Former Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill has taken aim at his successor, Paolo Di Canio, by claiming that ‘he couldn’t manage a fish supper.’ The Italian replaced the Northern Irish manager to take charge of the Black Cats in 2013, asking numerous questions about the fitness of the squad that he had inherited from O’Neill. In 2024, over a decade later, O’Neill still holds a grudge at the public remarks made by the former Juventus and West Ham forward regarding the Black Cats.
MANAGERIAL CHARLATAN
"Paolo Di Canio? That managerial charlatan. I was the manager of Sunderland and left Sunderland and Paolo Di Canio came in, who made references to fitness.He lasted 16 weeks himself, including pre-season in there, and finally lost his job because the squad weren’t fit enough themselves."
BRILLIANT PLAYER, SHOCKING MANAGER
"So it bounced back on him. He was a brilliant, brilliant player but couldn’t manage a fish supper at the end of the day. It does rebound on you, it does. You can’t talk about the previous regime’s fitness. It might be right but don’t be starting (the job) publicly saying because it can come back to haunt you."
RAN OUT OF EXCUSES
"Paolo stepped in there and basically, as weeks ran on, he ran out of excuses. I had a wry smile on my face. It’s like a 27-year-old manager stepping in and the first thing you do is criticise the fitness of the team beforehand. If you’ve ever seen Aston Villa play, you’ll see the one thing I pride myself on is my teams being fit. What you’ll find interesting is that when he started the team wasn’t fit for the Chelsea game. Then the following week when he won at Newcastle, not being fit wasn’t mentioned."
EXCUSES CAUGHT UP WITH HIM
"Then about two weeks later they got mauled by Aston Villa, someone asked him about the fitness. Suddenly he didn’t know where to go. Because the team, as it progresses, should be getting more fit. And then, at the start of the season, when he lost by a late goal at Southampton, he was asked about the fitness regime, that he was going to have them the fittest team in the league. Suddenly, the fitness wasn’t for that game but for Christmas, when the winter months set in. You know, I did have a wry smile at that one."
