00:00Do you think it was Regis' rotation policy at the end of the regular season that we finished all three playoff games looking the fitter, stronger side and was therefore a major factor in our promotion to the Premier League?
00:11Well, I think one thing for sure, Chris, we can say is that, you know, if ever someone's in this position again, we'll be talking an awful lot less about momentum.
00:17Because I think what these three games did do was absolutely vindicate Regis' approach, was that it was more important to have a fit squad, a fresh squad, than to have a squad that had won, coming into the playoffs, having won a few games.
00:30I think that was incredibly obvious that the absolute bedrock of this promotion, this successful playoff campaign, was someone having the vast majority of their best players available and able to play in their proper positions.
00:41The return of Dennis Sirkin, the return, obviously, of Dan Bard, who was absolutely immense across all three games.
00:47And I think it's clear that LeBrice did the right thing in being careful with these players.
00:53If you look across, you know, if you look at, for example, and as I said at the start of this video, I thought Sunderland finished the game much the stronger than Sheffield United, much the stronger.
01:02Yes, not creating loads of chances, but I thought they were clearly the team in the ascendancy and who physically looked stronger.
01:08And if you look at the key players on the pitch at that time, Joe Bellingham, Enzo Le Fay, Tommy Watson, obviously, who we've talked about, these are, in a lot of cases, players whose minutes were really carefully managed towards the end of the season.
01:23In Watson's case, for example, playing quite a lot so he could get back to match fitness from injury, even though it was affecting Sunderland's play because he was clearly struggling for match fitness.
01:32Enzo Le Fay, Sunderland, were desperate for him at times in those last few games of the season in terms of the impact he would have made.
01:37But LeBrice didn't want to risk another injury and he wanted to gently get him back up to speed.
01:42So I think that, you know, again, Bellingham, who would have made an impact, but missed a couple of games with a little ankle problem.
01:47So I think that Regis' rotation policy did prove to be a factor because I think that you're absolutely right to point out that if someone ended up finishing, the tyres are stronger.
01:56And it definitely goes to prove that momentum probably isn't the most important thing coming to the playoffs.
02:00So, yeah, it's been really, really interesting to watch that evolve.
02:03And as I say, I think Regis' squad management and his ability to stay calm, even when the results dipped towards the end of the season, has been a big factor in the success.
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