4. It Took Him Less Than A Month At Swindon To Have A Fight With One Of His Players
His time at Swindon Town wasn't all footballing glory and tales of crafty cat-burglary though, as Di Canio even managed to get into a few physical spats with a number of his players. Even in the early days when he was still getting his feet under the table, he wasn't adversed from squaring up to much younger and fitter men than him. Despite having recently adopted a number of saumari disciplines in an effort to help control his legendary temper, in 2011 he found himself squaring up to Swindon player Leon Clarke after he had witnessed his side beaten by Southampton in a League Cup clash. After informing his players that they would benefit for an extra training session tomorrow morning as punishment, Di Canio noticed that his new striker didn't seem too pleased with the decision and went to see what the problem was. Moments later the two were dragging each other down the tunnel for a frank exchange of words before the situation escalated and players, coaches, and the officials had to get between the two to stop a fight breaking out. Di Canio labelled the player "unprofessional" in his press conference and offloaded him on loan almost immediately afterwards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otbpOUx1ZF8
WhatCulture's Managing Editor and Chief Reporter | Previously seen in Vice, Esquire, FourFourTwo, Sabotage Times, Loaded, The Set Pieces, and Mundial Magazine
