Former Sunderland manager Paulo Di Canio has gone viral after an audio recording of his rant against the appointment of Roma boss Jose Mourinho somehow got leaked.
Mourinho was recently appointed the new manager of Roma and is scheduled to take charge of the Serie A club from next season.
Di Canio was less than impressed with the decision to hire Mourinho and made his thoughts known to his friend.
The message was seemingly a voice message sent by Di Canio to a friend which was later posted on Youtube where it spread rapidly.
“You’ve got the worst of the worst,” Di Canio said in the recording. “I understand you needed a big name at this moment, but it’s like when you sign a player who is finished.
“Mourinho just wanted a job with money, he’s had his third sacking in four years, kicked out from everywhere due to the incompatibility of his character and before that’s all he was good at, having character.
“Now Tottenham gave him the boot for his results and incapacity to take the team to another level after two years with all the money they spent. He’s finished in every conceivable way.
“He doesn’t even play football, he plays anti-football. You might enjoy yourselves in a few press conferences because controversy makes for good theatre, but let me tell you, to reconstruct a team, he’s the worst you could possibly get.
“And I can say that because he was my favourite up until seven years ago, even more than Pep Guardiola.”
After the audio went viral, the Italian received a lot of criticism for his views. Some people even asked him to apologise for his utterances as they were deemed unprofessional.
Also read:
- Jose Mourinho Lands Job As AS Roma Boss
- Luke Shaw Hits Back At Mourinho In Press Conference
- Mkhitaryan: “Mourinho Only Cares About The Three Points”
In an interview with Corriere dello Sport, the Italian who is now a pundit on Sky Sports addressed the leak.
“Firstly, I don’t have to apologise to anyone. It was a private conversation and I can do as I please,” he said.
“Secondly, that audio was part of another six or seven messages in which I said very positive things about Mourinho. It’s cowardly that they only leaked that part.
“It’s a ridiculous and pathetic story. We were talking for fun, I was making fun of an old friend.”
He added: “There was talk of [hiring Maurizio] Sarri, of playing attractive football. I said that Mourinho has lost appeal. He no longer seems to me to have the strength, the energy, to stay at the top level for 24 hours a day.
“My joke also meant that he won’t win the Scudetto, but maybe he will, who knows? With this Roma side you can reach the top six with your eyes closed.
“I didn’t say what I said to belittle Roma, but the opposite. Years ago, I would have said that Mourinho is a luxury for Roma, now I say that Roma is a luxury for Mourinho.”
Di Canio went on to say that with the personality of Mourinho, he doesn’t expect a response from the former Inter Boss.
“He has big shoulders, he will make his jokes,” he said of the Portuguese.
“He will say ‘Di Canio who? The one sacked from Sunderland after five days?’ He won’t give a damn about it.”
Enjoyed the article? Share with others as well. Stay in the know, follow us on Twitter @punditgist.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.