I should have chinned Di Canio in West Ham training but his apology surprised me

Retired footballers often look back on their career ruing missed chances and mistakes.

But not ex-West Ham star Don Hutchison, who has stated one of his biggest regrets is ‘not chinning’ Paolo Di Canio.

Hutchison enjoyed two spells at Upton Park – first from 1994-1996 before returning in 2001, where he lasted four years.

Across his time in east London, the 53-year-old played alongside a number of world beaters, which included Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe and Di Canio.

And the 26-cap Scotland international has stated no one rubbed him up the wrong way like Di Canio did once in training.

The pair spent two seasons together, before Di Canio departed for Charlton in 2003 following West Ham’s relegation to the Championship.

While stressing the Italian maverick was a ‘brilliant lad’ and someone he got on with, Hutchison has insisted he should have once decked him for disrespecting former boss Glenn Roeder.

Hutchison explained how Roeder attempted to get West Ham’s squad, which was stacked of ‘massive egos’, to socialise together more.

This saw him having TVs installed in the club’s Chadwell Heath training ground, while also turning off phones with Roeder hoping the players interacted with each other more after their sessions, instead of going home straight after.

His decision to have mobile phones switched off didn’t sit well with Di Canio, who proceeded to disrupt the following day’s training, while also parking in Roeder’s car park spot where he also aimed a X-rated message to the late ex-Newcastle manager.

Di Canio apologised over his actions the next day in classic fashion, with everything quickly forgiven.

Recalling the incident on West Ham’s YouTube channel, Hutchison said: “[Roeder] wanted the lads to stay behind, have a chat, bond a little bit, you got the tele on, have a chat, the food’s good.

5

5

5

“And Paolo, I got on really well with Paolo, Paolo was a brilliant lad, but he was just so up and down it was untrue.

“Glenn [insisted that] no mobile phones are allowed downstairs, your phones get switched off in the dressing room, you leave your phones behind.

“So the next day, Paolo comes in, I promise you, he had a pair of Dolce & Gabanna sunglasses, one said, ‘F***,’ on that side [left eye], one said, ‘Off,’ on that side [right eye].

“He came in on his Vespa, parked it in Glenn’s space and come in on his phone.

“He broke every rule that had just been put in place and he wrecked the morning, and one of my biggest regrets for Glenn, was not chinning Paolo at Chadwell Heath on a particular day.

“Because Glenn put a session on, top pitch by the houses, the midfield players get it, ping it out to wide men, Trevor Sinclair would cross it, front men get in the box and finish it, quite a basic skill.

“Paolo, ‘[I’m] not playing No9 today, I want to be a midfield player,’ so Glenn’s gone, ‘OK Paolo, you drill it out there.’

“He’s got it out his feet, he’s drilled it 20 yards too heavy into the gardens, lost ball. Do the session again, lost ball, messing the session up.

“So Glenn said, ‘If you’re not going to do the session, get yourself in,’ Paolo come in – I should have chinned him, looking back it would have been the right thing to do.

“And then he’s gone, you hear his Vespa screeching out the car park, he comes back in the next day, ‘Ayyyy, I baked you a Tiramisu cake.’

5

“Paolo baked a Tiramisu cake, put it on there [table] and went, ‘I’m really sorry about yesterday,’ he’s as happy as Larry.

“He’s just up, down, up, down, that was how loose the dressing room was. I’ve got no idea what he put in the cake, but it was decent!”

JOIN THE DUGOUT

Have your say on all things talkSPORT by joining ‘The DUGOUT’ – our new listener panel.

We’re all about diving deep into your perspectives, and making sure talkSPORT is the absolute best it can be. Your voice matters, and we want to hear it!

Pitch your game-changing ideas, and join in with fun surveys, polls, and locker-room discussions.

Just by joining, you’ll enter a prize draw to win one of four £50 Amazon vouchers, with another prize draw entry for every survey you complete after that

To join the ‘The DUGOUT’ panel, please click here.