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Thespence

Thespence

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Black goalkeeper and former West Ham GK on Paolo Di Canio

 

Paolo Di Canio should clarify views - Shaka Hislop

 

Former West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop believes Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio needs to clarify his political views.

 

Di Canio has come under scrutiny since a 2005 interview was highlighted where he admitted to being a fascist.

Hislop, who played alongside Di Canio at Upton Park, said: "I don't believe Paolo Di Canio is a racist.

"But there's no place for extreme politics in football. They infringe on the rights of others and that's where you have to draw the line."

 

Di Canio began his career at Lazio and during his second spell with the club was fined £7,000 and suspended for one game by the Italian authorities in 2005 after making a fascist salute for the third time that year.

When questioned about the straight-arm gesture by Italian news agency Ansa, he claimed it was aimed at "my people

 

Di Canio was also reported to have said he was "a fascist, not a racist", although he has since claimed he was misquoted."I was still playing when he moved out to Italy and made the infamous Roman salute," Hislop, a former Trinidad & Tobago international, told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek.

"I have to say I was surprised and offended by it. There's no place for extreme politics in football, regardless of what your beliefs may be.

 

"He supposedly offered the explanation that he was a fascist but talking to [italian sports journalist] Gab Marcotti he points out that fascism in its more mild existence is not seen in Italy as all that disturbing, whereas there is still a lot of uncertainty in Europe.

 

"I'd like to get a proper explanation. I'm not overly convinced by 'it's a Roman salute, let's get on with it'. I think there are wider implications to it. As much as fascism can have a more moderate side to it, it does have its extreme elements and I'd like to know if Paolo falls into that category or which category he does, and if not what was his salute all about?"

 

Former foreign secretary David Miliband resigned from the Sunderland board over Di Canio's "past political statements" and Hislop said: "As much as there may be issues within the dressing room there is the issue of Sunderland Football Club.

 

"I'm very aware of how good a football club Sunderland are and how important they are, not just to the Sunderland community but to the North East in general. Long after Paolo has gone, long after every player currently plying their trade for Sunderland Football Club has departed, it will live on and you worry that as a brand it may be stained by this appointment or a failure to properly account for it."

 

Hislop, who had two spells with West Ham and also kept goal for Reading, Newcastle and Portsmouth, added: "I certainly considered Paolo a friend when we were playing and still do but you never knew what you were going to get. You had absolutely no idea what he was thinking or what was going to come next. He did things on the training ground I've not seen anybody do.

 

"There is the old cliche about a thin line between genius and insanity and I think Paolo walks that."

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22056779

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Thespence

Thespence

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Black goalkeeper and former West Ham GK (David James) on Paolo Di Canio

 

Unlikable and authoritarian, Paolo Di Canio has much yet to prove

Personality and politics are all part of the Paolo Di Canio package and Sunderland may yet regret appointing him

 

We've got a chequered past, Paolo Di Canio and I. Nothing to do with fascism, he just had a habit of behaving a bit like a dictator. He was a flamboyant "character", as they say, but he certainly was not very popular in the West Ham dressing room. When I think back to those days, I remember a loud and extrovert person who was – despite all he had to shout about – very much on his own. He never seemed to gel with the team.

 

It seems the feeling was mutual – Paolo described me in his book as a "moron" and a "cretin" after I refused to shake his hand following a League Cup game at Upton Park when I was playing for Aston Villa. Actually I did more: I called him a cheat. He had deliberately stepped into me and kicked me before going down for a penalty. It was outrageous and I could not believe it. I was livid. When I refused to shake his hand he went ballistic, effing and blinding, and stabbing his fingers into the back of my neck.

 

That was the beginning of the bad blood. Admittedly there was a brief hiatus when I signed for West Ham and he cheerily came over to wish me luck, the first of my new team-mates to do so. But the friendly tone did not last long and we were soon back to clashing on the training pitch.

 

I just could not believe the front he had. During training sessions, if he was not happy, he would simply walk off. He would be swearing away in Italian, trudging back to the dressing room, leaving us all slogging our guts out. One time I snapped and yelled: "You are not effing walking off!" To be fair, on that occasion he did come back.

 

Paolo could talk for Italy but I never remember him talking politics. I never even knew that he had a Mussolini tattoo. Certainly if he had ever said anything racist to anyone in the team, it would have caused a stir. We had a number of black players at West Ham at the time and, while none of them would go so far as to describe him as a friend, I don't recall anyone having a problem with him because of his political views. The fascist salutes happened after he left West Ham, of course, and on hearing the news I must admit they confirmed my view of him as an unlikable person.

 

More recently I met him at the Leaders in Football conference last year. We were on a panel together and beforehand we shared a revealing exchange on coaching philosophies. I spoke about wanting to develop players, create a dialogue and reach an understanding about what they need to perform – but I soon realised I was talking to a brick wall. Paolo just said: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but …" and it became clear that he was not interested in any of that. His approach was more, how shall I say, authoritarian.

 

Certainly if the stories spreading like wildfire through the footballing world are anything to go by, the Sunderland players will have been in for a shock this week. Paolo has a reputation for employing some harsh and intense training methods.

