Titus Bramble blasts Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio: 'he thinks he knows everything, but he has a lot to learn' Titus Bramble has told Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio he has an overinflated ego and will rapidly lose the dressing room if he continues to be more concerned with his image than his players. Parting shot: Titus Bramble says Paolo Di Canio seems more worried about his image outside of the club than anything else Photo: GETTY IMAGES By Luke Edwards7:00AM BST 05 Jun 201349 Comments Bramble is full of praise for Di Canioâs ability as a coach, but was flabbergasted by the way he spoke about, and treated, Sunderlandâs players during a volatile first two months in charge. Although Di Canio kept Sunderland in the Premier League, after replacing Martin OâNeill with seven games left to play, Bramble insists he has a lot to learn as a manager. Bramble was one of the players heavily fined by the Italian towards the end of the season, two weeks wages for missing a weights session he is adamant nobody told him about. The Professional Footballersâ Association is fighting his case, but the central defender, whose contract at Sunderland expires at the end of the month, disclosed that Di Canio was in danger of alienating the players who remain on Wearside. âIâve never played under anyone like him and Iâve played for some of the best managers around,â said Bramble. âSteve Bruce, Roberto MartÃnez and Sir Bobby Robson. He thinks he knows everything, but he has got a lot to learn. âHeâs got a long, long way to go before he gets anywhere near as good as Sir Bobby Robson. Heâs a young manager trying to stamp his mark on things, but heâs making some big mistakes. âHeâs targeted the easy players, the ones who are leaving anyway, trying to show heâs the boss. I was fined for not going to a weights session. Everyone else at the club thought it was ridiculous, but heâs trying to be tough. âThe fines he has tried to dish out are way too harsh. Iâve been told by the PFA he did exactly the same thing at Swindon and they fought him then too. He was fine at first, but heâs a strange person. âWe all remember what he did as a player, shoving a referee over. He was no angel and players know that. Then he comes in and starts trying to make out heâs an angel and does everything perfectly. âThere are a lot of strong characters in that Sunderland dressing room and he is upsetting them. It isnât just those who are leaving.â Di Canio, whose only other managerial experience came at League One Swindon, will probably dismiss Brambleâs comments as the grumblings of a disgruntled player leaving the club, but the 31-year-old is vastly experienced and has never previously fallen out with a manager. âHeâs a good coach on the training pitch,â added Bramble. âEverything is so detailed. Heâs one of the best Iâve played for in that respect, but his man management skills need a lot of work. âI never got any impression he was racist. From what I saw of him, he doesnât care about a playerâs colour or creed. âObviously, we were aware of the fascism thing, and the pictures of him doing the salute in Italy, but Iâve always refused to prejudge anyone and he never gave any indication he held those sorts of views.â Instead, Bramble argued Di Canioâs main flaw is he is too concerned about his own image and not those who play for him. âHe comes out in the media and hammers players and he hasnât said a word to them. Imagine how Connor Wickham felt when he was told by his family what the manager had said about him [being too worried about how he looks] in the press. âHeâs never said anything like that to his face. Heâs 19 and the manager is battering him in the media. âFine, say that behind closed doors, keep it in house. Managers have a go at players all the time, but in the dressing room or in their office. You donât see the top managers behaving like he does. âHe seems to be more worried about his image outside of the club, sounding good in the media, than anything else. Itâs a dangerous game to play.â Bramble would like to remain in the Premier League and could link up with either West Ham or Hull City this summer, but beyond that, a player who has divided opinion throughout his career, wants to coach when he retires. Given the rarity of black coaches in the game, Brambleâs ambition should be welcomed, but he does not want to be fast-tracked. âI hope I can go into coaching, I can teach the kids coming through, not just about playing, but the mistakes to avoid,â he explained. âBut I never want to be given a job or make a shortlist because of the colour of my skin, just as I wouldnât want to not get a job because of it. âI donât like all this positive discrimination stuff, itâs gone too far. If I get a job I want it to be because Iâm the best candidate. âMaking it on to a shortlist just because youâre black is racist if you think about it because the colour of the candidate is influencing the decision making. âItâs actually damaging to aspiring black coaches or managers because they will be thinking why did I get this job? The people they work with might be thinking the same. âThere will be more black coaches coming through because there are more black players now. But donât start trying to manipulate it, tick a politically correct box, by pushing black coaches through if they arenât good enough to do the job.â
Think it'll be a few pages back. Give it a read, it's quite fun, lot's of titus bashing. http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/214767-Titus-****-off-and-good-ridance!-dodgy-kernt!
I still think that for a million quid he was a good buy for us. We've paid more for worse in the past and just cos he can't keep his dick in his pants, doesn't make him a bad bloke.
Course he is but to bleat on about keeping things in house and then have a go at the first opportunity (even though he's gone) just makes him sound bitter........which I suppose he is..
tbf 2 wks wages for missing a gym session is shocking!!! he keeps that up the players will turn on him for sure.
