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After relegation to League Two in 2011, closely followed by the sacking of manager Paul Hart and chairman Andrew Fitton stepping down from his position, new Town chairman Jeremy Wray surprisingly appointed di Canio as the new boss shortly after the season ended - the Italian beating off strong competition from Dietmar Hamann and former manager of the year George Burley to take the hotseat, with chief executive Nick Watkins describing di Canio as "the most impressive candidate he had ever seen". With di Canio signing an initial two year deal, with an option of a third, the interest around his appointment was immediate - with 'Swindon Town' trending on internet site Twitter, both worldwide and as the number one topic in the UK in the hours before the announcement was made. Not all of the press was complimentary though, with di Canio's impulsive style, many pundits predicted that the appointment was doomed to failure - and with his well-publicised right-wing political preference, a minor sponsor at the club, the GMB Union, withdrew their sponsorship of reserve team goalkeeper Mark Scott in response to his arrival. With many players departing the club following relegation, di Canio had his work cut out to assemble a squad for the new season - and a string of triallists from all over the world joined up with the Town for the pre-season preparations - men from Italy, Ghana, Namibia, Algeria, Austria, Estonia, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and the Netherlands were all courted, with twelve players signing before the season started. and Six of the new men started the season's opening game with Crewe - and after di Canio had impressed with his detailed knowledge of the Railwaymen in his pre-match press conference, after a nervy start, the Town registered an eventually comfortable 3-0 victory. Over the next few weeks though, it looked like the pundits may have had it right, as Swindon lost their next four league games - including the first home defeat to local rivals Oxford for 38 years, when di Canio's attempt at mind games with U's striker James Constable backfired. After describing Constable as 'a big Swindon fan' and admitting that he would like the player in his own team, Constable scored twice for the U's in a 2-1 victory, kissing the U's badge in a match that saw di Canio sent to the stands. Things came to a head at the end of the month - after Swindon had been knocked out of the Carling Cup versus Southampton, di Canio stepped in to diffuse a situation between new striker Leon Clarke and fitness coach Claudio Donatelli - but as di Canio attempted to usher Clarke down the tunnel away from the television cameras, the striker pushed him away - when they finally did make it, the cameras captured pictures of an altercation between the pair, in which it appeared that punches were thrown. Chairman Jeremy Wray was quick to back his manager, and though the media were quick to jump on the story as another incident involving the Italian, TV footage soon proved di Canio's side of the argument - and Clarke had played his last game for Swindon. The following weekend, the cameras were again at the County Ground, this time to witness the Town come twice from behind, to clinch a 3-2 victory over Rotherham, and they also saw the unity of the rest of the squad with the manager - Matt Ritchie running to di Canio to celebrate the Town's opening goal. Swindon beat two other promotion rivals in their next two matches - already depleted in defence, injury to Oliver Risser against Southend saw di Canio move midfielder Alan McCormack into the back four, and it proved to be a masterstroke - after beating the Shrimpers 2-0, McCormack stayed in that position for the rest of the season, eventually winning the Player of the Season award. Three days later, travelling Town fans took great joy in chanting '3-0 to the circus team' as Swindon thumped Crawley on their own patch - after Crawley boss Steve Evans had described the Town as 'the Paolo di Canio circus' in the lead up to the game, the Town boss hit back, saying that he had "laughed in the face of 70,000 Manchester United fans when I scored, you can imagine if I am worried about the words of someone I have never heard of?" The victories ensured that di Canio was nominated for the September Manager of the Month award, only to lose out to Southend's manager, former Town boss Paul Sturrock. Still though, the Town's form had not hit top gear, especially away from home - and after a 2-0 defeat at Macclesfield, di Canio urged his team to develop a mean streak, using a bizarre metaphor - saying that if a player "has a chihuahua character, I can't make a chihuahua into a rottweiler. He could be a proud chihuahua, but he remains a chihuahua". After Matt Ritchie had been denied a clear penalty during the game, he also called