Thetownend.com

I was so close to quitting - Di Canio
           

  PAOLO Di Canio’s promotion pledge to the Swindon fans was the only thing that stopped him walking out of the club six weeks ago, but now he has delivered on his promise he is already looking
  forward to pushing for a second straight promotion.

           

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/headlines/9663525.I_was_so_close_to_quitting___Di_Canio/r/?ref=rss
           

haha, on team talk in "paper talk" the daily mirror have the headline 'Paolo Di Canio is on the brink of quitting Swindon'

I simply don't see the point in telling the world you were nearly going to quit and then saying you will never divulge the reasons why.  It invites idle speculation that serves no purpose other than to fill newspaper column inches.  It certainly does nothing for the Club.  There are times - not many, admittedly - when I get a little tired of the 'circus'.

Totally agree Ardiles. You either have to have Paolo with all his traits or not at all though. Didn't stop me moaning about him subbing Connell in the first half for the umpteenth time this season on saturday though. (And no i didn't boo before anyone jumps on that comment)

We all love him really.

Fuck it I'll take the abuse then, PDC is starting to do my wig in, promotion  or no promotion.

You're right.  I should qualify my comments with this.  All part of the package, I know.

This is PDC telling the board that he needs money to buy new players. He's done it since day one. Leverage.

There are certainly elements to PDC that certainly frustrate.

...but we lived with Andy King as our manager for years.

I can understand people becoming a tad jaded of it all, possibly a good thing the season is over season.

Still, there's some twats on facebook and twitter wanting him out. What utter tools

It's interesting because the Board seem so desperate to hang onto him that they're willing to spend so much more than they would if, say, Martin Ling was our boss. Personally I get less and less concerned with every 'I am/was/might be/won't be quitting' story. He's like the manager who cried wolf. He'll go one day for sure, and we'll miss him when he does, but for now he's ours, we're promoted and the Board are serious about moving us forward. Enjoy it while we can, I say.

There is definately an element of attention seeking to this story but as mentioned its born from one of his traits that i fully accept.

...but 45 days after said incident and during the player post-match celebrations? I lean towards attention seeking more than anything and to be fair, he's done that since day one too.

*I would like to make it quite clear that I do not want PDC to leave Swindon nor do I want him to change the way he is. It's just not out of order to question his methods*

If PDC was being rough with his 45 day figure it could go back to the Cheltenham game and the boo boys!

PDC changed the fortunes of this club, grabbed it by the bollocks and turned it around. Just like Wise did last time.

I said at the start of the season if he came, saw, conquered and fucked off in the space of 1 season it was still a worthwhile appointment as he will have done the job of getting us out this league. Not everyone does that despite a good budget (Buckle).

Next season will be tough, and we have yet to see a Paolo under intense pressure on the field (August sort of counts, but its not really the pressure of say Wilson/Heart/Malps/King). Will it work then, who knows.

I'd like him to stay 100%, but if he goes then he goes. I've given up second guessing him now.

He can attention seek all he wants, hes our manager an he has just guided us to a higher league and a Championship (it will be ours next week), that is no mean feat in itself, even better in his first ever season as a manager.

So what if he is seeking publicity and attention all the time, so what if he makes wierd choices in his starting line up, we are going up as Champions, only 2 other managers in the clubs 92 year Football League history have ever won us a divisional Championship title.

Wehn did holmes sign?  It was to do with funds being made available to sign him.

Like many he does my head in.I am of the opinion though that if he get's the players fit and disciplined and wins us the league he can ring up jeremy wray call him a cunt and heavy breath if mrs wray answers the phone.

Exfuckingactly.

I know exactly when Holmes signed. If indeed that is the reason why he does what he does then he can easily apply that pressure to Wray in private. He doesn't need to tell anyone else especially after it's all done and dusted.

Again, I emphasise that at this moment in time the PDC pros far outnumber the negatives and I'm enjoying all of this.

I agree the timing was a bit strange, I think he's just applying pressure (publicly) to the board. His standards are very high. It does get a bit tiresome when he keeps threatening to walk out though.

This is another bit of news we didn't really need to know. Paolo being Paolo often says it like it is but not sure what anyone will gain from this information especially as we still don't know the reason behind this statement.

You cant apply pressure publicly forever. Eventually the board could get pissed off and pull his bluff, Look at what happened to Brian Clough at Derby.

