THE PAOLO DI CANIO COLUMN

England have opted for a gentleman as their new manager I think, and he has big experience and has managed many teams.

He has already proved himself with a national team and he is a man who can handle the situation very well because there is not much time before the tournament.

Everybody thought it was going to be Harry Redknapp, but Roy is a man who has experience and he knows how to speak with the players and is a man everybody can accept.

I don’t know if it is the right decision though because I do not know what to expect.

He has signed for the next four years so it shows the FA believe in him.

He is a lot of knowledge and a lot of passion, and he knows what he is doing.

But I don’t think there were that many options because everyone thought Redknapp, and then not many other English names, so it was a little bit of a surprise.

But, in the end, if not Redknapp, he is not a bad choice because he is one with experience.

The people in Italy remember him as a good manager and a good gentleman from when he was at Inter or Udinese, and he did a good job and leaves good memories in Italy.

It is not easy because Italian journalists think they are the best in the world and are arrogant, but in terms of his knowledge and ability he did very well.

Obviously I feel bad for Harry, and if I know him inside I can imagine he is very disappointed, and I know he would have done a good job.

But like he has said, he is very lucky to have the job at Tottenham, and in the future the team can improve and be stronger.

When you have a chance to be manager for your national team, this is a target for everyone to arrive to this, and bring the glory to your nation, this is amazing.

By not getting the job he did not lose everything, he has lost something, but Tottenham is a great job for him.

PAOLO ON HIS OLD TEAMS

All of my old teams have done very well this year, but the most important thing is that me and Swindon have finished top of our league.

I am always happy to see old teams do well, but to be champions with my new team Swindon is very important and very special.

Juventus and AC Milan are both at the top of Serie A, and in England Charlton have won League One which is fantastic.

Sheffield Wednesday will go up if they win their last game, and Celtic won the league from Rangers by a long way for many reasons, and they also won the last Old Firm game 3-0.

Also, West Ham could go up in the play offs, so it has been very positive for my old teams.

Juventus have an advantage over Milan because there is a Milan derby still to play.

There are only four games to go but anything can happen. Juve also have the advantage in direct confrontations, so if they finish on the same points they will win the league.

I still watch Italian football, and I watch every football I can. I watch it because I like to watch and be informed about what is going on, but also because in my job I am obliged.

Lazio are also above Roma which is nice, but Roma started this season with a new plan and have many young players and a new manager.

Roma are only three points behind Lazio, and lost both Rome derbies, so Lazio did bad in some way because they are a team which have been building for three years and already went to the Champions League.

They have some good players like Klose, and if they do not make the Champions League there is not much satisfaction for finishing above Roma.

PAOLO ON THE PORT VALE GAME

After the game on Saturday I managed to relax a little bit, but on Monday I started working for the Bradford game.

We have a lot of news about them, because they have changed a lot since we played with them earlier in the season.

I also think they will change a bit more because some of their players didn’t want to sign new contracts.

We are going to go through their team exactly the same as we have before, and check all of their main players and give details to all the details to my team because we want to win.

The champions always have to move the target, and now we are the champions for sure, we need to go everywhere to try and improve our position.

I have managed to relax a little bit I suppose, but I work also.

It was great to celebrate on Saturday, but my medal is still in my trouser pocket because it is done now after we finished first.

That is gone so we have to renew things now for the future.

PAOLO ON PEP GUARDIOLA

I am not surprised to see Guardiola leave Barcelona, because I thought this two months ago.

I saw him in a very hard moment this season, at a crucial time for Champions League and La Liga, he tried to escape from interviews and speaking about his contract.

I thought he would not sign because now I work with the psychology of a manager, and this was the moment for him to sign and show the manager still has the power.

There was something strange for me, because that should have been the moment.

Even top players like the ones at Barcelona would they can relax a bit, and think that when the manager speaks to them that his head is somewhere else.

It is natural, and it is not a coincidence that in the last few weeks they played bad football for them.

PAOLO ON PARTY ON THE PITCH

I am looking forward to the party on the pitch on Sunday, because now is the moment to celebrate.

On Saturday night the players went out until very late, but I gave them until Wednesday off and this is fair enough.

It is right for us to have a party and to spend some hours together here at the County Ground, with the players in the middle of the fans, I just hope it will be good weather.

Maybe we will try and sing, but I will go there with a gun and if someone laughs at me I will shoot them, but seriously, why not?

It depends what song they are going to propose for me to sing, and then we will see and I will go through and see if I know the words.