Paolo Di Canio is in the headlines today, so I thought we’d take a trip down memory lane to 12 February 2000, the day I experienced once of the most remarkable matches I am ever likely to see at Upton Park. We played Bradford City in what most of us assumed would be a pretty easy home win. Even when our goalkeeper had to go off after five minutes, no one can have predicted what was then about to happen. It was a nightmare debut for substitute goalkeeper Stephen Bywater, but someone else who had to deal with his personal demons that day was Paolo Di Canio… Watch the video and see his reaction to having three cast-iron penalty appeals turned down…
What that video misses is the one penalty we did get that day. It wasn’t won by Paolo, but his fight to take the penalty with Frank Lampard, was another comical scene from the game.
And here, Harry Redknapp explains what Paolo Do Canio was like to deal with as a player. His memory lets him down, however, when he describes the Bradford penalty, as you will see.
Paolo Di Canio will always be a true Hammer. He’s the greatest player I have ever seen in a Hammers shirt, without a shadow of a doubt. In a recent issue of EX Magazine, Geoff Hurst complains about people who put him in a Greatest Ever Hammers Team above himself. Well, I never saw Geoff play, and fantastic player as he was, he didn’t have the skill of Paolo Di Canio. No one else ever did.
And if you doubt Di Canio’s allegiances, watch this…
PS Safehands has pointed me to this interview Paolo gave after his last match at Upton Park. Got the tissues handy?