MARTIN O'NEILL has branded Paolo Di Canio, his successor as Sunderland manager, a “managerial charlatan” and mocked the Italian's bizarre attempts at man management.

Di Canio's chaotic five-month reign in charge of the Black Cats came to an abrupt end in September when he was dismissed with his side at the foot of the Premier League.

In the early weeks of his reign, Di Canio repeatedly criticised his side's fitness levels, implying that O'Neill had bequeathed him a squad that was incapable of reaching the physical standards required to succeed in the top-flight.

O'Neill is clearly furious at the Italian's criticism of his managerial methods, and as he prepares to take charge of his opening game as Republic of Ireland manager against Latvia on Friday evening, the Northern Irishman has hit back with his own assessment of Di Canio's qualities.

When asked whether he was disappointed at the way his Sunderland reign had ended, and with Di Canio's subsequent statements, O'Neill said: “Paolo Di Canio? That managerial charlatan, absolutely, yeah.

“Paolo stepped in there and basically, as weeks ran on, he ran out of excuses. I had a wry smile to myself. It was 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 and 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.

“Then, at the start of (this) season, when he conceded 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.”

While Sunderland's catastrophic results were clearly a key factor in Di Canio's departure, his failure to cultivate workable relationships with a number of his players was also a major reason why Ellis Short chose to remove him from his post earlier this season.

A delegation of senior players outlined their concerns to chief executive Margaret Byrne, having become increasingly disillusioned with Di Canio's eccentric approach to maintaining discipline and order.

Certain condiments were banned from the training-ground canteen, with Steven Fletcher even claiming he was banned from smiling or talking as he worked in the gym, an approach O'Neill feels was never going to be effective with seasoned professionals.

“I'm hoping that at some stage or another, when John O'Shea asks me at the dinner table to pass him the tomato sauce, I will be able to dispose of it immediately,” said O'Neill. “But then if I feel you can't win games without tomato sauce, I will empty it on his plate with the chips.

“John Robertson once said that if every team in Italy has pre-match pasta for their meals, how come three get relegated each year? Maybe Paolo, who is Italian, could explain to me. It's an interesting point, but maybe ability might come into it.”

While the latter months of Di Canio's reign descended into chaos, the former Swindon boss was at least lauded for keeping Sunderland in the Premier League at the end of last season.

The Black Cats were 17th when Di Canio took charge of his first game at Chelsea, but O'Neill is confident he would also have secured safety had he not been dismissed.

And having been rebuffed when he suggested to Short that major changes were required if Sunderland were to avoid further relegation battles in the future, the new Ireland boss has hinted the Black Cats would not be in their current mess if he had been able to sign 14 players, as Di Canio did this summer.

“I was very disappointed at the outcome,” he said. “I think I would have garnered the five points necessary to have stayed up, and then had the chance maybe to have changed the side. I'd have loved the opportunity to sign 14 or 15 players like he did, but I never got that opportunity.”