Not Saints related I know (even though it happened after our match) but i've just read Di Canio's comments about the Leon Clarke situation and I can't help but feel he has dug himself a rather large hole and made himself look very foolish. If I was a Swindon fan, I would be concerned that my manager has come out in public with comments on a situation that should really be left behind closed doors - It reeks of un-professionalism. I'm also very glad we don't have a manager with the same attitude here at Southampton! The way the Puncheon situation has been dealt with is the template of how it should be done, definitely not by Di Canio's methods! "I needed a striker because no English striker wanted to come. We wanted to spend money, but they did not want to come. “Then we have Leon Clarke, he had a good season a couple of years ago at Sheffield Wednesday and I thought at his age, this was a last chance for him. “I wanted an English striker and he wanted to come. I watched his videos and he created space, he had good technical ability and was the player I wanted, but I didn’t know him as a professional. “No one had said to me that he was not very professional, only when he signed did someone send a text message to a member of the club saying ‘good luck for the nightmare’. “He is out now and he will never play in my team, he has to stay far from the training ground and from the County Ground. “I hope he can find a club and I wish him the best because I know that every man can make a mistake, I wish the best of luck for him, but far from us.”
Di Canio has always been a bit of a twit, although it was funny when he pushed Alcott and made Winterburn poop his pants!
That's appalling, as you say, such a contrast with how we do things at Southampton nowadays. Mind you, Nigel Adkins did let his feelings about Puncheon show yesterday apparently, when he was asked at Staplewood if JP had gone and he said "Hope so!". I really think, despite the sometimes frustrating secrecy with which everything is done at Saints, that it is better not to wash your dirty linen, or even your clean linen, in public. I think Nicola Cortese has set the tone for all other clubs to follow.
To me looks like the player is a dickhead and so is the manager. Never liked Di Canio, can't believe he gets such a smooth ride from the press considering what he got up to at Lazio. More fool Swindon for taking on such a facist clown.
It still amuses me when I remember Clarke scoring in that last day relegation decider v Crystal Palace, kicking the advertising hoardings and breaking his toe, all live on BBC2.
Whatever my personal opinion of Di Canio, and his political leanings [which I abhor, if true], the bloke was a pretty fair player in his time, and is the manager now. Clarke was behaving little better than a spoilt child, and Di Canio tried to difuse it with an arm around the shoulder. Clarke ducked out of that and made the situation more serious. Di Canio will know better next time. You don't become an experienced manager overnight.
Gotta love Paulo. I give him the benefit of the doubt on the political stuff, that straight arm salute is a Roman rather than a nazi gesture and I'm pretty sure the guy's not rascist. He is a class A clown though. I love his antics, but I'm glad he conducts them "far from us."
You do know that Romans used that salute back in the day (Like a couple of thousand years ago) which is quite a long while before the Nazi Regime. Lazio being a team in Rome and Di Canio being Italian.... Adds up to me. I've never heard him say he supports the Nazis. I thought player was out of order. If you talk to your boss like that in the office you would be sacked.
Di Canio has also proved he can be a sportsman. Does anyone remember the Everton v West Ham game where the Everton Keeper came rushing out to claim a cross collapsed with a serious injury before getting anywhere near the ball? All Di Canio had to do was head the ball into an empty net but caught the ball instead.
[video=youtube;EWdf5ZLbtYo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWdf5ZLbtYo&feature=related[/video] Maybe the most pro thing he has ever done
He's one of those people that you love to see in football for the entertainment, second only to the relief you have that he's nothing to do with your club.......
I saw the video and the guy was acting like a complete idiot just because he was asked in for extra training because he is unfit and useless. Di Canio was trying to get the fool off the pitch. I mean if any Saints player had a attitute like that they would be hounded out of the club by the fans. It seems the guy has a bit of a history with his attitude http://thewashbag.com/2011/09/02/leon-clarke-bad-attitude-and-bad-signing/
I love to watch Di Canio. Clarke is an absolute idiot, they just showed the whole thing with subtitles on Soccer Sunday, and it was all Clarke, not Di Canio. I can't wait to see what big Paulo does next though, what a nutter.
Well it wasn't quite how i remembered it but here he is V Everton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9E0q7iHUx0
Whatever the right or wrong of the incident........by going public I think he may have left the club open to charge of unfair dismissal. Almost certainly defamation of charactor not to mention breaches of employee confidentialality. As well as another couple of dismissal laws. I am not sure this has actually ended yet, I have a feeling there is more to come.
