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Paolo Di Canio sports the word ‘DUX’ on his right bicep, which means ‘leader’ in Latin. The once prolific player, who made over 500 league appearances with 127 goals, has played for Juventus, Napoli, Milan, Celtic, West Ham, Charlton Athletic, Lazio and Lazio, among others. The Italian may have just invented the position of supporting striker, and was a renowned figure in the playmakers’ club. He commands stature as a player, but his time as a manager, commands more amusement than respect.
Di Canio, equipped with a UEFA Pro License for coaching, took over the reins of Swindon Town, after they were relegated to League Two in 2011. The team did quite well, but Di Canio ensured that his name was seldom left out the papers. On the day of his arrival, the GMB union, a financial backer of Swindon Town, pulled out and put an end to their contribution of £4,000 per season due to his fascist views. Fascism has been his self-proclaimed outlook and he often resorted to the Roman Salute while at Lazio. He was eventually fined and suspended for a match, but was resilient when he said, “I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people. I saluted my people with what for me is a sign of belonging to a group that holds true values, values of civility against the standardization that this society imposes upon us.”
His fiery words got him sent off to the stands one time when he vented his frustration over a free kick. By the time the season was halfway through, Swindon Town looked well on their way to promotion. With his leadership, they even reached the 2012 Football League Trophy Final, but lost to Chesterfield by two goals.
Di Canio is quirky, for lack of a better word. Just days after having resigned from the Swindon job recently, he decided to pay his office a visit, in the dead of night. He broke in to the office to retrieve a few choice mementos of his success there and probably wanted to avoid any unpleasantness. CCTVs obviously did not occur to the ex Hammer, and the club was forced to change locks to avoid any unscheduled run-ins. The club has since decided not to press charges.
Before he put his papers in, Di Canio was thick with the players and the staff but had a tiff with the owners. With administration looming heavily over the club, the Swindon Chairman, Sir William Patey announced that due to a cash crunch, no money will be available during the January transfer window. Di Canio detested the shortcoming and even offered to pay £30,000 of his personal money to keep loan players at the club. He was quoted in a story stating, “I will put my own money in to keep them. I will spend £20,000 or £30,000 and put my money in to keep them for as long as we can, because I care and I want to win. I’m sure with them we have more chance to win. I’m not going to start selling my houses in Italy, but I want to keep those players. When I die, I will have a bit less money but will have the victory as a manager. I’ve spent big money on solicitors in the past; you can imagine what I would spend on my players.”
Di Canio continued with his job though, and after a clash with Shrewsbury Town was snowed out, he mobilized 200 volunteers who, alongside the Italian, cleared the pitch to help avoid a postponement. Swindon won 2-0, which the manager celebrated by ordering pizza for everyone who lent a hand.
Under the financial shadow, Di Canio imposed a deadline for the club to finalize a deal with the new owners, including the approval by the Football League. This, if not met, will lead to his resignation, which it did, on the 18th of February.
What followed is even more remarkable. Post his departure, a mass exodus took place, leaving behind only the kit man and the phsyio. This is right after Swindon Town beat Tranmere Rovers to top the league. Di Canio’s former assistant, the goalkeeping coach, the fitness coach and even the masseur resigned in support. They issued a public statement, stating, “We will follow him everywhere, even if he coaches at Real Madrid or Luton Town because we are a team.” Although the club is currently managing, with Tommy Miller and Darren Ward, both 34, in charge of picking the team, and the two remaining backroom staff in charge of everything else. Finally, completing the circle is the rumor that Di Canio is a hot favorite to return, once the negotiation is completed. Although a parallel story of West Ham co-owner, David Gold, has linked the former player to the West Ham job, a lot is certainly left to be witnessed in this story of a lifetime.
