FANS on the streets of Sunderland today (Monday April 1) gave a mixed reaction to the appointment of Paolo Di Canio, with some saying previous political statements made him unsuitable and other arguing it made no difference.

Most agreed that saving the Black Cats from relegation was the priority, and that the Italian would be judged on the results he gets from the players during the remaining games of the season.

Council worker Alan Lamb, 43, from Sunderland, said it was time for a change of manager at the Stadium of Light, adding: “We fought a world war to defeat fascism. Do we want that at Sunderland? I would not have thought so. Let’s see how he gets on.”

Accounts assistant Lyndsey Magee, 27, from South Shields, said she did not care about his background as long as team’s performance improves.

She said: “Politics has no place in football.”

Demolition worker Alan Richardson, 52, from Sunderland, said the key for Di Canio was make sure Sunderland beat arch rivals Newcastle.

He said: “His past should not make any difference. I think he has been fetched in for us to beat Newcastle and stop up and what happens then I do not know.

“But O’Neill should have gone three games ago in my opinion.”

Laura Waiter, 21, who works at B&Q, and is from Sunderland, thinks he will be a hit with fans.

She said: “I think he is going to be popular. I think he will because we have been doing really badly lately. It is not an improvement but it is a change and hopefully it will be for the better.

“I don’t think whether he is a fascist will come into it very much, except in the papers.”