Paolo di Canio was a polarising figure as both a player and a manager.
As a player, He could produce the spectacular like the scissor goal against Wimbledon for West Ham, the sporting like when he caught the ball instead of scoring a late winning goal when the goalkeeper was injured, and the downright bizarre like the infamous shove on referee Paul Alcock after he'd been sent off for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal.
The one thing you couldn't say is that di Canio lacked passion.
This passion sometimes annoyed people when he was a player and as a manager.
Take for example, the passionate slide Di Canio took as the Sunderland manager in the North-East derby against Newcastle back in April 2013. It was the first of Sunderland's four consecutive wins over their rivals, and Di Canio's slide for Sunderland's 3rd goal caused some ire amongst the Newcastle staff. Their then assistant coach John Carver has admitted that he wanted to attack Di Canio:
When Paolo was sliding on his knees, I’ve never been so agitated in my life. I wanted to take the law into my own hands that day because of what I was watching in our stadium.
There were some unsavoury scenes after that game, as fans engaged in some violent clashes. That's the stakes up in the North-East.
When Newcastle travel to the Stadium Of Light, he's hoping to reverse these results. Carver hasn't had a great record since he took over as manager, but a win against Sunderland could go a long way to getting the job on a permanent basis.
This match is that important in the North-East.
