No Oscars for Paolo with his zany act

Ian Paul

2 Dec 1996

Referee and Burns make Di Canio pay the price for Parkhead antics

Celtic......................2 Hearts.....................2

MAMMA Mia, the trouble these foreigners can cause.

Paolo Di Canio went through the entire stereotype "B" movie Italian fruitcake routine, spreadeagling himself on the turf because he was given offside, gesticulating with pleading eyes and windmill hands at the referee, the linesmen, God, Hari Krishna, Pavarotti, and Al Martino.

Occasionally, he did find time to dazzle with sparkling ball control, and not only earned, but scored a penalty.

The pity was he then went into daft mode and got himself sent off.

His manager, Tommy Burns, did not see the funny side, which is hardly suprising.

He bought the former Serie A man to do a serious bit of playing for him and was not eager to see a kind of John McEnroe in white boots.

Referee Stuart Dougal showed immense patience with the Latin temperament and might have administered the double yellow whammy long before the madcap incident which finally secured the great man's dramatic, but early exit.

Burns, to his special credit, eschewed the route often preferred by managers in these circumstances.

He did not mince his words.

"That was just stupidity," he said, "Di Canio made no attempt at defending himself because there is none.

If he had stayed on the field I believe we would have won the game." "There is no excuse for an experienced player to do that just when we had got into position to win the match.

" The manager said the Italian would be disciplined, in other words, fined.

He already and had already been spoken to about this kind of behaviour.

Burns was equally frank about the poor disciplinary peformance of his players this season, during which Celtic have endured ten red cards.

The manager has warned his staff that any further indiscipline will be treated severely.

The Paolo show had begun early on when he became more and more frustrated by decisions of the standside linesman which caught him offside.

It is exasperating for any player in that situation, although I would have to say the decisions looked right to me.

But there is no need, really, to react as if struck down by a firing squad.

Paolo will have to learn that, in the cauld grey realities of Scottish life, excessive emotions are not inclined to impress.

Do the business, signor, and the excesses will come later.

He and his team mates had been ineffective in the first half, although they had a great deal of the ball.

The only man who looked capable of doing serious damage to a well disciplined Hearts defence was another foreigner, but one of typically pragmatic Teutonic temperament - Andreas Thom.

But even his promptings could not work the oracle.

Hearts, whose own Italian, Pasquale Bruno, has shown a few excesses in his time here, too, was in tremendous form, marshalling the defence with calm assuredness, exactly the opposite of his display the previous week in the Coca Cola Cup final, although there was one lapse - a ferocious tackle on Jorge Cadete for which he received a yellow card.

Hearts survived all the pressure and then delivered the kind of sucker punch that has haunted Celtic for a long time when Colin Cameron took advantage of sloppy defending to head over keeper Stewart Kerr's head.

Brian O'Neil, who had made a rather uncertain clearance which gave the former Raith Rovers man the opportunity, made some kind of amends when he scored the equaliser just before half time, although Gilles Rousset was honest enough to acknowledge the error in handling which let the ball evade his grasp and fall over the line.

Celtic came out in far more positive mood, but were hit by another counter-punch when Fulton sent the most exquisite of defence splitting pases to Cameron and his touch on to Neil McCann left the winger with an easy task.

Celtic, with Chris Hay doing well down the left after having replaced Thom, produced some of their best play at this stage and when Neil Pointon clearly tripped Di Canio inside the penalty area, they were ready to stage a grandstand finish.

The Italian was given some verbal abuse by Paul Ritchie, obviously alleging the Celtic man had taken a dive, but he did not let it deter him from slotting the spot-kick.

It was then the scenario took on surreal tones.

Paolo raced into the net to retrieve the ball but discovered that Gilles Rousset was not for letting him have it.

After a wee scuffle, Paolo gave up the fight and ran back upfield.

On his way, he had exchanges with a couple of Hearts men, then was challenged, rather foolishly, by Fulton who gave the Italian a push which was returned in kind.

Fulton was maybe fortunate to receive only a yellow card but Paolo had to go, having been booked earlier.

There was some pantomime yet to be played, involving kissing of the shirt and flaunting same towards the linesman.

In the end, his departure ensured the points were to be shared.

THE Paolo show had begun early on when he became more and more frustrated by decisions of the stand-side linesman which caught him offside.

It is exasperating for any player in that situation, although I would have to say the decisions looked right to me.

But there is no need, really, to react as if struck down by a firing squad.

Taken from the Herald