for his players to dive if presented with the same situation again. Di Canio constantly made adjustments - bringing in numerous players on loan, changing his starting eleven to suit the opposition, even stripping original choice Oliver Risser of the captaincy to help him focus on his game. Soon the tinkering began to pay off. The arrival of goalkeeper Wes Foderingham and defender Liam Ridehalgh on loan coincided with the Town keeping clean sheets in their next five games - a superb one-touch move giving the Town victory at Plymouth, a Matt Ritchie thunderbolt opening the scoring in a 2-0 win over Gillingham - the run seeing Swindon move into the play-off places. It was just the start of an incredible sequence of home games that would see the Town concede just one more goal in the League at the County Ground for the rest of the season. Players that were deemed to not be pulling their weight were sidelined, and even top scorer Mehdi Kerrouche was not immune - di Canio dropping the Algerian after being unhappy with his effort in training - the board continually backing the Italian whenever he felt the need to dip into the loan market. Over Christmas, Swindon lost their first match in eleven at Torquay, and went behind at Northampton on New Years' Eve - but after Alan Connell netted an equaliser, a purposeful run from Alan McCormack ended with the Irishman netting an injury time winner in front of a packed travelling support - prompting di Canio to run half the length of the pitch to celebrate with his team and fans, only to be immediately sent to the stands on his return. Away from the league, having already reached the Area Final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, and having seen off higher level opposition in Huddersfield and Colchester in the FA Cup, Swindon performed a giant-killing in the Third Round - coming from behind to beat Premier League Wigan. The last gasp victory at Sixfields was the start of another superb run - the Town clocking up a club record of ten straight victories in the league. Banished to the stands for a win at Rotherham, di Canio was once again sent there in his first game back on the touchline against Macclesfield - reacting angrily when a foul on defender Aden Flint went unpunished, di Canio was adamant that he didn't leave the technical area or use bad language - insisting that the technical area was his to do what he wished in, he commented that "if they want to send me off every game, then no problem. We will win this league anyway" - the post-match press conference being seen around the world after going viral on the internet. The winning run also prompted di Canio to backtrack on his chihuahua comparison - saying that "when a dog is a puppy you can confuse a chihuahua with a baby rottweiler that is only one month old. Now they are adult rottweilers." The Macclesfield win was followed by a superb 4-1 win at fellow promotion chasers Southend - di Canio applauding his players with the travelling support, as Swindon moved into the automatic promotion places for the first time. A week later, the Town sealed a place at Wembley, beating Barnet in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in the Area Final - before di Canio again returned to the stands for the rematch with Steve Evans' Crawley, when the Town again won 3-0, di Canio thanked the FA for the ban, stating that he had a clearer view of the game, and giving them permission to ban him again, "because my team know what they are doing". A fortunate victory in a top-of-the-table clash with Shrewsbury meant that Swindon topped the league for the first time since the opening day - and after missing out on the January award to Torquay boss Martin Ling, six victories out of six in February secured the Manager of the Month award for the Town boss. By the end of the run, the sight of di Canio holding his scarf aloft in post-match celebration became commonplace - one of the iconic images of a superb season. Unfortunately, the curse of the award struck before it had even been announced, at the worst possible venue. After di Canio had reignited his interest in James Constable in the January transfer window, initially agreeing a fee with Oxford, only for the deal to fall through - Constable claiming that he decided not to talk to Swindon, di Canio claiming that he pulled out of the deal when Constable asked for more time to consider the move - this time it appeared that the Italian had won the mind games, the Oxford striker sent off for a flailing elbow on Joe Devera just eleven minutes into the return derby. Incredibly though, seven minutes later, the Town were two down - former loan winger Lee Holmes the architect of the goals - the U's holding on for the rest of the game. Despite defeat, di Canio defiantly proceeded with his post-match scarf routine - and as he did so, he pointed to the sky for Swindon, then