FORMER Sunderland midfielder Tommy Miller today offered an insight into the Paolo Di Canio regime and warned the current Black Cats crop that they are in for a shock. Shotton Colliery-born Miller was signed by Di Canio for Swindon Town during the summer and was placed in caretaker charge of the Robins when the Italian tendered his resignation at the County Ground in February. The 34-year-old paints a picture of the volatile and passionate figure which the new Sunderland head coach has been renowned for ever since his playing days. But it is on the training ground where Miller says Di Canio will instantly make his mark when he takes charge of Sunderlandâs players for the first time today. After Di Canio led Swindon from League Two to the top of League One before resigning from the cash-strapped club though, Miller believes the former Sheffield Wednesday striker has proved his methods produce results. Miller told the Gazette: âHeâs totally different to any other manager I have played for, but he is very good once you buy into what he is all about. âHeâs massive on discipline and wonât take any nonsense from anybody. âHeâs very hands-on, both on the training pitch and away from it. âHis attention to detail on everything is first-class. He knows everything about the opposition heâs facing. âTraining will be totally different to anything they are used to. Heâll work with groups of defenders, then the midfielders and then the forwards. âHeâs excellent with the defenders considering he was such an attack-minded player. Heâs got that Italian mentality defensively. âThat wins you games and he did that at Swindon.â Miller says Di Canio will take most of the training himself, with assistant Fabricio Piccareta â expected to be confirmed as Sunderlandâs new number two this week â concentrating on analysis. âHis number two, Fabricio, does not do much of the coaching,â he said. âHe is big on the video analysis, while Paolo likes to be hands on with everything to do with the football.â There will be no let-up for Sunderlandâs players in Di Canioâs training regime either. A day off will be a rarity for the Black Cats squad, yet after joining Swindon on a free transfer in June, Miller says he quickly learned the benefits of that rigorous prepartion. âI went down the day before I signed and he explained some of the stuff that went on and I thought âreally?â,â said the ex-Hartlepool United man. âYou rarely get days off. He doesnât like that English mentality of days off. âHe believes in working hard to get fit. âThe first six to eight weeks there were quite tough. You had to be mentally strong. âBut as you got further down the line, you could see the reason for him doing it. âI have not been as fit since I was in the youth team at Hartlepool. âHe got me in the best place I have ever been in fitness-wise and I felt great for it. âYou canât knock his ideas because they worked.â Di Canio was notorious for pulling no punches with his players at Swindon. He substituted 21-year-old goalkeeper Wes Foderingham just 21 minutes into a 4-1 defeat at Preston, and came to blows with striker Leon Clarke after a League Cup defeat at Southampton. Miller is watching on eagerly to see how Di Canio deals with Premier League players, but is convinced the 44-year-old will act in exactly the same manner. âThere are some big players at Sunderland and theyâre not the same type of players,â he said. âIt will be interesting to see how he deals with bigger characters, but he is a strong believer in his own ideas and I donât think he will change. âIt doesnât matter how much of a name you are or how much money you earn. âHe has got his rules and his plans, and he wonât change for anybody.â The appointment of Di Canio has immediately made headlines, on a similar level to when Roy Keane took charge at the Stadium of Light. And Miller, who was on Wearside when Keane became Sunderland manager, sees similarities between the pair. âItâs similar, but Paolo is a bit more hands-on,â added Miller, who made 33 appearances for Sunderland during two years at the club. âRoy Keane sat back and watched a lot of things in training. âBut Paolo has got a presence. When he speaks you listen. âHe is very volatile, but deep down the majority of the lads liked him. âThere were a few incidents that went on, but he did very well for the bulk of the players, helping them along the way and possibly making them better players.â
This is a good read to be fair and I like the hands on approach. Hopefully there is an immediate effect and we can get to 37 points ASAP. He will then have the summer to make some moves for next season. If we go down, expect total upheaval in the summer and a huge lurch backwards for the club.
Could make or break the likes of Johnson. He doesn't look sharp to me so he could improve him, but it could go the other way.
Really good read this, thanks for the insight into our head coach Tommy. I like this, seems like its his way or the highway. Attention to detail is everything in today's game and he sound very professional with it. Shame we don't have eight weeks to get the players fit. All we can wish him is good luck!
And if said players don't respond he will publicly oust them and the fans will really turn on them for not pulling there weight. If we go down they will leave or be pushed and we won't have lazy players on the books. Love it.....!!!!!! I'm starting to really like the route we are taking with PDC.
An excellent read. Agree with your post Cest apart from that bit. I don`t see that as necessarily the case. Why do you suggest it`s a foregone conclusion? We`ve had the scattergun approach of Bruce, then the quiet gentle method of MON neither of which got us very far. Perhaps if the players can`t (or won`t) respond to the above, then it`s time for fireworks.
This is encouraging, particularly the fitness bit. Maybe a young, aggressive, manager is the way to go. I would probably have stuck with MON if I was Ellis, but we'll see.
if they dont respond then they arent being very proffessional and wont be doing a lot to earn their high wages, they arent responding now so i cant see the club being any worse off if they take offense at earning their money the hard way.
