Benito Carbone on Paolo Di Canio and how Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford deserve to be in Premier League

Benito Carbone spent three seasons with Sheffield Wednesday between 1996-99 and in an exclusive interview with Ladbokes: Fanzone, the Italian chatted to us about Paolo Di Canio and the Owls’ promotion to the Championship.

Click on the link for part one in which he talked about Denzel Dumfries, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi and his time at Inter Milan where he played with Paul Ince and Roberto Carlos.

I’ve used same shinpads for over 30 years…they feature pictures of my two idols

The pizza picture is a special one for me, and it’s something I still have framed today. I had two photos taken at Sheffield Wednesday, one with David Pleat when I arrived, with a plate of pasta, and then another when Paolo came, with the two of us holding pizza. It’s a funny memory, but above everything else I was just happy to be playing with Paolo.

When Paolo Di Canio and Benito Carbone signed for Sheffield Wednesday they posed with an uncooked Pizza. 🍕🤣 pic.twitter.com/sxtEPDtWKy

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) November 13, 2021

I still see him now from time to time, because he does a lot of work with Sky Sports in Italy. His programme out here, it’s incredible, and that sort of job suits him perfectly. He’s so popular, but he has far too much passion to become a coach. We saw it best at Sunderland, when he took over that job for a short period. He’s got too much passion, too much personality, and I think he knows that now!

I’ve still got the picture; I’ve got everything from my career. I kept it all. I still have the same pair of shinpads I used for my entire career – they live on my wall, on the left shinpad is Diego Maradona, and on the right is Roberto Di Baggio. They are my heroes. I wore that same pair of shinpads for over 15 years, and I’ve never left them anywhere. I won’t play without them – even to this day, if I’m ever playing in friendly games, I’ll put my old shinpads back on. I think I would have been around 19 when I wore them for the first time, and I still wear them now.

Sheffield Wednesday spell with Di Canio was so special

I remember signing a four-year contract with Inter Milan at 24, so I never thought I’d end up leaving the club the way that I did. David Pleat came to watch me in a European game and immediately said he wanted me. At that time in my career, I had a problem with Roy Hodgson concerning my position in the team, and so I decided to speak with my agent about the chance to move to England. The Premier League was everyone’s dream, even back then. I wanted a new challenge, a new experience, and so I told my agent I was ready to leave Italian football behind for England.

I’ll never regret that decision. I might be from Italy, but when we’re talking about Sheffield, we’re talking about my house, my home, my family, my people. I had three beautiful years at that club, with my team-mates and my fans. I was still young and so, of course, I made a lot of mistakes, but I’ll never forget the time I spent with Sheffield Wednesday. If you look at my career, for a number of reasons, you’ll see I spent one year here, maybe two years – maximum – there, but I was so happy at Sheffield Wednesday. I stayed for three years but could have been there longer. When I talk about Sheffield Wednesday, it’s different. It’s different than any other club.

🇮🇹 Paolo Di Canio signed on this day in 1997! We spoke to the man himself back in November on his visit to Hillsborough #swfc pic.twitter.com/8uwytvPAH6

— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) August 8, 2020

I made the decision in one week, to leave Milan for Meadowhall. My whole life changed in that one week. I was moving to a country where I didn’t know the language, I didn’t know the weather, the culture is different, the mentality is different, the food is different… everything was new. It wasn’t easy, but my team-mates helped me, and the main thing I kept thinking about was my football. Football is, ultimately, the same game everywhere you go in the world. That’s where I needed to do my talking. Over time I can learn the language, I can adapt to the weather and my surroundings, but first of all it was all about the football for me. Meadowhall is my second house.

I can remember one day in training, I was in the gym and David Pleat came to me and asked: “What do you think about Paolo Di Canio?”

“About who?”

“About Paolo Di Canio.”

“Paolo Di Canio? He’s incredible. Why?”

“Because we have a chance to sign him.”

I stopped him straight away and begged him to make that move happen.

“Please! Bring him now, today!”

You never need to discuss the quality of Paolo Di Canio. He was just unbelievable and easily one of the best players I ever played with. David Pleat, for me, was like a father. And so I asked him over and over to bring Paolo to Sheffield Wednesday, because I knew how much he would help the team.

When he arrived in Sheffield, we spoke the same language in every sense, both off the pitch and on it. We enjoyed our time together, and we tried to do our best for the shirt.

