fbpx
Connect with us

Championship

Sunderland’s Le Bris ’causes untold amounts of fume’ saying Middlesbrough isn’t a real derby

Sunderland’s Regis Le Bris ’causes untold amounts of fume’ saying Middlesbrough isn’t a real derby ahead of Saturday’s fixture.

This will be the 154th time the two sides have met, with BBC Sport working out that the Black Cats are currently winning the ‘rivalry’ 62-54.

But it seems Le Bris, who was named as the new Sunderland boss in June, has once again got fans talking after what he told BBC Newcastle in days leading up to the Boro game.

“The most important derby from my knowledge is Newcastle,” Le Bris, who was appointed in June, said.

“Middlesbrough is an interesting fixture but I am not sure for the fans that we play a specific derby this Saturday.”

Sunderland currently sit second in the Championship, but fell to their first defeat of the season last Saturday away to Plymouth Argyle.

They will play a Boro side who sit 10th in the table with eight points from their opening five games.

Le Bris knows it’s going to be a tough game against Michael Carrick’s side, saying: “It will be an interesting game with a different style. They are a well-organised side, in and out of possession, with specific attention in the way of building the game.

“We will have specific attention on many details and it will be interesting for us to solve that problem.”

While it’s the first ‘Wear-Tees derby’ for Le Bris, it will be a fourth for Michael Carrick, having won, drew and lost once.

The win for Boro came at Sunderland back in October, a 4-0 victory. The hosts finished the game with 10 men. Second-half goals from Leeds United loanee Sam Greenwood, Matt Crooks, Isaiah Jones and Marcus Forss made it four successive wins for Boro at the time, continuing their recovery from a poor start to the 2023/24 season.

They then drew 1-1 in February 2024, substitute Nazariy Rusyn denied Middlesbrough with 83rd-minute strike after Marcus Forss gave Boro a 61st-minute lead.

Carrick said to BBC Radio Tees ahead of Saturday’s game: “We’re all excited. These types of games bring an extra little something to the day, to the preparation, and to the emotion in the game.

“We’ve got a job to do and we’ve got to keep our minds in a good place, but certainly you have to draw on the passion and the emotion and channel it in the right way.

“Sunderland away is a great challenge, but one the boys are relishing.”

As mentioned, Sunderland’s Le Bris ’causes untold amounts of fume’ saying Middlesbrough isn’t a real derby…

@johnnyjenko: He’s reaching legend status with some of his comments recently and I’m here for it 😂

@LeeMck9: Top shithousery from Le Bris. Cool as fcuk Reggie lad 😎

@tommywalkerco: Deluded for those Sunderland fans to not call it a derby. Given Boro are the most successful NE team in the last three decades, the Mackams being the worst out of the 3, they can’t look down to anyone. It’s a derby, get over it, Sunderland isn’t a special place. You should want it to be a derby, the more interesting the fixture.

@ScottHa65276974: I wouldn’t say it was delusion or being looked down on tbf. The first game every Sunderland fan looks for when we are all in the same league is the Newcastle one. Middlesbrough is a local rivalry that we all want to win yes but we don’t class it as a derby

@LetsMakeCake__:
I’ll explain why.
1. We hate the mags so much we don’t have the time or energy to have a derby with anybody else
2. It winds up the smoggies when we pretend it’s not a big rivalry
3. I don’t class it as a derby but they are a big rival of ours.

@louorns: I know fans from both sides and this has been going on since I was a kid in the early 2000s and I’m convinced one side of the fanbase has been saying it’s not Derby to the point where it is a Derby

@dylan__wade: So that’s our fanbase, our staff and our clubs social media all declaring it not a derby. How much more of a hint do boro fans actually need?

@gary_mutimer: Deluded? It’s not a derby, it’s just another fixture. Newcastle is a derby end of. I don’t see how SAFC not classifying this game as derby is looking down on them 🙄

@Thunda007: If Boro win – it’s not a derby. If Sunderland win – it’s a derby.

@ClaySouerdike: Middlesbrough treat it like a derby and we don’t. And that’s why they do better at it.

@gt16976: True. But sadly that can never be helped as it is indeed NOT a derby 🤷🏻‍♂️

@jordsmithy23: even le bris knows its not a derby

@EmmaJNichol: “as far as I am aware, it’s just a small town in Yorkshire”

@JoshMillward4: Actually embarrassing, Sunderland literally live for Newcastle United.

@Jack__boro: Perfect for us, our players be fired up and yours off the place as usual 👍🏼

@LiamShepard7: Part 1. It is a Derby, Middlesbrough are only about 20 to 30 odd miles down the road doesn’t make it very far bit like Bristol City and Plymouth argyle are about more than 100 miles apart but they are still part of the West Country rivals. Part 2. So in total it doesn’t matter how far apart a place is what does matter is what region of the country it’s in or rather what side it’s in to be precise.

@Hag_SAFC: Right answer. Good lad.

@JackLangley93: Well they haven’t played Newcastle in the league for 8 years. So it might be important to them but it’s becoming more & more irrelevant to Newcastle I bet!

@iamyetwhatiam: Of course it’s a derby, so is Boro v Newcastle.

@markdesthompson: I get tired of this every year. What’s the obsession with Sunderland fans saying it’s not a derby? I just don’t get it.

@Fantanafest73: My only fear with this is that Boro go into it with more fight, and we come out bullied like we did 2nd half against Argyle. We concentrate and play our game, we should beat them 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

@SAFCGeorge6: Le Bris knows more about the north east of England than Beale ever did

@Garibaldi1879: He is correct but I wish we’d see it and play it as a rivalry more than we do and we will win the majority of them. Hopefully the crowds up for it. Daft downplaying a more than normal game that the opposition see as a derby and hate us.

@GraemeBandeira: It’s another fixture. The hype over the word “derby” sends people into a state of hypertension. Just play the game and can everybody calm down

@baildogg: I mean he’s definitely been briefed about this like

@KHeneage: He’s not wrong. Most Sunderland fans I know aren’t fussed about Boro. Either way, should be a good early test for his system and how it handles slightly more intense games.

@davidgibb45: I am always amazed how much energy Sunderland fans say it’s not a derby before the game and only Newcastle matters. Maybe just don’t mention it if we don’t matter. It’s hardly 4 hours down the road is it. Newcastle will be main rivals for them as closer but you never play them

@Matt_Rowney: I don’t get their approach tbh. We’re not “the Derby”, and I agree with that. I hate Newcastle more than Sunderland. But it is “a Derby”. If our lads approach it with that mentality and they don’t, that might explain why #Boro have won 5 of our last 8 league games vs #SAFC 🤷

@williams_danny3: To be fair I wouldn’t want a fixture that you’ve won 2 out of the last 13 a derby either

@paulthomase: It’s a rivalry like when we play Leeds. It’s nothing like playing the mags.

@bthomp_52: The easiest answer is that it’s a derby if we win, and if we lose they’re in North Yorkshire and we have nothing to do with them

Related Topics
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Championship