It’s 30 years since Hurricane Paolo reached these shores. It triggered mayhem, bouts of self-destruction and a few good, redeeming moments of genius.
Di Canio’s signing for Celtic occurred on Might 31, 1996. He checked out simply greater than a yr later in August 1997. It is a story of what occurred in that tumultuous spell. It comprises golden boots, council tax recommendation, a noose and a shark’s head in a mattress.
It’s instructed by the boys who had been there and survived the storm.
THE ARRIVAL
David Hay, scouted Di Canio who was purchased from AC Milan for £1m
‘I had been alerted to him by a contact. I had clearly watched him on tv however I wish to go to see a participant…simply to examine he has two legs and two arms.
Paolo di Canio’s signing for Celtic from AC Milan in 1996 was a significant coup for Parkhead membership
‘AC Milan had been taking part in Bordeaux within the second leg of a Europa League quarter-final. Bordeaux received 3-0 after shedding 2-0 in Milan. To offer you an thought of the standard, Bordeaux had Christophe Dugarry, Bixente Lizarazu and Zinedine Zidane. Milan had Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Marcel Desailly and George Weah.
‘Di Canio got here on at half-time for Roberto Baggio. This was the extent. Sure, he was on the bench however so had been Demetrio Albertini and Mauro Tassoti.
‘I used to be satisfied fairly rapidly. His want and dedication had been apparent and so was his stage of health. Given the stage, the power was all the time going to be there. However he by no means let up, was totally into the sport and was booked. The angle completely satisfied me he might do a flip for us. Scorching-headed, sure, but additionally a participant.
‘Tommy Burns (then supervisor) agreed with my verdict and Fergus McCann (then chief government) was eager to maneuver forward rapidly. My recollection is that the deal was pretty clean by way of getting it over the road.
‘It was the time of Pierre van Hooijdonk and Jorge Cadete so it was an thrilling line-up. The followers cherished him and I favored him lots. He lived simply up the highway from me and would come right down to my home for wee bits of recommendation on residing in Scotland.
‘One evening he chapped my door and mentioned: “What is that this council tax?” I instructed him what it was however added: “I’m not paying it for you, Paolo, you might be on rather more than me!”.
‘Any wee points and he would come to me. He was such a personality. I bought near him and admired him. He was extraordinarily match and vastly proficient.
Di Canio celebrates a purpose in opposition to bitter rivals Rangers in a Scottish Cup quarter-final triumph
‘He was actually prime stage and there was a idea that he might change Eric Cantona at Manchester United. I might not disagree with that. He was cherished at Sheffield Wednesday and West Ham earlier than he went again to Italy. The standard he had will all the time be fondly remembered by those that noticed him.’
THE TEAM-MATE
Peter Grant, room-mate (and occasional backing singer)
‘We are going to get to the shark’s head, the true story of the coaching floor row and the singing, however first I wish to say it was an honour and a privilege to play with him. I used to be blessed to play with Paul (McStay) and my hero Danny (McGrain) however Paolo was the one who might produce a bit of match-winning talent out of nothing. I used to drive down London Highway on a Saturday trying ahead to taking part in with him.
‘I used to be instantly delegated to share a room with him. TB broke up Paul and I, who had been sharing for about 12 years. Tommy mentioned I might inform Paolo what it was wish to play for Celtic.
‘He was an unbelievable skilled. I’ve by no means met a stronger participant. You checked out him and thought there was nothing of him however he skilled onerous. He would come again from vacation totally match as he would take a private coach away with him.
‘He knew he was a participant and he might throw the dummy out the pram. He would criticise among the boys in coaching however I might say: “You aren’t with Baresi or Maldini any extra. And, by the best way, once you had been with them you had been on the bench”. That might put him in his field and he would snicker at that.
Di Canio was able to the elegant and the ridiculous and gave followers many blissful recollections
‘There’s the story that he walked off in a huff on the first observe match as he was not impressed with the standard. The reality is that huge Gordon Marshall threw a ball in direction of him however it was intercepted. Paolo began waving his arms and shouting. Marsh ran out of purpose and would have killed him. However TB intervened and despatched Paolo down the highway. Bear in mind, it was Barrowfield right now.
‘Once we bought again to Parkhead, Paolo was within the bathe. He all the time wore a beautiful scarf so we hung it from his peg within the form of a noose. He cherished that.
‘I bear in mind the golden boots too. He was No 7 and I used to be No 6 so our pegs had been subsequent to one another at Pittodrie when he introduced them out (Boxing Day 1996, Celtic received 2-1). I bear in mind saying to him: “You higher play nicely tonight sporting them”. He scored that fantastic purpose with a marvellous contact and deft end. It is among the finest objectives and it by no means will get the total credit score.
‘Hear, wherever on the planet that purpose is thought to be top-class. It was worthy of corresponding to Maradona, Messi, Zidane — take a look at it on-line.
‘I turned good mates with him. TB placing him in beside me as a room-mate was an expertise in itself. It was Scotland within the nineties. Right here is Paolo shaving his full physique to be extra aerodynamic and I didn’t actually have a bathroom bag.
