Life under new manager Regis Le Bris begins on Saturday for Sunderland, who travel to the 1st Cloud Arena for a lunchtime friendly against South Shields.
The 12.30pm kickoff represents one of two Saturday fixtures for the Black Cats, who will also take on Gateshead a few hours later in a summer double-header.
Match preview
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Following a 2023-24 campaign of three-pronged managerial turmoil - where Tony Mowbray, Michael Beale and Mike Dodds all took the Sunderland reins - the Black Cats have officially started a new era under the wing of a former France youth international in Le Bris.
The 48-year-old was appointed on a three-year contract this summer after making a name for himself during a two-season spell at Lorient, whom he guided to a 10th-placed finish in the 2022-23 Ligue 1 season before last year's heartbreaking relegation to the second tier.
Le Bris was not originally believed to be Sunderland's first-choice managerial candidate from Ligue 1 - the Black Cats were heavily linked with ex-Reims boss Will Still before he opted to take charge of Lens - but the 48-year-old was nevertheless "honoured" to have been chosen by the Stadium of Light hierarchy.
Le Bris takes over a Sunderland side who could only muster a disappointing 16th-placed finish in the 2023-24 Championship campaign - a dramatic decline after their run to the playoffs in 2022-23 - as their final three fixtures all ended in defeat without a single goal being scored.
With just under a month to go before the new second-tier season gets underway, Sunderland also have friendlies with Nottingham Forest, Eldense, Blackpool and Bradford City pencilled in, before they head to Cardiff City on August 10 for their Championship opener.
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The visit of Sunderland will mark an emotional reunion for South Shields boss Elliott Dickman, who previously gave over two decades of service to the Black Cats from 1995 until 2021, serving as manager of their Under-18s and Under-23s before leaving for bitter rivals Newcastle United in 2021.
Following a brief stint as the Magpies' Under-23s head coach, Dickman arrived to head up the South Shields academy team in 2023 and was given the first-team reins on a permanent basis in April, having enjoyed a positive spell as interim head coach.
With Dickman at the helm, South Shields ended the 2023-24 National League North campaign in eighth place with 74 points, agonisingly missing out on the top seven and a spot in the playoffs by just a single point, but the campaign was still one of significant progress.
The Mariners were reformed from South Shields Adelaide Athletic in 1974 and were only promoted to the sixth tier for the first time since their revival in 2022-23, and their Northern Premier League triumph preceded a spell under the wing of another ex-Sunderland man in Julio Arca.
Ahead of another push for fifth-tier promotion in the 2024-25 season, South Shields also have friendly matches against Grimsby Town and Hartlepool United in the diary for July, before tackling Hereford in their opening National League North battle in August.
Team News
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A pair of new faces have arrived at the Stadium of Light this summer, as the Black Cats firstly added ex-Coventry City goalkeeper Simon Moore to their ranks before the capture of Republic of Ireland international Alan Browne after his release from Preston North End.
Browne's signing was only announced on Thursday, so it remains to be seen if he has had enough time to gel with his new teammates by the time Saturday's friendly rolls around, which Jenson Seelt (knee) and Nazariy Rusyn (calf) are set to miss.
Sunderland have so far managed to resist interest from the Premier League for 18-year-old Jobe Bellingham, but with Le Bris's men playing two games in one day, it remains to be seen which players head to South Shields and which travel to Gateshead.
Meanwhile, Dickman is not the only man that South Shields have poached from Newcastle in recent times, as the Mariners signed 19-year-old winger Kyle Crossley from the Magpies' Under-21s earlier this summer.
Crossley is one of four new players to arrive at the 1st Cloud Arena this summer, a list that also includes 18-year-old midfield loanee Ashton Mee, who made one appearance for Stockport County in their triumphant 2023-24 League Two campaign.
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Hume, Ballard, O'Nien, Huggins; Rigg, Ekwah; Mundle, Bellingham, Clarke; Mayenda
South Shields possible starting lineup:
Boney; Broadbent, Morse, Shepherd; Heaney, Briggs, Ward, Jenkins, Crossley; Blackett, Gomes
We say: Sunderland 4-0 South Shields
As it remains to be seen which Sunderland troops travel to Gateshead and the others take on South Shields, there are many unknowns to Saturday's lunchtime friendly, but the Black Cats' strength should prove telling either way.
Le Bris will certainly face much tougher tests in his maiden pre-season, but his players ought to assert their dominance from the first whistle and march to an emphatic victory.
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Ben Knapton
