Martin O'Neill says ex-Sunderland boss 'couldn't manage a fish supper' as he reignites old feud

Former Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill has reignited an old feud with Paolo Di Canio with fresh comments.

The Italian former West Ham and Celtic player took over from O'Neill as Sunderland’s manager while the club were in the Premier League in March 2013 and managed to keep the Black Cats in the top flight as well as defeating Newcastle United 3-0 at St James’ Park.

However, Di Canio was sacked the following season after Sunderland had gained just one point from their opening five games with the former striker dismissed after a loss away to West Brom ending his controversial reign.

Di Canio was critical of his predecessor O’Neill several times and accused Sunderland’s squad of being unfit after he took over duties at the Academy of Light following the former Nottingham Forest player’s sacking.

O’Neill, though, reignited the feud on talkSPORT recently: "I was the manager of Sunderland and left Sunderland and Paolo Di Canio came in who made references to fitness. He lasted about 16 weeks himself, including pre-season in there, and finally lost his job because the squad weren't fit enough themselves.

"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."

When asked about his successor, O'Neill said: "Paolo Di Canio? That managerial charlatan – absolutely, yes. Paolo stepped in there and basically, as weeks ran on, he ran out of excuses. I had a wry smile to myself.

"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 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. 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."

Neither Di Canio, 55, nor 72-year-old O’Neill are active in the football management game currently. O’Neill continues to work as a pundit and recently released an autobiography. Di Canio was linked with a move to the Middle East to join Roberto Mancini with the Saudi Arabia national team but a deal was not reached.