So as you may have heard, Paolo Di Canio has been fired by Sunderland and with the reasons being clear to everyone to see. I thought I’d look at some of his highs and lows.
To start with, I don’t think Di Canio is that bad at being a manager. He did an exceptional job for a long period at Swindon and no matter how bitter his time at Sunderland may have ended, it will forever be etched in the history of the Premier League that he saved Sunderland from relegation in the 2012/2013 season. It may not be a long entry into the records book, mind, but no one can take from him what he did by saving Sunderland, and with their infrastructure in the Stadium of Light, should really, really be nowhere near the bottom of the Premier League. To extend my previous statement, he is an absolutely awful man-manager.
It appears some of the more internal problems that were caused by Di Canio and his regime have been revealed to the press, such as he stated to the players that if they had a problem with him they should go to the board and tell them to sack him…which they did. What a poor execution of reverse psychology by Paolo, ey?
It seems Kevin Ball, the new caretaker manager will be fighting a fire storm to reverse the strictness implemented by Di Canio, but that has the risk twinned with it regarding the possibility they may become to relaxed, and a lazy Lee Cattermole is an even worse footballer, Sunderland fans.