MAIL
Di Canio has bust-up with his own player after Carling Cup defeat to SouthamptonSwindon manager Paolo Di Canio was involved in a heated confrontation with striker Leon Clarke following Tuesday's Carling Cup defeat by Southampton.
After his side were beaten 3-1 at home in the second-round clash at the County Ground, the hot-headed Italian could be seen remonstrating with forward Clarke as the team left the pitch.
The former West Ham striker appeared to manhandle Clarke towards the tunnel and the pair seemed to be pushing and shoving before being separated.
Clarke refused to go into the dressing room and left the ground still wearing his kit while Di Canio went home without attending his usual post-match press conference.
Get off! Swindon's Leon Clarke has a bust-up with Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio
Get off! Swindon's Leon Clarke has a bust-up with Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio
Instead it was left to chairman Jeremy Wray to try to explain the scuffle.
Wray, who has promised to conduct a full investigation, said: 'Clearly there was an incident and it would be wrong to apportion blame until we have all the facts.
'Leon and the fitness coach were having words after the game and there was a disagreement between them. As Leon came off the pitch Paolo was conscious these things should be done behind closed doors.
'There was a misunderstanding there that carried on into the tunnel.
'It got to a situation where the whole thing blew up very fast. There was frustration on both sides.
'The whole issue was trivial but nobody responded in the right way.
'The manager was quite right to try to defuse the situation.
'Paolo was frustrated the whole thing was played out in public. He feels one of the players has let him down.'
Fiery game: Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio clashes with Southampton's Dan Harding
Fiery game: Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio clashes with Southampton's Dan Harding
The incident overshadowed another impressive performance from Southampton, who continued their impressive start to the season to set up a third-round showdown with either Charlton or Preston.
Brazilian Guly do Prado gave the visitors the perfect start by heading in Lee Holmes' cross after only 17 minutes.
Jonathan Forte's neat finish from 12 yards on the half-hour - the former Sc**thorpe striker's first goal of the season - doubled Saints' lead.
Swindon substitute Mehdi Kerrouche's late free-kick threatened to set up a grand slam finish but Rickie Lambert sealed the win in the dying seconds.
While all the talk was about Di Canio and Clarke, Saints manager Nigel Adkins was just pleased to get through.
Adkins said: 'We passed the ball around really well in the first half but fair play to Swindon, they made a game of it in the second.
'We try to play football in the right way and I was very pleased with another solid performance and we look forward to the next round.'
Leyton Orient, meanwhile, who are rock bottom of League One, will face Premier League side Blackburn in the next round after Stephen Dawson scored in the 94th minute in a 3-2 win over Bristol Rovers.
Orient, who knocked out Watford in the previous round, took the lead when David Mooney netted in the 18th minute. The Irish striker then won a penalty five minutes later when Wayne Brown hauled him down which Ben Chorley converted.
Chris Zebroski got one back for Bristol Rovers before Eliot Richards equalised in the 91st minute. But Dawson won it for Orient three minutes later.
Aldershot progressed to the third round for the first time since 1984 with a 2-0 win over League One Carlisle at the Recreation Ground.
Michael Rankine and a Danny Livesey own goal sent the League Two side through. Aldershot will play Rochdale at home in the next round.
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2032005/Paolo-Di-Canio-bust-player-defeat.html#ixzz1WaR7QYdp
SWINDON ADVERTISER
Town set to investigate tunnel spat6:00am Wednesday 31st August 2011
* By Gary Rose »
SWINDON Town interim chairman Jeremy Wray today plans to speak with both Leon Clarke and Paolo Di Canio following a post-match spat between the pair after last night's 3-1 defeat to Southampton in the second round of the Carling Cup.
Clarke was visibly frustrated following discussions with fitness coach Claudio Donatelli as he made his way towards the tunnel and when Di Canio approached to put a consolatory arm around him, the 26-year-old pushed him away.