 

During his time as manager at Swindon, I'm told, he used to punish players for a poor performance by dragging them in at dawn after a game the day before. Compare that with the Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe's approach – he gave the players three days off last week after the team won five games in a row to reward them for their hard work. Even Guy Whittingham's relegation battlers, Portsmouth, will still be given days off for rest and recovery. I can't imagine Paolo giving the Sunderland players much time off between now and the end of the season.

 

Whatever his political views are – and despite the official Sunderland statement denying that he is a fascist, without some explanation of his past it seems impossible to understand what his exact position is – I am very surprised that Sunderland gave him the job in the first place. I can't argue with Paolo's management skills. He has proved himself with what he achieved at Swindon.

 

But an important aspect of any appointment is what the fans' response will be and the Sunderland board should have seen this furore coming. Did they not do their research? Even a quick Google search would have brought up the controversial fascist salutes at Lazio.

 

Sure, his managerial record is good but, if you know a manager's political affiliations might upset a large portion of your fanbase, it seems a very risky decision to make. And with the Durham Miners' Association demanding their banner back from the Stadium of Light, citing the number of miners who died fighting fascism in the war, it is a PR move that has the potential to backfire in a big way. Should Paolo fail to keep Sunderland in the Premier League, the club will surely lose even more goodwill from the supporters.

 

On the other hand, as the saying goes, all PR is good PR. After all, how often does Sunderland AFC make headlines outside the sports pages? Paolo is certainly box office. He gets his teams to play attractive football and, if he can save the club from relegation, he may soon be hailed as a hero.

 

He says his past misdemeanours were misinterpreted and misrepresented, in which case perhaps we should give him the opportunity to prove himself in the present and not just harp on about the past.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/apr/06/paolo-di-canio-david-james

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Guest Howaythetoon

Guest Howaythetoon

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MON is so far out of touch he thinks the dinosaur comments are to do with his age :lol:

 

Err, its to do with your outdated ways and methods and your football philosophy you idiot.

 

Regarding Di Canio, I find the whole reaction to his appointment cringe worthy to be honest and kind of ironic in that here is a man being attacked for simply having a different view of things than others. Err, isn't that fascist?!

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Parky

Parky

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MON is so far out of touch he thinks the dinosaur comments are to do with his age :lol:

 

Err, its to do with your outdated ways and methods and your football philosophy you idiot.

 

Regarding Di Canio, I find the whole reaction to his appointment cringe worthy to be honest and kind of ironic in that here is a man being attacked for simply having a different view of things than others. Err, isn't that fascist?!

 

He'll be back somewhere in a couple of years.

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BlueStar

BlueStar

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MON is so far out of touch he thinks the dinosaur comments are to do with his age :lol:

 

Err, its to do with your outdated ways and methods and your football philosophy you idiot.

 

Regarding Di Canio, I find the whole reaction to his appointment cringe worthy to be honest and kind of ironic in that here is a man being attacked for simply having a different view of things than others. Err, isn't that fascist?!

 

No, not really. People have a right to criticise his views. Freedom of thought and expression doesn't mean you don't have to deal with the consequences of your behaviour. Free speech doesn't only exist in the first instance, and it doesn't mean 'I can say whatever I want and I forbid you from calling me a bigot for it because that's oppressing me.'

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Cajun

Cajun

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MON is so far out of touch he thinks the dinosaur comments are to do with his age :lol:

 

Err, its to do with your outdated ways and methods and your football philosophy you idiot.

 

Regarding Di Canio, I find the whole reaction to his appointment cringe worthy to be honest and kind of ironic in that here is a man being attacked for simply having a different view of things than others. Err, isn't that fascist?!

 

He'll be back somewhere in a couple of years.

 

Leicester..

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Guest Roy the Irish Magpie

Guest Roy the Irish Magpie

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MON is so far out of touch he thinks the dinosaur comments are to do with his age :lol:

 

Err, its to do with your outdated ways and methods and your football philosophy you idiot.

 

Regarding Di Canio, I find the whole reaction to his appointment cringe worthy to be honest and kind of ironic in that here is a man being attacked for simply having a different view of things than others. Err, isn't that fascist?!

 

He'll be back somewhere in a couple of years.

 

Leicester..

 

When Pearson gets the inevitable boot come May. That has been my bet too since his Mackem sacking.

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Varadi

Varadi

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Di Canio's first team selection:

 

Mignolet, Bardsley, Rose, O’Shea ©, Kilgallon, N’Diaye, Gardner, Larsson, Johnson, Sessegnon, Wickham.

 

Graham dropped and Titus not even on the bench - got the measure of those 2 pretty quickly it seems!

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Guest bimpy474

Guest bimpy474

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Is he not going 442 with larson and Johnson as his wingers with Wickham and Sausage gun as his forwards?

 

I read an interview with him where he said he plays 4-2-4 when attacking. He did at Swindon and will now at Sunderland......mental.

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Guest bimpy474

Guest bimpy474

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Leaving two men in midfield against Chelsea is beggin for Torres to bang on or two in !

 

Can you imagine Chelsea hit them on the counter......:lol:

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Guest Open_C

Guest Open_C

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http://cache2.asset-cache.net/gc/165917474-paolo-di-canio-manager-of-sunderland-gives-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=GkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QYWhDIx8zD%2FCMnb1%2ByN%2F3vGPQu2JrXyx8vdypuXZd3OX869tghb%2Bduyk6XuKV2P6Cg%3D%3D

 

Looking good :)

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