Charismatic Italian Paolo Di Canio’s reign as the Sunderland manager has sadly come to an end after his players turned on him in a furious training ground confrontation.
Paolo Di Canio summoned his players for a crisis meeting at the club’s Cleadon training ground on Sunday morning following their 3 -0 loss to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
The meeting quickly turned its head after Di Canio decided to blame a number of players for their poor performance this season.
Some of the players did not like the Italians approach and went ahead to tell him what they thought of him. They even said they did not like Di Canio and did not want to play for him.
Di Canio dared them to report him to report to the management and have them sack him if they no longer wanted him in charge.
According to Sportsmail, the details of the meeting were relayed to Ellis Short (Sunderland Chairman), who took the decision to send Di Canio packing after six months in charge.
Short quickly informed the director of football Roberto Di Fanti of decision.
A players meeting is expected to happen this morning to inform the squad of their decision.
The club released this statement via their twitter page:
‘Sunderland AFC confirms that it has parted company with Head Coach Paolo Di Canio this evening. Kevin Ball will take charge of the squad ahead of Tuesday night’s Capital One Cup game against Peterborough United and an announcement will be made in due course regarding a permanent successor. The club would like to place on record its thanks to Paolo and his staff and wishes them well for the future.’
After their loss away to West Brom on Saturday, Di Canio walked over to face the travelling supporters, who made their feelings known.
“I absorb the insults as it’s part of the game – if I was in their position I’d be furious,” he said. “But I’m professional: 24 hours a day I work for this cause. One day their reaction will be a different reaction.
“I knew that they were furious. I went to them because I wanted to see their faces. It’s easy to go over when they’re clapping or singing your name. I’m responsible but my head is up. I won’t give up.
“It’s obvious we’re still not together. We don’t have many leaders in terms of desire to play with a premier style.
“I’m never going to change my regime. I am what I am. My way to manage the team is for the top, top level. I have to be clear to everyone – the board, the chairman, the fans – I’m never going to change.
“One day, if I receive the full support from the players, we will turn the corner.”
Di Canio has only had 3 wins out of 16 games for Sunderland, the club currently lies at the bottom of the Premier League table with just 1 point and a goal difference of -8.