Vito Mannone claims Paolo Di Canio was ‘strange’ and ‘overboard’ after once dropping him because he didn’t smile enough
The ex-Arsenal goalkeeper signed for Di Canio’s Sunderland in 2013 and spent two years on Wearside before moving on to Reading for a £2m fee two years later but is still highly thought of by fans.
The former Hull man is best remembered for his Capital One semi-final penalty shoot-out heroics against Manchester United at Old Trafford - helping to seal Sunderland’s passage to a memorable Wembley final against Manchester City.
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Hide AdSpeaking to Graham McMillan-Mason on the Roker Report Podcast, Manonne made an admission about his former manager: “Everything is strange with him but he’s a man who really wanted to win and would do anything to win.
“Sometimes his behaviours were a little bit overboard, over the line but I can say he was a good coach.”
Manonne, a seven-time Italy U21 international, then recalled a bizarre incident in which he was dropped from the first team for his body language.
“A day or two before the beginning of the season I was going to start the game and he called me in the office and told me that I wasn’t going to play because I didn’t smile enough!
“I said ‘this is not possible’ and he said that ‘I looked very angry in training and looked like I didn’t want to lose any games,’” he concluded.