Football League World
·1 de diciembre de 2024
Football League World
·1 de diciembre de 2024
Paolo Di Canio has been out of management for eleven years, though not for the want of trying.
Never far from controversy, Paolo Di Canio is perhaps one of English football's most chaotic characters.
With stints as a player for Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and Charlton, the Italian became a Premier League cult hero for dazzling and disrupting in equal measure.
Post-retirement, his famous hot-headed attitude was only exacerbated by the challenges of management, as he struggled to stay out of the limelight with spells at Swindon Town and Sunderland.
Out of management since 2013, fans of current League One sides Bolton Wanderers and Rotherham United, as well as Scottish champions Celtic, will be interested to know that they were all once tipped to be the fiery Italian's next destination.
Regardless of your opinion of the man, such is the blaze of chaos that follows Di Canio anywhere he goes, the prospect of him leading either of these clubs would definitely have shaken up their modern history for better or for worse.
As far as we know, Di Canio has applied for just three jobs since the start of his now decade-long sabbatical.
He first put himself forward for the Celtic job in 2014, wishing to follow in Neil Lennon's footsteps. Di Canio played for Celtic in 1996-97, but left for England on grounds of wage disputes.
Later that year, he publicly put himself forward for the vacancy at Bolton Wanderers, ironically now in direct competition with Lennon, who was still on the market.
Remarkably, the least disruptive of the two candidates, Lennon, got the job, and after 18 months in charge of the Greater Manchester club, saw them relegated to the third-tier.
His final attempt(s) came in 2015 & 2016, when he twice applied to be the manager of Rotherham United.
The Millers had seven managers between the start of 2015-16 and the end of the following campaign, where they finished 21st and 24th respectively, all the while rejecting both of Di Canio's attempts to take the helm.
Why on earth could a manager with a 53% win ratio, massive esteem within the British game, and most notably an LMA manager of the year award to his name, not secure a job at these then-struggling Championship sides?
A charismatic and polarizingly unapologetic character, Di Canio is best remembered for his unpredictable temperament and considerable, albeit often misplaced, passion for the game.
His playing days, particularly under the scope of the Premier League, saw him at the centre of many unique incidents, including, but not limited to, pushing referee Paul Alcock to the ground after receiving a red card, refusing to score an open goal while the opposition goalkeeper was injured, and attempting to sub himself off against Bradford City after not receiving a penalty.
However, while difficult to top, it was perhaps his short-lived managerial career that would see the lions' share of sporting disarray.
In May 2011, with no direct relation to the club, a recently retired Di Canio joined Swindon Town as their head coach in a deal that baffled fans of the EFL, and English football in general.
Arriving at the club shortly after their emphatic relegation down to League Two, it didn't take long for their new manager to provide the quintessential Di Canio disorder that the media were banking on.
Di Canio lost four of his first five league games, and after a 3-1 home loss to Southampton in the League Cup rounded off a dismal August, the former Lazio man was seen fighting with his own player, striker Leon Clarke.
Clarke was loaned to Chesterfield immediately, and never played for Swindon again, but this was just one of many concerningly public altercations with his squad.
Amazingly, Swindon would not only go on to win the league, but under Di Canio, would find themselves vying for automatic promotion to the Championship the season afterwards.
However, the departure of chairman Jeremy Wray, who convinced him to join the club, created a rift between Di Canio and the boardroom, as Wray had seemingly promised the manager backing that wasn't possible under the succeeding regime. Never one to be told no, Di Canio resigned on February 18th.
Topping the table on the weekend of his departure, Swindon eventually finished sixth without Di Canio's tutelage. While the former Wednesday man was appointed Sunderland manager, tasked with saving the side from relegation.
He succeeded, as the Black Cats finished 17th thanks largely to an iconic 3-0 win at St. James' Park against Newcastle, but this was to be the final enjoyable note in a bizarre and tumultuous six-month spell at the club.
Links to fascism, investigations from the PFA after attempting to reduce players' holidays and many more incidents somewhat vindicated the belief that, despite clear managerial ability, it simply wasn't worth the hassle that came with him.
Fired in September 2013, the Roman has been out of management since.
Seemingly, the consensus on Di Canio is that he is a terrific tactician, with the ability to invigorate and rally players with a certain personality. However, the fallout when things don't go his way, or colleagues do not subscribe to his unique methods, is simply too disruptive to justify the good.
There appears to be an unspoken embargo on hiring the former West Ham man, as clubs from far and wide have refused his services, though not for the want of trying.
Bolton and Rotherham fans may ponder the alternative reality that saw Di Canio darkening their doorway. He may well have staved off either club's relegation, but would it really have been worth whatever nonsense occurred along the way?