SWINDON Town interim chairman Jeremy Wray spoke today of the appointment of Paolo Di Canio to the position of manager at the County Ground.

Wray said the Italian was by far the stand-out candidate during the application and interview process, and he expects Di Canio to be a success in Wiltshire.

“We’re very lucky he’d decided to start his managerial career with us,” he said.

“You have to go with the best you can find, and I’m happy to go with someone who has shown talent. I believe he has the capability to carry it through as a manager.

“We had a very strong shortlist and that’s why we took our time.”

Wray revealed Di Canio has already begun planning the assault on League Two, and told how detailed his analysis of the current squad will be.

“Paolo has already requested videos from every one of our games last season,” he said.

“He knows players he is after and he’ll hit the ground running at such a speed that maybe the rest of us will take some getting used to.”

Di Canio’s well-documented political beliefs were not part of discussions preceding his appointment, according to Wray, who said the new boss will be judged purely on the performances of his team.

“It was never raised. It is not an issue that concerned us in any way. We are more interested in what he brings to Swindon Town,” he said.

“I know he’s got his own ideas about who he wants to bring in, and some of the players the rest of us might not be aware of because maybe they don’t player in England at the moment.

“He’ll have a look at the talent around the English leagues and put something together that will hopefully do a job for us.”

READ Gary Rose's exclusive interview with Jeremy Wray and Sam Morshead's discussion with Gabriele Marcotti on the Di Canio effect, only in tomorrow's Swindon Advertiser