While Sunday will be Regis Le Bris’ first taste of a Wear-Tyne Derby, it won’t be his first experience of a grudge match – in fact, it wasn’t taste that was on the agenda, more of a smell.
Le Bris’ Lorient side faced Brest in the Breton Derby during what became his final season at the club in 2023-24.
Now, it’s called a derby because both sides reside in the Brittany region, but the distance between the two sides is considerably more than the mere 20 minutes that separates Newcastle from Sunderland.
Brest is 134km from Lorient – a 90-minute drive up the coast – but that did not dull the ill feeling between the clubs, nor did it stifle the passions of the Lorient Ultras, determined not to see their side embarrassed when Le Bris’ side travelled to their rivals in December 2023.
Embarrassment was exactly what happened though – Lorient were well-beaten, 4-0, with Brest midfielder Kamory Doumbia scoring all four goals in the first half.
Lorient had lost nine out of their 17 previous matches and for the Ultras, defeat to their bitter rivals was a step too far.
The fans’ group, named the Merlus Ultras, took the decision to deposit 400kg of rotten fish outside Lorient’s training facility with the message ‘Truly rotten, like you’.
Lorient’s home match against Brest later that season saw a slight improvement but their neighbours completed the double with a 1-0 win at Stade du Moustoir, where referee Jerome Brisard dished out four yellow cards and sent off Brest’s Bilal Brahimi deep into stoppage time.
While it’s safe to say on this evidence that Le Bris will be well aware of how much tempers can bubble over in these fixtures, what he will witness on Sunday will be different to what he’s seen before.
Firstly, both Brest and Lorient are in different spheres to Sunderland and Newcastle.
While Brest competed in the Champions League last season – managed by former Sunderland midfielder Eric Roy – their tiny Stade Francis-Le Ble holds just over 15,000. Lorient’s stadium holds 16,000. There will be 16,000 more people in the ground on Sunday than the attendance of both Breton Derbies combined in 2023-24.
Le Bris will know straight out of the gate on Sunday that this is different to anything he’s experienced before. But he’ll have prepared for that. There’s no suggestion he won’t. He’s meticulous and detail-driven. And he’ll have leaned on advice from those who have been around the club in previous Wear-Tyne derbies. Put it this way, he’s not going to underestimate it.
We don’t know how this game is going to go – nobody does – but it’s going to be fun finding out. Hopefully there’s no rotten fish playing a part.
