Miliband quit too
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Paolo Di Canio has been revealed as Sunderland's left-field, kill-or-cure choice to stave off the threat of relegation from the Premier League.
The volatile former Lazio, Juventus, Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday and West Ham striker, and most recently the Swindon Town manager, was appointed head coach on a two-and-a-half-year deal after breakneck talks in the north-east.
The move immediately proved controversial, David Miliband, the former Labour MP, stepping down as a non executive director in protest at Di Canio's political past in which he has admitted to being a fascist but not a racist. Miliband said: "I wish Sunderland AFC all success in the future. It is a great institution that does a huge amount for the north-east and I wish the team very well over the next vital seven games. However, in the light of the new manager's past political statements, I think it right to step down."
Di Canio was probably looking for a reaction, but not necessarily that one, from a side perched precariously one point above the relegation zone and without a win in eight games. That dismal run provoked the sacking of Martin O'Neill on Saturday evening in the wake of a 1-0 home defeat by an under-strength Manchester United and by Sunday evening Di Canio had arrived on Wearside for advanced talks with Sunderland's owner, Ellis Short, which followed a meeting in London earlier in the day.
Short said: "Paolo is hugely enthused by the challenge that lies ahead of him. He is passionate, driven and raring to get started. The sole focus of everyone for the next seven games will be to ensure we gain enough points to maintain our top-flight status. I think that the chances of that are greatly increased with Paolo joining us.
"Our fans have shown tremendous patience and understanding this season. They have continued to back the team in huge numbers, both home and away, and that is something that continues to inspire all of us in our drive to give them the successful club they deserve. That remains our primary aim."
The 44-year-old Italian represents an intriguing choice on the part of Sunderland's wealthy American owner. Although Di Canio lacks Premier League managerial experience, he enjoyed an impressive 22-month stint in charge of Swindon after being appointed in May 2011.
During his first season the Wiltshire club were promoted from League Two and they are now in strong contention to win a second successive promotion after thriving in League One, despite operating within severe financial restrictions, including a ban on transfers. Di Canio is revered by many at the County Ground, where he is credited with transforming Swindon beyond recognition, although the club's former chief executive Nick Watkins said he "managed by hand grenade" and was "a challenge, no question". Watkins added: "He was demanding to work alongside and had his own management style. He managed very much from the heart and, along the way, created a bit of collateral damage I had to repair."
Before resigning in February over the sale of one of his star players, the winger Matt Ritchie to Bournemouth, Di Canio offered to pay £30,000 out of his own pocket to keep loan signings at the club. Since then he has made it plain that he feels ready to manage in the Premier League and, with Sunderland contemplating a calamitous relegation in financial terms, Short was ready to gamble on him.
After investing more than £100m in the north-east club, the financier is deeply disappointed by the poor return but trusts that a man still notorious for pushing over the referee Paul Alcock while playing for Wednesday against Arsenal in 1998 and making fascist salutes to Lazio's fans can shock his team into a revival. With Sunderland scheduled to visit Chelsea and Newcastle before entertaining Everton and then travelling to Aston Villa, a fast improvement is imperative.
That rug really tied the room together.Comment
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The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.Comment
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At least the road to relegation will now be interesting for Sunderland fans.
I'm imagining last day heartbreak culminating with Paolo pushing over the ref and goose stepping around The Stadium of Light.A humble guy with healthy desire.Comment
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The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.Comment
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"I will make the boys feel your support"
Jurgen Klopp June 2020Comment
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or they manage to stay up and paolo celebrates it with a roman salute and the board do the same because it's just paolo's trademark celebration, no politics involved.Originally posted by The Erectile Banana View PostComment
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Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.
May the Lord bless this post.Comment
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Di Canio getting some serious heat for the facist incidents/comments. Funny how being a Premiership facist is a big deal but when you manage Swindon Town, it doesn't really matter if you're a facist
Is more being made of it because of Milliband?Comment
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JURGEN KLOPP - LIVERPOOL MANAGER
YNWA
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I don't know what the point is you're both trying to make. His support for fascism has been mentioned before, including during his time at Swindon.
However if you're trying to say that Swindon Town, then of League 2, have a much lower media profile than Sunderland, currently in the Premiership, then yeah, but that's hardly news!.
Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.
May the Lord bless this post.Comment
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sportingintelligence @sportingintel 8m
Gd point by @Marcotti on 5Live. BBC gave 'fascist' Di Canio a column. 6 months ago! (attached) http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19749668 … pic.twitter.com/krrrKJInX5Oh I don't know.Comment
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Maybe I've missed it but from what I've heard he's reiterated his rejection of racism but said nothing overt to deny the quote about being a fascist. Meanwhile Sunderland have explicitly linked fascism and racism and have implied he's neither. Which is it?
And until he rejects it I don't see why he should be described as 'fascist' when, from words attributed to him and from his actions, he's actually a fascist..
Suppose you have a physicist and a sociologist standing at the side of a field, observing a set of events unfolding on the field. The physicist does [describes] it using the terminology of mass and velocity and frequency of radiation and the rest. And the sociologist does it by describing it as a rugby match.
May the Lord bless this post.Comment
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His support for facism is pretty well known like you say. He mentioned it about 7 or 8 years ago and his stance was further echoed in his autobiography. He's been managing in this country for a while since expressing his views. I don't remember such a public outcry until now. So the issue really isn't him being a facist is it. If it was they'd have been hounding him constantly about it and it making front page news before him taking a Premiership jobOriginally posted by Neil Young View Post
On a different note, wasn't Aquilani also a facist?Comment
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