Paolo Di Canio has led by example as his squad have sweated through a rigorous pre-season. The Sunderland manager's determination that players raise their personal bars has even prompted the 45-year-old to out-perform first-teamers not merely in the technical skills department but during strength training.

"He's been hands-on," says John O'Shea, Sunderland's captain. "He doesn't like to be called the manager, he's the coach. He's involved in everything, even some of the strength sessions. He keeps himself in good nick and wants to make sure that, if the lads are struggling, they see him doing it. If he can do it, that's a good guideline. It's what he believes in and, you know, it's working."

With nine new additions to the first-team squad during a summer dubbed as the start of a Sunderland "revolution" by Di Canio, work has been "intense" but O'Shea still managed to snatch a few moments in the sun.

"We went away to Italy for 11 or 12 days and then Hong Kong," says the Ireland centre-half. "Italy was a beautiful location and beautiful weather – and I even got to enjoy a few scoops of ice cream at night.

"It was two training sessions in the morning and then plenty of rest and nice food. Then we'd go again late in the afternoon. We probably played less games than usual for pre-season but we worked that bit longer on shape, balance of play and different things."

Off-the-field integration was catered for courtesy of carefully thought-out room sharing arrangements. "It worked really well," says O'Shea. "By sharing we got to know the new lads quickly. It was pretty much one English speaking player with one non-English speaker; we didn't draw lots or anything, we were just given the room keys. I shared with Cabral [the former Basel midfielder] in Italy and Manu Giaccherini [the Italy and former Juventus winger] in Hong Kong and I think Giaccherini might have a bit of an Irish accent now.

"It was a good exercise, a good way for lads to get to know each other and mix together. When I came down for dinner at night the temptation was to sit with Wes [Brown, his fellow centre half and former Manchester United team-mate] but the manager stressed that it's important to all bond quickly."

The blur of new faces, the sheer pace of backroom change, has been startling. "When we came back in for pre-season the manager said: 'It's a revolution'. It definitely feels exciting, it's definitely something to look forward to. I think we'll have a better balanced squad and better competition for places this season, and that's the key for the team to do better."

While Saturday's opening game against Fulham should offer a test of Sunderland's potential, Brown's return from a long-term knee injury which nearly ended his career bodes well. "Fingers crossed, Wes could be like a big new signing for us," says O'Shea. "He's got through pretty much all of pre-season and he's shown that he's certainly not lost anything."

Brown's distribution skills promise to be integral to Sunderland's new philosophy. "We're wanting to play a lot more from the back. Hopefully there'll be a lot more for the fans to enjoy, a lot more fluid movement and interchanging between our wide players and our attacking talent."

Such manoeuvres are partly a result of Di Canio burning considerable amounts of midnight oil. "The manager's very ambitious, very hungry. I've seen his appetite for the training sessions and the preparation he puts in, and the detail he goes into," says O'Shea, who jokes about having swapped Sir Alex Ferguson's 'hair-dryer' for the Italian's 'flamethrower'.

"He and his team stay at the training ground late every day. There's a lot of detail and a lot of work behind the scenes," O'Shea adds. "He's not here to be friends with everyone but as a player you have to appreciate he wants the best for you. He wants to improve and he wants to go on and be one of the best managers around. He wants his team to follow that ambition. He's got passion and it's a good thing to see that passion."