‘Then there’s the shark. We went on pre-season to Sweden and we had been served up a barbecue of shrimp contained in the physique of a shark. All that was left of the shark was this enormous head and its tail and the buffet of fish was within the center. I didn’t fancy it and Paolo seen that.
‘On return to the resort, I mentioned I might deliver him up a espresso and I noticed the sly wee look on his face. I didn’t suppose a lot of it and bought the espresso and went to the room. In these days I all the time slept with two huge pillows on the backside of the mattress. I wanted to have my leg raised to decrease the ache in my knee.
‘Each evening it was just like the Waltons. There have been about 100 good nights earlier than Paolo would shut up and put out his gentle. This evening he was eager to get to sleep however I believed nothing of it. I put my legs below the sheets and… my foot was instantly soaking. I lifted the sheets and there was blood all over the place. What I believed had been the plumped pillows was the shark’s head. It was enormous.
Midfielder Peter Grant was Di Canio’s room-mate and sufferer of notorious shark’s-head prank
‘I’ve jumped up squealing and Paolo has made a splash for the door. I picked up a fireplace extinguisher to go after him. Everyone was quickly out within the corridors with all of the commotion. It was actually humorous and it had a little bit of an aftermath.
‘After I was supervisor at Norwich, we had been taking part in Ipswich within the derby and all their followers had been sporting fish heads and making fish jokes. I didn’t get it till somebody instructed me that Paolo had written in his e book that I had a fish phobia. I didn’t. I had a bleeding shark’s head in my mattress phobia!
‘One other time, I went out with him and Simon O’Donnell. We went again to his home and Paolo placed on the karaoke machine. We had been all singing away and I seen a wee pink gentle flashing. He was recording it. Sooner or later on the coach to a recreation, he instructed me he was going to ship it to the gaffer. I instructed him I might throw him off the bus, so he thought higher of it.
‘I cherished him. Typically you needed to put him in his place however I can not say a nasty phrase about him. It’s a pity the best way the season performed out. We solely misplaced one recreation within the league however that was sufficient to complete second.’
THE BITTER END
Jock Brown, common supervisor
‘He was an impressive participant however he didn’t win issues. I checked out his background and he had solely two medals in his profession, and each instances he was on the bench. I did the commentary within the cup semi-final replay in opposition to Falkirk (Celtic misplaced 1-0) and he was by no means off the ball however nothing occurred.
‘Nonetheless, he was a beautiful participant and as match as a butcher’s canine. He’s lumped with the Three Amigos by way of character. I wasn’t concerned within the departure of Pierre van Hooijdonk however I can inform you we had a four-year cope with Jorge Cadete. He telephoned me in tears from Portugal saying he couldn’t keep on as a result of his spouse didn’t wish to keep in Scotland. Now, think about him with Henrik Larsson. Jorge was and is a beautiful man.
Di Canio remonstrates with referee Willie Younger after being booked in an Previous Agency contest
‘The background to Di Canio’s departure is that Wim (Jansen) had organized a pre-season journey to Holland. I used to be instructed Di Canio was refusing to go so I needed to type it out.
‘I had this dialog with him when he was saying that Holland was not the fitting place for him to go to coach. I identified that we couldn’t have, say, Alan Stubbs deciding to coach in Saltcoats or Jackie McNamara at Strathclyde Park or no matter. Soccer golf equipment don’t work that means, I mentioned.
‘I went to Glasgow Airport on the scheduled departure day and he didn’t flip up. I organized a gathering with him and his agent and Paolo didn’t come into the room for that. His agent mentioned he was intimidated. By the best way, his agent was a beautiful man and had no phrases of excuse for his consumer’s behaviour. The participant was routinely fined two weeks’ wages.
‘He believed that Fergus had promised him a much bigger contract however that was by no means the case.
‘The workforce was then heading to Eire for a short tour. Di Canio turned up for that however in his personal gear, not that agreed for the workforce. He then absconded from Eire and went to Italy and the phrase was he wasn’t coming again. There was no additional dialogue and the fines continued.
‘There was no likelihood of him taking part in for Celtic once more. However we couldn’t put him up on the market. We needed to shield the worth, we couldn’t say we wished to promote a participant so quickly.
Di Canio in motion in opposition to Falkirk as Celtic crashed out of the Scottish Cup semi-finals in 1997
‘Wim, although, wished Regi Blinker from Sheffield Wednesday. David Pleat, the Wednesday supervisor, mentioned he didn’t wish to promote however talked about he was interested by Di Canio. It took some time however the deal was made with an enormous lump in our favour.’
THE AFTERMATH
Di Canio’s keep in Yorkshire (1997-1999) was marked by a ban of 11 matches for pushing a referee to the bottom. His transfer to West Ham United (1999-2003) was sprinkled with extraordinary objectives. And a Di Canio second when he grabbed the ball to cease play when the Everton goalkeeper was mendacity injured. He was awarded the FIFA Honest Play award.
The pantomime villain had change into a saint, if solely briefly.
The hurricane blew into Lazio and there was a storm over a fascist salute. All of it subsided together with his retirement in 2008. After which he turned a supervisor. However that’s one other story, one other bracing encounter with a drive of nature.
