Paolo Di Catio

PAOLO DI CANIO was last night named as Sunderland’s new manager — just 24 hours after Martin O’Neill’s sacking.

The Italian, pictured arriving at the Stadium of Light last night, signed a 2½-year deal as Black Cats owner Ellis Short takes a huge gamble on his club’s Premier League status.
And the Di Canio effect began immediately — with David Miliband MP resigning from his role as vice-chairman because of the new boss’s “past political statements”. Di Canio has admitted to being “a fascist”.
But Short said: “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.”
Di Canio, 44, is a huge risk having managed only as high as League One with Swindon.
He led the Robins to promotion but quit in February citing a number of off-field events — before launching a stunning night-time raid of his old office.
Di Canio is also a cheap option for Short and Sunderland, who last week announced losses of £27million.
Martyn McFadden, editor of fanzine A Love Supreme, said: “I wanted a manager with top-flight experience. Potentially, he’s a good manager but he could be a PR own-goal.”