The media’s reaction to the dumping of the Italian.
After just five matches into the new Premier League season, Sunderland decided to sack manager Paolo Di Canio on Sunday night.
The club’s 3-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday was the Black Cats’ fourth in five league matches and the side sit bottom of the table currently with just one point.
Di Canio’s stance of singling out players for blame appeared to have taken a sour turn when the 45-year-old called a team meeting on Sunday following the loss, reports the Daily Mail.
The crisis discussion to see what went wrong quickly turned into a full-blown argument as the squad slammed their boss for the tactics being used at the club.
A group of senior stars at the Stadium of Light told Di Canio in no uncertain terms that they did not want to play for the former West Ham United striker.
The Mirror have run with a similar story, stating owner Ellis Short realised that there was no option other than to ditch the manager after such a poor start and the complaints from players.
Di Canio’s time in the north east was certainly not short of talking points, as the boss publicly criticised first team members such as Phil Bardsley and Matthew Kilgallon – who has since left the club.
The whole saga of confrontational behaviour came to a head when the manager conducted a bizarre standoff with the traveling Sunderland fans after the West Brom defeat.
Kevin Ball has occupied a caretaker role until a successor is found, whilst Di Canio’s assistant Fabrizio Piccareta, goalkeeper coach Domencio Doardo and fitness coach Claudio Donatelli are all understood to have had their contracts terminated too.
According to the Northern Echo, ex-Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo is the favourite to take over, but Gus Poyet, Steve McClaren, Tony Pulis and Roberto Mancini are also in the running.
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