The eleven pantomime villains of the season so far

All Involved In The Coventry City Debacle (SISU OUT)

A serious matter this one. The shocking situation at Coventry continues, with the heart of soul of the football club being slowly ripped out. Forced out of their stadium and city, with a ten point deduction and a paper thin squad by a mixture of stubborn and selfish ownership and shocking management from the Football League, Coventry find their future hanging by a thread- and a very thin thread at that. A damnable situation from which only the supporters, players and outstanding manager Steven Pressley can come out of with any credit- with the club against all odds challenging for a play-off spot.

Paolo Di Canio (Energetic, Excitable, Idiot)

Too firebrand a personality to be a good manager?

My initial reaction when Di Canio was appointed by Sunderland was that of trepidation. I seriously doubted the Italian’s mentality to be a top flight manager. How right I was. The ex-Swindon boss’ seeming insistence on being centre of action and chronic attention seeking severely affected his Sunderland team.

Mix that in with a whole host of shocking signings (Valentin Roberge anyone?), and a bizarre aggressive streak and you have a nightmare situation. Di Canio quickly proved himself to be nothing short of a vicious, bouncing loony at the helm at Sunderland- plunging them into a relegation scrap- and sacked after only 5 games this season. A true idiot.

Massimo Cellini (The Italian Mobster)

Continuing the trend of dodgy owners, Massimo Cellini is a relatively new name in English football. The Italian burst onto the scene a couple of weeks ago as the perspective new majority shareholder of Leeds United, and it has quickly become clear that this colourful agricultural entrepreneur is quit a character. Already twice convicted of fraud in his native Italy, and awaiting trial for a charge of embezzlement, Cellini evoked the wrath of Leeds fans by attempting to sack popular manager Brian McDermott, even before he had been instated as owner. One hopes that the Football League fulfil their duty and prevent this fraudster from becoming owner of such an illustrious (or any) football clubs. If they don’t difficult times ahead for Leeds…

Pablo Daniel Osvaldo (Johnny Depp lookalike and General Psychopath)

Anger management an issue?

Pablo Osvaldo arrived at Southampton for a club record fee of well over £15million, with a quality goalscoring record for both Roma and Espanyol, but also a reputation as somewhat of a loose cannon. This January Pablo Osvaldo left Southampton on loan with only his reputation as a loose cannon in tact. A string of average performances (with a stunning goal against Manchester City the only bright moment) saw Osvaldo expressing his desire to leave Southampton as early as October- that is two months after they signed him.

Two months later, Osvaldo got his wish- but only after head butting team-mate Jose Fonte on the training pitch completely unprovoked to force a move. As someone who looks like a pirate, one would have thought the Italian would have loved it by the sea on the sunny south coast. Clearly not. Osvaldo is now languishing at lowly Serie A Champions and Champions League contenders Juventus. Sigh.