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Paolo di Canio remonstrates with the Sunderland fans after the match against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on September 21, 2013. West Brom won 3-0. (Getty Images)
When he took over in March, Sunderland were in danger of relegation; di Canio bolstered his credibility by saving them from the drop, engineering a 3-0 defeat of local rivals Newcastle United along the way.
Di Canio asked for, and was granted, a large summer budget and the freedom to use it as he deemed fit. He signed 14 new players, sold Stephane Sessegnon and stripped Lee Cattermole of the captaincy.
Presumably all these decisions were cleared with Sunderland’s management – specifically director of football Roberto di Fanti, another Italian. Why then is di Canio alone being held responsible for poor performances?
To observers on Wearside, this is history repeating itself. Sunderland’s love affair with volatile player-turned-managers goes back seven years, when they hired the newly-retired Roy Keane as manager.
The former Manchester United captain took them from 23rd in the Championship all the way to the Premier League and ensured that the club survived the crucial first season at the top. However, Keane was sacked amidst much acrimony during the 2008-09 season.
Like Keane, di Canio had a reputation as a troublemaker in his time; where Keane was regarded as malicious and spiteful, di Canio was perhaps eccentric. Likewise, both have had a bitter falling-out with their players, accusing them of not working hard enough.
Keane once infamously left two players behind when they were five minutes late for the team coach; Sunderland lost that match, but Keane was unflappable in his post-match comments. And he frequently and publicly accused his players of not possessing a winning mentality.
To conclude the comparison, both men wanted to rebuild Sunderland in their own image, and both juggernauts have been brought to a high-friction halt.
After the 3-0 away defeat to West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Saturday, di Canio walked over to the away stands to ‘converse’ with the angry Sunderland travelling brigade. He raised his chin and pointed at it with his forefinger. To the irate fans it looked provocative rather than motivational.
The fist was swung a day later. Sadly for di Canio, it was a knockout blow.
