THE GARY ROSE COLUMN: PDC ban will result in a siege mentality (From Swindon Advertiser)

THE GARY ROSE COLUMN: PDC ban will result in a siege mentality

7:20am Monday 13th February 2012 in STFC News By Gary Rose

IT came as little surprise that the FA would hand Paolo Di Canio some kind of touchline ban following his charge of improper conduct but, aside from the feeling of injustice, is the punishment really all that bad?

Tomorrow night, Di Canio will likely take a seat in the directors’ box as Swindon look to secure a victory over Crawley that will move them back into the automatic promotion places.

It will be the second time this season that Di Canio has been unable to stand in his technical area and it is understandably incredibly frustrating for someone who is so animated by nature.

But, at the end of the day, the Italian’s absence from the touchline should not really have too much of a negative impact. In fact it may just have the opposite effect.

Sounds daft? Well here is the reasoning.

The ban really means very little. Di Canio can perform his tasks as normal right up to kick off, giving the pre-match team talk, and he can then speak to the players again at half-time.

During the game, he can communicate with assistant coach Fabrizo Piccareta and if he wanted to, he could sit 10 metres away from his normal position in the dugout.

But how a touchline ban really works in Swindon’s favour is the mentality it creates throughout the management, players and the fans.

The sense of injustice creates something of a siege mentality among everyone associated with the club and I think few Town fans did not enjoy seeing how much Di Canio being in the stands riled the Rotherham fans when he served his last ban at the Don Valley Stadium.

In March last year, Sir Alex Ferguson was given a five-match touchline ban and that did not stop Manchester United going on to claim the Premier League title.

Likewise, I am confident that Swindon will continue to produce results on the pitch, despite Di Canio’s absence from the touchline.