This is what PDC needs to be careful of.  Our board apart, I think only West Ham would indulge PDC to this level.  Now if he walks out of the county ground into the West Ham job then fine.  However other boards wont be as receptive to Di Canios needs/moaning/wingeing.

I take your point but as far as manager/chairman relationships go, he's spoilt rotten (as far as we know) - which is not a bad thing.

I'm not sure I even buy the leverage argument.  I think, more likely, this is just Paolo being Paolo.  Thing is, this kind of statement is all well & fine while people are prepared to cut him some slack...for both personal (his Mum) and professional (promotion) reasons.  But when things are different and not going so well on the pitch, for example - and there will be times ahead when they don't - I think he's going to have to learn to manage his comments in the media better than this.

Yep

People always try to read too much into these things when it's best instead to apply the Occam's Razor principle.

Someone posted on the official Facebook page (around 40 days ago!) that he threatened to resign over the Holmes transfer and the use of his image on the season ticket brochure - I know it was mentioned on here yesterday. I guess he's just reminding everyone that it's Paolo's way or the highway.

Never a dull moment....we are out of this division thanks to DiCanio. We dont want ever to go back there as it puts the club in a shit or bust situation. Wray is a gambler by all accounts and it has paid off. The season was never going to be dull...most of us were concerned I think after the first few games but credit where credit is due. I get slated on here for not supporting DiCanio but occasionaly I think it needs pointing out how bonkers the bloke is..

Whatever happens next season it wont be dull and that can only be a good thing...Red Army. ;D

Absolutely.

I think one of the reasons that PDC appears "spoiled" by the board and holding them to ransom a bit, is that the board are aware that previous managerial appointments have not fulfilled the Championship in 4 (or 3 I can't remember) years pledge they made to us when they rescued us from extinction. I guess they feel that in their appointment of Malpas, Hart (and to a lesser extent Wilson though we did have one good season with him) they have let the fans down on this promise, and with the appointment of Paolo they have tried to meet his demands as they see him as someone who should be able to succeed where the others have failed.

After a week of bad publicity, pressure on the players to win promotion and losing 2 games on the trot, Paolo decides to begin this week, when we can win the title at home, by diverting all the attention away from his players and onto himself.

Wonder if he's related to Mourinho...

Oh and there are STILL mongs on Adver site calling him Paolo.  :doh:  OK  P -A -U -L- O - thanks mods!!  :D

Chill its the paolo (Paolo) ;) way of doing things, one day he will leave so lets enjoy it whilst we can 8)

Could be right. It's certainly not the first time he's "done a Mourinho" by completely removing all focus from the players. And the timing's good, as the focus is currently on the players more than it has been at any time in Paolo's tenure - what with them getting pissed up on Saturday and Flint trying to knife Paolo and then getting in a gun fight with the entire coaching staff.

No wonder Paolo was annoyed with him, quite the action hero :D

The knifing may be an exaggeration, but he certainly punched Paolo   ;)

What does he want us to do ? Cheer every decision that he makes ? Throw rose petals in front of him as he walks ?

The man is a legend and as already stated has turned this club around almost single handedly but come on - give us some credit - we've played our part this season and haven't turned round and said we are going to quit.

Well he has praised the fans constantly, to be fair.

I'm not really a fan of his last interview, just because he comes across as arrogant and I think he should have kept the 'resigning' issue to himself, but I'm not complaining about our manager. No way. I don't want a Steve Evans.

You might be right...

"Only one team can be called the champions, and I want to be called the champions because I am a greedy man. We have this in our hands. We are four points clear so we need to win on Saturday. I will do everything I can in the week to help them keep their focus."

The most logical explanation is something to do with his mother being ill. So I'm going to take that as the real reason and be done with it.

This! As i said previously in another thread too!

Again, Occam's Razor applies (twice on the same topic)

True, but a lot of people moan about the ticket prices (£25 and the s/t increase) and some even came on here saying they won't go.

Shame really, as they missed a successful year

What was wrong with the image used?

arm wasnt at the right angle ;)

It made it look like he had less hair than he actually does.

He's very sensitive about his receding hairline.

His lucky hat was edited from the image.

They used his image without asking him first? I'm guessing he thought it wasn't fair on the fans if he suddenly buggered off in the summer.

Watkins said on the radio this morning that was the main reason. Paolo was going to spend the summer with her but was too late :(

Also there may have been a few other stressful things for him which have been going on (I assume to do with the club).

That's the real reason