Di Canio's debt to Tommy Burns
In the crazy summer of 1996 Burns brought the Italian to Celtic from AC Milan and life was never quite the same again.
With Burns in the final year of his Celtic contract and Rangers closing in on nine-in-a-row the stakes were at their highest with di Canio and Burns both casualties as Rangers took the title.
A diary of di Canio’s season at Celtic would make fasinating reading with the Swindon boss giving a revealing insight into his relationship with Burns as he prepares for today’s League Two opener at home to Yeovil.
“Tommy Burns at Celtic, who is not any more with us, was fantastic to me,” di Canio explained. “After 20 days I nearly left because I wasn’t happy and he grabbed my throat and shook me as my older brother would.
“I felt I had to give everything for him, and thanks to him I learned what it meant to play here in Britain.”
For all his skills and magic the enduring image of the former Celt to English fans is of his half hearted push at referee Paul Alcock and the ref hitting the deck in instalments.
In 36 eventful appearances for Celtic the Italian collected eight yellow cards and was sent off for his celebrations after scoring a penalty against Hearts.
At 43 years of age di Canio has serious management ambitions but knows that his every reaction will be watched closely when Swindon face Yeovil today.
“I can’t go crazy,” he admitted. “I have to give a positive message to my players. I don’t know what my reaction will be – maybe I’ll do the same as them – but I think you’ll be surprised, to see a new Paolo di Canio. Cooler, more quiet, more focused, more concentrating on what’s going on.
“If some players behave badly like I did as a player, I’ll say: ‘Don’t do that just because I did it. You lose energy. Shouting “Ref!” even once, you lose time, maybe you don’t recover your position.’ If they look at YouTube and say, ‘You did that,’ I’ll say: ‘Yes, I’ve punished myself. And now I’ll punish you’.”
Any notions that did Canio will follow a Mowbray style version of the beautiful game in the fourth tier of English football can be dismissed.
“I’m a manager at League Two level and I have to understand the league and the players,” the Swindon boss added. “If you think you can play possession football like Barcelona at this level, you can’t.
“Obviously I’ve always said that I’ll try to play attractive football for this league. I want to win, attack with five players, but also not concede a goal. Of course I’d like to beat Oxford 4-0, show our football and destroy them.
“But if it’s not possible and it’s a 1-0, an ugly game, we’ll say: ‘OK, three points, we accept them and next game we’ll try to play better’.”