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Ex-Sunderland boss Paolo di Canio has blamed Sunderland’s problems on owner Ellis Short.

The Italian, who kept Sunderland in the Premier League two years ago before being sacked just two months into the new season after a dressing room revolt against his authoritarian methods, says the club is in ‘disarray’ following another season battling relegation.

And head coach Gus Poyet is understood to be on the brink of the sack after the weekend 4-0 home defeat against relegation rivals Aston Villa, which saw thousands of fans stream out of the Stadium of Light long before the final whistle.

But Di Canio says his successor Poyet is not responsible for the club’s decline, and points the finger at owner and chairman Short.

(Image: Bethany Clarke/Getty Images)

“With me it never happened that the fans leave the stadium early, despite the problems that there were under my management,” Di Canio told Fox Sports.

“It never happened because there was dignity in our behaviour and the fans understood that.

“In this case I do not know, but certainly the team is in disarray and it is normal to be so.

“It’s not the fault of the fans, who are fantastic, they are always in 45,000 at every game.

“But, like all fans, they do not accept what goes beyond the limits of decency and tramples the jersey.

“I am not speaking of those who succeeded me on that bench, Poyet, because the problems are born from above, from the owner Ellis Short.

“I saved Sunderland when it was in free fall. I and my staff made ​​a real miracle, in the field but also in spirit.

“We tried to change the philosophy of a group where in two years, despite everything that happened had never been fined for indiscipline.

“I gave fines even for being five minutes late because it is a matter of respect towards all, serves to maintain order in the locker room.

“I took all the responsibility, but my project was immediately stopped.

“The indecency is now before the eyes of all and the fans are not happy. But then again, the choices come from above.”

(Image: PA Wire)

Di Canio also accused Sunderland of being content to rely on there being three worse teams than themselves each season, to spare them from the drop.

He said: “If the strength of a team does not give you certainty, a team that perennially – rather than survive by the merits on the field – prefers to hope that there are three worse [teams]...

“This is a fact, is the state of things and the results prove it.”

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