The great and the good are seething at the appointment of Paolo Di Canio as manager of Sunderland AFC, mainly because he has been quoted as saying that he is a 'fascist'.  He said at the time that he was a 'fascist not a racist' and has claimed the quote has been taken out of context.  Given he has a tattoo of Mussolini on his back and Il Duce on his arm, that's some context we are missing!

 

Would you care if our manager had 'shifty' political views or affiliaations?  If Terry Butcher came out as a member of the BNP or a committed supporter of Tommy SHeridan's People Front For Pollokshaws Swingers (Marxist-Leninist) would you leave your Caley scarf behind?  Personally I'd find it a bit weird and would prefer that footballers stuck to football but lets be honest, if a manager or a player won the team trophies would you be fussed ifhe liked Mussolini or Stalin or Pol Pot?

Interesting thoughts Chris and had me just imagining what if Adolf had survived the war and became a football manager?!

 

Could have been quite something........ 

isnt it odd that nobody cared when Di Canio was manager in the lower leagues of England - governed by the same FA body and reported by the same sections of the media.

Edited April 2, 201312 yr by bdu98196

I don't see what the big deal is really.  Terry Butcher's a big Conservative and apparently is responsible for putting up a picture of the Queen in the Ibrox home dressing room which remains to this day.  Brian Clough was a socialist (as was Shankly and others).  Egil Olsen was a member of the Norwegian Communist Party.

 

It's not really an issue I don't think.

The great and the good are seething at the appointment of Paolo Di Canio

So Deek's been asked then?

I would care if he was an extremist.  Conservative, liberal, democratic socialist, green?  Pffft, who cares?  Racist, Islamic fanatic, fascist, extreme mysoganist etc?  Beyond the pale for me.  Some things are more important than a ball in the net.  If I was a Sunderland fan, I'd be giving up all interest for a while.

Think it would depend for me if their political views started impacting in their job as the team's manager in a negative way.  If someone was to come in and say "Hey, no black players will be welcome here", I'd have a problem with that.

 

I think in this case it's a bit of a sensationalised story.  Particularly when you consider that the likes of the BBC were happy to have Di Canio writing an online column for them when he was at Swindon. 

Edited April 2, 201312 yr by Renegade

Just an excuse for the PC brigade to go just a bit over the top, particularly 5live and David Miliband. Certainly will be interesting to see how Sunderland perform over the next few games given all this extra off-field attention.

Butcher's a tory?... Butcher OUT!

Not sure about Terry being a Conservative being relevant to be honest.

 

I wouldn't care about anyone's views at all, we are all entitled to have our own beliefs and by highlighting Di Canio's the media are guilty of what they would have us think of him.

I wonder if any Sunderland fans are complaining about their new manager now?  He could probably have goose-stepped into the post-match press conference and they wouldn't care.

Just an excuse for the PC brigade to go just a bit over the top, particularly 5live and David Miliband. Certainly will be interesting to see how Sunderland perform over the next few games given all this extra off-field attention.

To be fair David Milliband has a point due to his family history. Both his parents came to this country as Jewish refugees and he lost family in the holocaust. So I can see where he is coming from.

How come his brother looks like Wallace & Gromit though?

Presumably you are referring to Wallace, rather than Gromit!

 

I keep hoping that one day he'll turn up to the Commons wearing the wrong trousers.

Newcastle fans reacted to the defeat by attacking police in the city centre, and one brave Geordie tried to fight a horse

 

 

MON THEN EH

That pic must be a hoax. If it was genuine, the Geordie nutter wouldn't have a top on.

was at the game yesterday. those geordies are crazy.

• 

 

 

 

Newcastle fans reacted to the defeat by attacking police in the city centre, and one brave Geordie tried to fight a horse

 

 

MON THEN EH

 

 

Memories of a great scene from Blazing Saddles

 

 

 

http://youtu.be/8HJBkEpgQok

Sad days as insane Italian fascist loses his job.  Paulo must be disappointed although I bet deep down he admired the swift, brutal action taken by an unaccountable dictator.

I doubt di Canio could even spell fashist.