DI CANIO TAKES OVER

Sunderland recently appointed Paolo Di Canio as the replacement for Martin O’Neill, and the new manager has said that he is confident of keeping the club in the division. Sunderland are just one point above the relegation zone with seven matches remaining in the season.

They have been for all season long, but the recent run of results has left the club extremely close to the drop zone. Three clubs are relegated at the end of the season. Paolo Di Canio has been extremely successful in his first managerial job at Swindon Town.

However, there have been some reservations about the Sunderland manager being promoted straight from League One. The former West Ham United player, though, has said that he wants to create a professional ethic within the dressing room and extract the maximum out of his players. Di Canio has signed a two and half year contract with the club. After his appointment, the Sunderland vice-chairman David Miliband quit the club due to the past fascism remarks by the Italian. However, he refused to answer questions about his political views by insisting that he is at Sunderland as a football manager.

Sunderland will have a tough test in the first game for Di Canio, as they will be facing Chelsea during the weekend.

“It’s clear that it was a shock but this if football because I know that when there is a shock somebody is happy and somebody is unhappy. It depends who came here under Martin O’Neill. It’s a typical situation, but we are here for a mission, the same mission and that is to keep the club in the Premier League. To be honest, there is a foundation which is already very good,” said Paolo Di Canio. Sunderland have no victories in the last five league matches.