Let us call it the end of an error. In the 70-word statement that brought a finish to Paolo Di Canio’s turbulent tenure as head coach last night, the Sunderland board ticked the usual boxes by offering their gratitude and wishing him well. It was probably not the time or the place for them to ask aloud what on earth they had been thinking.
You did not have to be Nostradamus last March to fear the worst for the unlikely marriage between an eccentric, autocratic, confrontational, attention-seeking Italian with right-wing tendencies and a stable working-class club in the North East of England. The surprise, in some respects, was that it lasted as long as it did — 175 days — and that no further damage was incurred before Ellis Short, the Sunderland owner, rectified that bizarre lapse of judgment.
Nick Watkins, the former Swindon Town chief executive, reflected on Di Canio’s time at the County Ground by describing his approach as “management by hand grenade”. Jeremy Wray, the former chairman, called it “pure box-office”. At Sunderland, the box-office aspect amused the media, if nobody else, but the metaphorical hand grenades causing untold damage in the dressing room as Hurricane Paolo left a trail of destruction.
He came, he saw and, after that unedifying debate about his political views, he did at least claim a famous conquest when he led Sunderland to a spectacular 3-0 victory over Newcastle United at St James’ Park. If the ship had been in danger of sinking under Martin O’Neill, Di Canio brought improvement in the short term, as Sunderland avoided relegation, but it did not take long for the doubts about his suitability to increase.
Both publicly and privately, Di Canio seemed to wage war on his players.
His criticisms both of individuals — including Phil Bardsley, Titus Bramble, Lee Cattermole and Connor Wickham — and of the collective attitude of his squad might have won approval externally, playing to the idea of the overpaid, underperforming footballer, but internally they only increased the sense of dysfunction at a club where staleness had given way to something more toxic. In any workplace, a manager can only get results if his approach unites and inspires those working under him.
Di Canio seemed to thrive on conflict — and not obviously as a means to an end.
When asked recently about his management style, after his team’s dreadful start to the new season, Di Canio made a point of brandishing a printout of a speech on management that Sir Alex Ferguson had made at Harvard University. “Here,” the Italian said. “Point No 4. Never, ever cede control. This is Paolo Di Canio. This is why I am at top level.” Unfortunately, Di Canio never established control at Sunderland. This reflects poorly on his players, as well as on him, but the approach never works. As became clear over the weekend, with the abject 3-0 defeat by West Bromwich Albion followed by heated exchanges at the training ground yesterday, the tension between Di Canio and his players meant that something had to give.
Sunderland’s problem was that they invested so much credibility in the Di Canio project and that a huge and strange turnover of players this summer was overseen by Roberto De Fanti, the former agent who is now the club’s director of football.
Of the 14 new signings, none has made the slightest impression as Sunderland have taken one point from their first five Premier League matches. Roberto Di Matteo, if appointed, may at least bring a degree of continuity for the Italian regime.
Di Canio got the Sunderland job on the back of his name, albeit having done well at Swindon. The problem was that the Di Canio name was central to the story.
At The Hawthorns on Saturday, he spent the immediate minutes after the match standing in front of the Sunderland supporters, gesturing towards them in a vain attempt at solidarity with them in looking to distance himself from a struggling team.
It was bizarre, but then so was his tenure from start to finish.
If Di Canio is to succeed as a manager, it will be having learnt from the mistakes he made at Sunderland.
Management by ego and by hand grenade does not work — at least not when, as with Di Canio at Sunderland, there seems not to be enough to back it up.
