Guardian writers' predicted position: 16th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor's prediction but the average of our writers' tips)

Last season's position: 17th

Odds to win the league: (via Oddschecker) 2,000-1

A Love Supreme, one of Sunderland's main fanzines, has had some fun producing a range of "PDC T-shirts" this summer. Chart toppers include "Paolo Di Canio – the Revolution starts here", "Who made Alan Pardew cry?" and, perhaps predictably, "The Godfather".

All come emblazoned with images of Sunderland's manager and buyers remain confident the Italian's far-reaching Wearside "revolution" – 10 new players signed so far, the backroom overhauled and, above all, the implementation of a whole new "play from the back" philosophy – will prove a success.

Considering they possess a near 50,000 capacity ground, attract frequent 40,000-plus crowds and boast a glorious, if distant, history as the "Team of all the talents" and "The Bank of England club", Sunderland should be doing more than indulging in an almost annual flirtation with relegation.

Shortly after succeeding Martin O'Neill last spring Di Canio pointed out that supporters were entitled to be "angry" as "in the past five years this club has spent big money". Unfortunately too many of owner Ellis Short's millions went on nondescript journeymen while the playing style under Steve Bruce and then O'Neill can be most politely described as amorphous. Tactics tended to be binary, two dimensional at best.

Possibly the most encouraging thing about Di Canio is that he sees himself as a coach and, after recording top marks while collecting his Uefa badges at Italy's Coverciano academy, does the bulk of his best work on the training ground. In contrast, coaching was something O'Neill, Bruce and, before him, Roy Keane all largely delegated.

This "broader brush" approach to management failed, among other things, to properly address the sometimes dysfunctional on-field relationship between those expensive former Sunderland strikers Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan, but the difference now is that Di Canio sees his job as primarily about teaching. His role is to gel and hone the talent recruited by Roberto De Fanti, the club's new director of football, and Valentino Angeloni, the chief scout.

While De Fanti was previously an agent, Angeloni comes with a stellar pedigree having most recently been in charge of scouting at Internazionale and before that Udinese, aka the home of the so-called "Udinese" model whereby relative unknowns were recruited from lesser leagues and sold on for significant profits.

Not that this summer's Wearside revolution has come cheap. It has been estimated that, when signing on and agents' fees are included, the 10 arrivals have cost a collective £30m.

This has been offset by Simon Mignolet's sale to Liverpool. Although Keiren Westwood and Vito Mannone, newly acquired from Arsenal, are able deputies it is worth reflecting that Sunderland kick off the campaign without their best two performers last term: Mignolet and the left-back Danny Rose, who was on loan from Tottenham. Without that pair, a relegation almost certainly averted by Di Canio's dramatic installation would surely have been a formality.

The good news is that great things are expected from Emanuele Giaccherini, the Italy winger signed from Juventus, as well as the USA striker Jozy Altidore, newly arrived from AZ Alkmaar. A prolific scorer in the Netherlands, Altidore says he has evolved into a "different player" from the raw youngster who once struggled in the Premier League at Hull.

Cabral, the former Basel central midfielder, has impressed in pre-season but a playmaker possessing the sort of passing range capable of unlocking defences is required alongside him if the building from the back with overlapping full-backs blueprint is to pay dividends.

Lack of creativity and inventive movement – Sunderland have often been a very static team – has been a big problem but John O'Shea, the captain, has predicted there will be "a lot more for the fans to enjoy this season". Such pleasure is likely to be intensified if, and it remains a big if, Wes Brown – back after a knee injury that sidelined him for 18 months – can stay fit to imbue the defence with a touch of class.

Few teams are likely to be in better physical condition – Adam Johnson, the sometime England winger and, now, apparently fully paid up convert to his new manager's "fitness first" doctrine, is said to have lost a significant amount of weight and body fat. Yet received wisdom has it that Di Canio's intensity and autocratic disciplinary modus operandi may eventually see his squad rebel and revolt.

In reality the 45-year-old is rather more nuanced than the lazy caricatures – take your pick from: "swivel-eyed loon", "dictator", "mad", "unstable", "ticking time bomb" and "human hand grenade" – suggest. Granted PDC enjoys his share of am-dram moments – see the knee slide during Sunderland's 3-0 win at Newcastle – and knows precisely how to project that richly accented voice to maximum effect but judging from his press conferences at the end of last season he seemed far from crazy. The odds are that he may, on occasion, continue to criticise players but such outbursts will be carefully calibrated, premeditated and strictly rationed.

Clearly intelligent and assiduous to a workaholic degree, he reassuringly also has a sense of humour – a vital man-management tool. Di Canio is definitely a bit different from most peers but that is not necessarily a bad thing. When asked if he was obsessive, he replied: "No, not obsessive, obsessive is pathological, but perfectionist, conscientious."

If that was a smart answer – particularly from someone not speaking in his first language – his accounts of seeking help for former players at Swindon who could not cope with motorway driving and awareness that rich young men are not immune from panic attacks did not appear the observations of a swivel-eyed loon.

Lee Cattermole and Phil Bardsley – not to mention the departed Titus Bramble – might see things differently. But for a broken foot, Bardsley would be on his way out following coruscating public criticism from Di Canio after he was pictured celebrating Sunderland's escape from relegation by lying on a bed of £50 notes in a casino. Cattermole seems surplus to requirements and has been excluded from the first team squad this summer.

Given his well documented past misdemeanours it is hard to imagine that Cattermole, Sunderland's captain under Bruce and O'Neill, meets the standards of off-field professionalism now demanded and his likely exit prompts mixed feelings.

True, "Clattermole's" habit of lunging into unnecessary challenges before collecting a litany of bookings was disappointing – not to mention potentially bad for his already compromised knees – but the nagging suspicion was that the former Middlesbrough and Wigan midfielder is potentially a better player than even he believes. His passing and positioning are better than advertised. It would have been interesting to see what effect a few months of Di Canio's clever coaching and tough love had on him but keeping Cattermole probably represents too great a risk to dressing-room harmony.

So, too, does the arrival of so many new players from abroad but the pre-season ploys of making English speakers and non-English speakers share rooms and ensuring everyone mixed around meal tables is said to have accelerated bonding.

Possibly three more newbies – a left-back, a midfielder and a striker – could arrive and it is not out of the question that the skilful yet flaky Stéphane Sessègnon could depart before the music stops in September.

The coming months will tell how well De Fanti and Angeloni have performed – not to mention how good Di Canio really is – but while all revolutions take time and are rarely straightforward the sense of renewed hope and excitement on Wearside is tangible.

Maybe, just maybe, Sunderland are heading for a place in the sun.

Player focus infographic