There has never been a player in the Premier League quite like Paolo Di
Canio. Volatile, spectacular, unpredictable – the list of adjectives could
easily go on. Whether it was pushing referee Paul Alcock to the floor, catching
the ball in the ultimate act of sportsmanship when Everton goalkeeper Paul
Gerrard was down injured or scoring one of the best goals in Premier League
history with a scissor kick against Wimbledon, Di Canio was a maverick of the
English game; as mad as a box of frogs, some said. Mario Balotelli still has a
lot to learn.
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| THAT Goal |
No wonder, then, that many an eyebrow rose quizzically when Swindon Town
chairman Jeremy Wray decided that Di Canio was the right man for the job at the
County Ground following the Robins’ relegation from League One last season.
They had finished bottom having lost half of their league fixtures; it was
clear that a rebuilding job was required and it would not be easy. Di Canio
could not have picked a more difficult first managerial role if he had tried
but this is indicative of the type of character the 43 year-old is: he was never
one to eschew a challenge during his career and had no intention of starting merely
because he had hung up his boots.
Life at Swindon , though, didn’t get off
to the best of starts for the fiery Italian: he lost five of his first seven
games in charge including a 2-1 reversal at home to bitter rivals Oxford United.
Soon afterwards, a confrontation with Leon Clarke, caught on camera by Sky
Sports, handed Di Canio his first real test as a manager – it was one that he
passed with flying colours, sending the striker out on loan to Chesterfield a
mere three weeks after joining the Wiltshire club.
Despite the poor start Di Canio galvanised the squad, which seemed to gel
at the start of October, losing only twice since – in the FA Cup last weekend
at Leicester City and away to Torquay United on Boxing Day which ended their
15-match unbeaten streak in all competitions. The ‘Barcelona of League Two’
went from mid-table obscurity to promotion contenders and are only 90 minutes
away from Wembley having progressed to the regional final of the Johnstone’s
Paint Trophy against Barnet.
To take a club to Wembley at any stage of a managerial career is a
fantastic feat, to do it in your first season is phenomenal. Yet, there would
be a great sense of sadness for Di Canio if Swindon
do get past Barnet because his father, Ignazio, would not be there to see his
son lead the Robins out at Wembley. The poignant images of Di Canio in tears on
the sideline at the end of Swindon’s 2-1 FA Cup victory over Wigan at the County
Ground last month show how close he was to his father and it would be a great
regret for the Italian that his father would not be able to see one of the
proudest moments of his son’s career to date.
The death of Ignazio Di Canio brought Paolo closer to the club. At the
end of a 1-0 win away at Plymouth Argyle, the first game after the funeral, the
players took their manager over to the fans, who bombarded their new hero with
cards and letters after hearing of Ignazio’s passing. He remains thankful to
them and will always do so, “They gave me energy and heart to keep going. I
will never forget [that].”
Already sporting a West Ham tattoo as a reminder of his time at the Boleyn
Ground, the man in the County Ground hot-seat has said he may get a Swindon
tattoo should they win the league, “Maybe [at the end of the season] I
will extend the tattoos on my body and get a Swindon one if we win the league.”
Di Canio’s ego meant that he always held an individualistic attitude –
it was him against the world. Now, though, it is Di Canio and his beloved
Swindon against the world, coming back with two fingers up firmly towards those
who had offered nothing but vituperative criticism towards both the man and the
club: “They criticised straight away and I was laughing straight away because
how can they judge Paolo Di Canio so soon?”
Judgement is certain in May, when Swindon Town
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