Salute the new boss? No chance

Paolo Di Canio has been appointed as the new manager of Swindon Town.

From a football point of view, the jury is obviously still out, but is the board really wise to appoint a self proclaimed fascist as their new manager?

Di Canio has given the fascist salute on a couple of occasions in front of the Lazio fans (who have ‘sweetly’ serenaded their counterparts at Roma with chants of “Team of Blacks, Crowd of Jews"), has been fined for doing so and is a fan of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini who sided with Hitler during the Second World War.  Mussolini was responsible for the deaths of over 400,000 Italians in the war and 30,000 Ethiopians who were executed during Italy's occupation of the country. What a nice guy!

What sort of message is the Swindon board trying to send out with this appointment? And what sort of message does it send out to Swindon's black players in particular if the Lazio fans (along with their objectionable views) are the people Di Canio salutes?

Swindon fans are desperate for some good news after a miserable season that saw them relegated to the bottom tier, but – should he be successful – are they prepared to turn a blind eye to his political views? How many points won in a football game is it worth selling your soul for these days?

In 1938 the England football team was forced to give the fascist salute at a game in Berlin. They said later that they were ashamed to do so. I wonder whether the people of Swindon will end up with the same sick feeling in the pit of their stomachs at some point in the near future.

Di Canio was a great player – if a little temperamental at times. During a game at Hillsborough while playing for Wednesday against Arsenal back in 1998, he pushed referee Paul Alcock to the ground after being shown the red card. He had a public row with Glenn Roeder while at West Ham as the club unsuccessfully fought against relegation.

On the plus side, he was awarded FIFA’s Fair Play Award in 2001 after catching a ball rather than sticking it in the net when he spotted Everton keeper Paul Gerrard writhing in agony – an act described by the governing body as "a special act of good sportsmanship."

He also scored nearly 140 goals in just over five hundred professional games for the likes of Juve, Celtic, AC Milan and others. His quality as a player was never in doubt.

Of course in football success is never guaranteed and should Di Canio not bring the good times back to the County Ground I wonder if he’ll get the same sort of send off his hero Mussolini got – hung up by his  feet with piano wire at a local petrol station? I believe there’s one just around the corner at Tescos.