bris was almost the perfect candidate to take this project on.

"Regis Le Bris is a pure coach," said French football expert Julien Laurens.

"All he cares about is the training pitch, doing his sessions, transmitting his ideas across and the game itself. What surrounds that is not really for him.

"Le Bris used to be one of the best academy directors and youth-level coaches in France. What he loves the most is coaching young players. He is so good at explaining to them how to get better.

"I had no doubt that moving to Sunderland could work for him."

Growing up in Brittany, Le Bris was proud of his roots and the strong Breton cultural identity of the area.

So when deciding to leave, moving to the north-east of England may seem miles apart, but the 49-year-old has forged a strong attachment to Wearside.

"He used to be in a club in Lorient that had so much identity," said Laurens.

"Sunderland was perfect for him. He could only have gone to a club with such a strong sense of identity and community like Sunderland has because that's what he was used to.

"He's a very proud Breton and he knows how much this means to people in Sunderland and in the region overall."

Now Le Bris is the first French manager in the Premier League since Patrick Vieira left Crystal Palace in March 2023.

Only four newly promoted managers in Premier League history have won more points than Le Bris after nine games - Kenny Dalglish, Bryan Robson, Phil Brown and Frank Clark.

"I'm hugely impressed," Michael Carrick said of the Frenchman on Match of the Day.

"There are so many positives to look at. They had four players from the team last season [in the squad against Chelsea] so it's a big change and from a coaching perspective, to implement that so quickly and to accumulate the points they have is an unbelievable achievement."

Sunderland's start this season is all the more impressive given the number of new signings they have bedded into the side.

They spent £161m on 15 new players - a record level of spending for a promoted side - and nine of their starting XI against Chelsea were summer signings.

"We have bought quality signings that have fitted in really quickly and that is down to Le Bris," former England captain and Black Cats fan Steph Houghton told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"A big shoutout to the manager for being able to get the team really hard to beat, and the players for buying into something and living that dream of being in the Premier League.

"As a Sunderland fan you are in dreamworld at the moment and hopefully we continue."

Sunderland's 17 points equals their best start in the Premier League, matching their tally from the 1999-00 season, and former defender Nedum Onuoha has backed the club to stay in the top flight - as they did 25 years ago.

"At the start of the season many people were saying they were one of the favourites for relegation and who knows, that might still happen," Onuoha told 5 Live.

"But within the place, based on the players they have signed, they have got a belief where they are looking more upwards, there is no cap for this season and anything is possible."