pointed to the Oxford fans and pointed downwards - insinuating that though the Town may have lost the battle, they would still win the war. Two weeks later, di Canio moved in to snatch Holmes from under Oxford's noses - agreeing a loan deal with Southampton just as the U's expected to renew his deal. The Town recovered quickly - thumping Dagenham 4-0 just days later, before a fortunate 1-0 win over second placed Cheltenham saw them move eight points clear at the top of the league - ten days later, Swindon saw off their nearest challengers again, beating Torquay 2-0. That game came just days before the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Wembley, where the Town would face League One Chesterfield - and though the Spireites were in the league above, Swindon went into the game as favourites, with their opponents bottom of the division. Di Canio sprung a big surprise with his line-up - after signing Jay McEveley and John Bostock on loan just days previously, he handed both their debuts at the national stadium - McEveley starting at left back, Bostock coming on from the bench - but on a sweltering hot day (during which di Canio continued to wear his lucky green coat and scarf), Chesterfield upset the odds to win 2-0. Normal service was resumed in April though, as Swindon won their opening four games of the month - after victories at Barnet and Morecambe, a late goal from Lee Holmes handed the Town victory over Northampton, leaving them on the brink of promotion. Di Canio seemed strangely subdued in the next game, and though an Alan Connell goal sealed victory over Plymouth, meaning that promotion was all but assured, the Town boss was conspicuous by his absence - and though the crowd waited for him to emerge, it was left to Jeremy Wray to break the news that di Canio's mother had passed away two days previously, and that he had left immediately to return to Italy. It was a tragic coincidence that his father had already passed away earlier in the season, that too in the same week as the Town had beaten Plymouth. Again showing incredible professionalism, di Canio returned to the bench just three days later, as Swindon travelled to Aldershot in search of the single point that would assure their elevation - and when the Shots commendably marked the occasion with a minute's silence, the packed away support raised their scarves in a sea of red and white in tribute. Di Canio seemingly picked a strange starting eleven, and though he thanked the club's fans for the kindness and compassion they had shown, he was scathing in his assessment of the Town's performance, accusing some players of celebrating too early in a late night drinking session. Though a group of five players apologised for their conduct afterwards, four more were left out of the next game at Gillingham when the Town boss discovered their involvement - and the Town limped over the line, despite losing the game 3-1, results elsewhere meant that promotion was assured. When the remaining players also apologised, di Canio had his full squad to choose from for the penultimate game of the season, and the team turned on the style - and in thumping Port Vale 5-0, the League Two championship was assured, sparking memorable celebrations after the match. Di Canio dedicated the victory to the memory of his parents - collecting his medal wearing a T-shirt with photos of the couple, and the message "Mamma Papa guardate tutto questo grazil a voi!" ("Look Mama Papa, all this is thanks to you!"). Soon after, di Canio was named as the League Managers' Association Manager of the Year. News of the award was overshadowed though, when the Daily Mail printed a story claiming that the FA was investigating an allegation of racial abuse against di Canio - former loan player Jonathan Téhoué having made a complaint against the Italian. The Town board quickly jumped to the defence of di Canio - stating that they had already conducted their own internal investigation into the incident, and that they were "satisfied that it was without merit". Though further revelations were printed by the Mail and reported by the BBC, the board again reiterated their stance - and went further to suggest that it was Téhoué who was in fact in breach of contract. A day after the latest statement, it was announced that di Canio had signed a two year extension to his contract, taking his deal up to the end of 2015 - and di Canio commented on the situation for the first time, saying that "the true story will come out one day and one person will be in trouble, but it's not Paolo di Canio, for sure". Di Canio was ruthless in his preparation for the new season, letting two of his key first team players - Jonathan Smith and top scorer Alan Connell - leave for nothing, and also allowing Lee Cox to join Oxford on loan. MANAGERIAL RECORD AT SWINDON:
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