A dispute between the two ensued before Clarke then refused to go down the tunnel and spent the next 15 minutes talking to interim chairman Jeremy Wray on the pitch.
It was a disappointing end to the game after Town had shown a marked improvement in performance following a largely poor first half, briefly threatening a comeback when Mehdi Kerrouche fired home a superb free-kick with six minutes remaining, before Rickie Lambert put the result beyond a doubt.
It remains to be seen what the implications of the dispute will be, with Di Canio opting not to attend the post-match press conference.
“There was an incident but it would be wrong to say too much now until we have the full story from both sides," said Wray.
“In essence what happened was Leon and the fitness coach were having words after the game and there were disagreements over a couple of differences that had gone on.
“When Leon was coming off the pitch Paolo was very conscious of the fact that these discussions should be held behind closed doors.
"He was keen to get him down to the dressing room and talk then, I think Leon didn’t want to go down at the time and there was clearly a misunderstanding there that carried on down the tunnel.
“These things should be sorted out behind closed doors, that unfortunately is not what happened but until we go over all the comments it is unfair to blame anyone."
Wray revealed that Di Canio apologised for the incident to Town's interim chairman afterwards.
"He apologised to me because he doesn't want it to happen," he added.
"It was not an apology for his actions in trying to diffuse the whole situation.
"He regrets the issue happened and that it deflects from what was a very good team performance in the second half."
www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/9223633.Town_set_to_investigate_tunnel_spat/
GUARDIAN
Paolo Di Canio in heated confrontation with Swindon's Leon Clarke
• Manager and new striker involved in tunnel skirmish
• Incident follows 3-1 Carling Cup defeat by SouthamptonThe Swindon manager, Paolo Di Canio, and striker Leon Clarke exchanged heated words on the touchline before a confrontation in the tunnel.
Swindon's manager, Paolo Di Canio, was involved in a heated confrontation with his striker Leon Clarke following the Carling Cup defeat by Southampton on Tuesday night.
After his side were beaten 3-1 at home in the second-round match at the County Ground the Italian could be seen remonstrating with Clarke as the team left the pitch. The former West Ham striker appeared to manhandle Clarke in the tunnel and the pair seemed to be pushing and shoving before being separated.
Clarke, who joined Swindon only 10 days ago, refused to go into the dressing room and left the ground still wearing his kit while Di Canio went home without attending his usual post-match press conference. Instead it was left to the club's chairman, Jeremy Wray, to try to explain the scuffle.
Wray, who has promised to conduct a full investigation, said: "Clearly there was an incident and it would be wrong to apportion blame until we have all the facts.
"Leon and the fitness coach were having words after the game and there was a disagreement between them. As Leon came off the pitch Paolo was conscious these things should be done behind closed doors. There was a misunderstanding there that carried on into the tunnel.
"It got to a situation where the whole thing blew up very fast. There was frustration on both sides. The whole issue was trivial but nobody responded in the right way.
"The manager was quite right to try to defuse the situation. Paolo was frustrated the whole thing was played out in public. He feels one of the players has let him down."
The incident overshadowed another impressive performance from Southampton, who continued their fine start to the season to set up a third-round tie with Charlton or Preston.
The Brazilian Guly do Prado gave the visitors the perfect start by heading in Lee Holmes's cross after 17 minutes.
Jonathan Forte's neat finish from 12 yards on the half-hour – the former Sc**thorpe striker's first goal of the season – then doubled Saints' lead.
The Swindon substitute Mehdi Kerrouche's late free-kick threatened to set up an exciting finish but Rickie Lambert sealed the win in the dying seconds.
While all the talk was about Di Canio and Clarke the Saints manager, Nigel Adkins, was just pleased to get through."We passed the ball around really well in the first half but fair play to Swindon, they made a game of it in the second," Adkins said.
"We try to play football in the right way and I was very pleased with another solid performance and we look forward to the next round."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/31/paolo-di-canio-leon-clarke
