When the delicate question comes John O’Shea leans forward in his chair and answers unequivocally. “An Irish man is never going to tell an Italian about fashion,” says Sunderland’s captain. “I won’t go down that route.”
The centre-half has chatted happily about Paolo Di Canio's forensic coaching and his unexpected human touches but mention of the grey V-necked jumper adorned by a startling purple and white diamond pattern that the manager teamed with a red tie at Chelsea last Sunday swiftly exposes O'Shea's diplomatic side. Not that he and his team-mates will care what Martin O'Neill's successor wears providing they end the season as a Premier League side, perhaps having won at Newcastle United tomorrow along the way.
Despite last Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge, growing relegation fears and the furore about their new manager’s vexed relationship with fascism, the club’s mood seems suddenly spring-like
"It's a fresh chance for everyone, including those who weren't in the team. The younger lads especially are enjoying it more. Everyone's buying into it. We're working a lot without the ball, on positioning, shape and pattern. The manager is very clued-in as to what is needed to get this team to survive and we're doing all we can on the training pitch to make sure we do."
Hand grenade
Di Canio's stewardship of Swindon Town has been described as management "by hand grenade" but O'Shea simply sees a meticulous, mud-on-boots coach, some of whose methods bear strong similarities to those deployed by Alex Ferguson's staff at Manchester United.
If the former West Ham and Lazio striker’s sometimes contradictory political beliefs appear deeply confused, his football brain seems sharply analytical. After finally distancing himself from fascism, Di Canio looks to have spent almost every waking hour immersing himself in the minute details of Sunderland’s deficiencies.
“It’s not a wacky world here,” says O’Shea who spent the bulk of his career playing for Ferguson. “It’s far removed from the impression people on the outside are trying to build up. That’s far from the truth of what’s going on, believe me. In some ways the coaching now is similar to what we used to do at United. There’s an emphasis on team shape and pattern, we’re doing quite a bit more on that than in the past and it’s something United did before big games.”
O’Shea “can’t really remember” marking Di Canio in a game, although he thinks he did so once. “Probably didn’t get near him," jokes a 31-year-old who will bear prime responsibility for keeping Papiss Cisse and, possibly, Shola Ameobi quiet tomorrow.
Armageddon
With Sunderland without a win in nine games and only goal difference keeping them out of the bottom three, the derby against a Newcastle side who are not yet quite safe either is being hyped as do or die. Strip away the near hysterical media top-spin though and the prospect of relegation still probably feels like Armageddon to Ellis Short, Sunderland's owner.
O’Neill recently claimed the squad lacked “real, true ability”. Di Canio is on a mission to prove that stellar coaching really can make swans of apparently ugly ducklings. So far the indications are that it will be conducted against a backdrop of tentative democracy rather than full-on dictatorship. Already Di Canio has sought individual opinions during a series of private chats with his players and O’Shea has been singled out for several such tete-a-tetes with the manager.
There has been no blizzard of rules and regulations, with the main off-field changes regarding lunches, two of which each week must be eaten communally. "There's always great Italian food on the menu," O'Shea says. "The more of it the better. Eating together is not the hardest thing in the world. Two days a week he wants all the lads having a bit of craic and food together. It doesn't make people go out and score hat-tricks but it's good for team spirit, morale and camaraderie. The lads have no problem with it whatsoever."
Banned mushrooms
Giovanni Trapattoni, quickly banned O'Shea and his international team-mates from eating certain foods including mushrooms but, apart from restricting Sunderland's alcohol consumption, Di Canio has not proved as stringent as imagined. Even butter, banned at Swindon, is permitted.
“Mushrooms are still okay and there’s been no problem with butter,” says O’Shea. “The manager just wants to do his best to ensure Sunderland survive. If that means having or not having a meal at a certain time the boys are going to stick to it. No problem.”
