Case 23 - Paolo Di Canio

Paolo Di Canio - merely waving at his family, honest. 

Problem - Passionate Paolo Di Canio has got himself into a spot of bother. The former West Ham maestro has taken over as manager of Sunderland FC, a naff Premier League side, but a Premier League side all the same. While he was in charge of lowly Swindon the press gave him a fairly easy ride. Out of sight, out of mind. But now he's in the Big Time, Paolo's past has reared its ugly head.

His problem is that some people think he's a bit racist and a bit fascist-y. This stems from this rather unfortunate photo (above) and some strange comments made afterwards. (Thanks for swerving any legal issues on this one - Ed)

How can we help Paolo navigate his way through this tricky patch?

Solution - Tackle the problem head on. (Tackle? Is that a football pun? - Ed) Here's a few suggestions.

1 - Paolo could show those Dark Days are behind him by selling all the 'right wingers' in his squad. In fact, don't play anyone on the far right. Play instead a left back, two central defenders and a not-quite-as-central-as-those-two defender. The same goes for midfield: left wing, two central midfielders and a central-ish midfielder.

2 - Buy in Jewish footballers.

Alternatively, Paolo could embrace the accusations. How about making Sunderland's away shirts mud coloured next year? They could change their nickname to The Brownshirts?

Plenty of options.