Paolo Di Canio's tumultuous reign as Sunderland manager came to an end after his players turned on him during a furious training ground bust-up.
The fiery Italian called his stars in for a crisis meeting at the club’s Cleadon training ground on Sunday following their disappointing 3-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
But the summit quickly turned sour after Di Canio pointed the finger at a number of his players, blaming them for their poor start to the season.
A clutch of his players, however, are understood to have responded angrily at Di Canio’s dressing down, telling the Italian in no uncertain terms what they thought of him.
It is believed certain players told the manager, who signed 14 players during the summer transfer window, they did not like him and did not want to play for him.
Di Canio is then said to have told his disgruntled players to tell the club’s hierarchy to sack him if they no longer wanted him in charge.
A statement confirmed Di Canio’s departure last night: ‘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.’
Short wanted to give Di Canio until after the international break to turn things around - but details of the angry confrontation has forced the issue.
Sunderland remain bottom of the Barclays Premier League without a win - and with fixtures against Manchester United and Liverpool on the horizon the task of climbing up the table will not be easier.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon and former Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo will be contenders to replace Di Canio.
Di Canio arrived at the Stadium of Light in March, taking over from Martin O’Neill.
The Italian’s appointment had the desired effect as he saved the club from relegation but a series of bust-ups with his players placed huge question marks over his position at the club.
Members of the squad have been incensed by the former West Ham forward’s decision to publicly criticise players and have complained privately about his strict training regime.
It seems yet another confrontation has hammered the final nail in Di Canio’s Sunderland coffin.
No comments:
Post a Comment