Paolo di Canio at Sunderland: What went wrong?

What went wrong?

One of the earliest instances of alarm from the Sunderland camp came with di Canio fining seven players for a night on the town. The players were fined for misconduct and were reprimanded by the manager. This prompted the PFA to launch an investigation into the merit of the fine.

Di Canio’s crazy celebration did not impress everyone

A more famous incident was that of full-back Phil Bardsley. Bardsley demonstrated an exemplary lack of reasoning for a professional footballer when a picture of him lying on £50 notes in a casino went viral on the internet. The photograph showed Bardsley flat on his back covered in £50 notes, with his arms splayed out. Di Canio was swift to condemn the incident, and rightly so, but what shocked the footballing community was his 24-minute rant against the player.

Also, his decision to indefinitely freeze-out both Bardsley and Matthew Kilgallon, who was also in the same picture, was thought to be slightly excessive. He then threatened that the players will be sold off the next year, and that he had the backing of the owner in his actions. His blanket ban on players consuming alcohol also came as a surprise to many, considering the culture in England. It was then that whispered reports began to emerge from the dressing room that the players were unhappy with the authoritarian rule of the manager, with some calling it tyrannical.

Did he deserve it?

No doubt that di Canio’s methods were controversial and non-conformal, to say the least, but it was to be seen if the tactic that worked at Swindon Town would work at a Premier League club, where players had bigger reputations. Now, looking back, it seems like it was a failure, but was it the only factor in di Canio’s downfall at the club?

Tactically, the Italian played an almost 4-2-4 system, with an emphasis on passing. But, it was the height of naïvety to expect that this would be enough in the Premier League. His system revolved more on the work-rate of the players than positioning or movement. Di Canio put an emphasis on the players tracking back and covering, which while being important, still needs to be complemented by solid tactics. This is where di Canio failed the most, because once the players started becoming disenchanted with his methods, their effort on the pitch also declined.

Also, the sale of Stéphane Sessègnon led to unrest among supporters. Sessègnon was, more often than not, Sunderland’s most outstanding creative force, even though he was as unpredictable as he was talented, prone to moments of lethargy and disinterest.

Though, the final nail in di Canio’s coffin arrived with the abysmal run of form exhibited by Sunderland this season. Out of the six matches Sunderland have played this season, their only win came in the Capital One Cup; a laboured 4-2 win over MK Dons, after coming from two goals behind, through a good showing from England under-21 international Connor Wickham, who scored twice after coming on as a substitute.

In his other five matches, di Canio has a record of L D L L L. A run of matches that has seen them wind up at the bottom of the league. After his team’s loss to West Brom, di Canio launched a bizarre touchline tirade against the fans, wildly gesticulating at them.

One image from that scene stands out sharply: that of one fan mouthing “you’ll be out by next morning”. It seems we have a soothsayer here. But di Canio leaves just as he came in, with screaming and shouting around him, with him, in the eye of the tornado.