Di Canio sent off against Arsenal and pushes referee Paul Alcock. pic.twitter.com/Ts7KD3AP0v

— When Football Was Better (@FootballInT80s) February 2, 2023

Everybody knows what happened on that day against Arsenal, where Paolo pushed the referee. Of course, Paolo knows he made a mistake. But to be suspended for 11 games? Come on! It wasn’t that big a push on the referee. Of course, he was so unhappy during the time of that ban. He knew what he did in that moment was wrong, and he made a big mistake. But he never expected to be suspended for so long because of it. For him, it was really hard. It meant we missed out on having him for such a big period of that season and then he went and showed the best football of his life at West Ham. Everybody knows how special he was because of what he did at West Ham.

But at that time in our careers, when we were both playing for Sheffield Wednesday, we were good friends. Our families would go out together regularly – he was a big part of my time at the club. Paolo was a great team-mate, with a big, big personality.

Sheffield Wednesday deserve to be in Premier League

I was there last week, at Wembley, watching Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off final. For me, to see those supporters enjoying a moment like that, my heart was bursting open. I was so happy for everybody. It was incredible to see all the fans enjoying that win – I’m really happy for them, I’m really happy for the club, I’m really happy for the city. They’re back in the Championship, but they deserve to be in the Premier League.

The rumours at the start of this season were that Darren Moore might have left the club, because other sides were interested in him. But he stayed because he wanted to bring Sheffield Wednesday back into the Championship. And that’s what he’s done… he’s done a great job there. Next season? I don’t know how things will go with Darren Moore. But this shouldn’t be about stopping,and settling for their Championship status. They need to go again, they need to try again. They need to bring in three or four top players and think about the next step in their journey…and that journey, for me, is back to the Premier League.

I say it all the time but that’s a club which deserves to be in the Premier League. Did you see the following they had all season in the third tier? Did you see how many fans filled the streets of London on the day of the play-off final? Come on… that’s a Premier League club. Sheffield Wednesday is a big, big club – they need to be looking at the Premier League as their end goal – and not just staying in the division for a season or two, but establishing themselves once again as a Premier League side for 20 years.

Saving Bradford City

Bradford City should be in the Premier League. The size of that club is simply too big to be where they are in the football pyramid right now. I was a player there, I know what football means to those people. They can’t stay down in League Two for all this time…come on. Bradford City is a big club. Bradford City must come back again. They have to. They have to try. A club with that sort of fanbase should be a lot higher than where they are right now.

It was easy for me to waive the money the club owed me all those years ago. I think about the fans, I think about the people behind the scenes at the club, and I think about what the club means to the local area. So many people love Bradford, so I couldn’t think about them not existing. There are so many good things about Bradford City, and I’m desperate to see them promoted into League One, then back into the Championship and the Premier League.

Anyway, here’s an incredible goal from Benito Carbone for Bradford City.pic.twitter.com/MB6N0lzQ3z

— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) July 24, 2020

I let the club keep over £2m owed to me in 2002. I did it because I felt I needed to do something to save the club from dying. I didn’t want those fans to suffer, especially if I could do anything about it, and if I was in that position today, as a player, I’d do the very same thing. I handed over the last two years of my contract, my house, everything… I gave it all back. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me, or anything like that, but I waived £2.4m away – 20 years ago – because of my love for the club and everyone associated with it.

You never know how these things work in football. I’m desperate to manage in England. I’m happy to work in any division, and I love Bradford City. It’s a job I was interested in a couple of years ago and my social media was completely spammed with supporters backing me. In the end, they chose to go in a different direction. But if that job ever comes available, I’d jump at the chance to take it, because Bradford City have a very special place in my heart. It would be a dream job for me, of course it would.

It’s my dream to coach in England

I had a great time with the Azerbaijan national team for two years, working as assistant manager for Gianni De Biasi. Now, with my team of people around me, I’m looking for a team in England. It’s my dream to coach in England. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. We’re trying to find the best thing for me. I’m not concerned about the contract, it’s the project I’m interested in. A correct project, for me, is what’s important. It doesn’t matter what league we’re talking about. League Two, League One, Championship…I want to build something important for the club, for the fans and for myself.

I’m in Pavia right now, it’s where my house is. It’s a club I’ve played for and managed, and as a favour for their chairman, who is a good friend of mine, I’ve come in and taken them to the play-offs in their division. They want me to carry on, but my dream is to come to England, so let’s see what happens.

I’ve had a couple of chances to join teams in England, but these haven’t been the right projects for me, to be honest. I’m under no pressure to find a team. I’m patient. When I take a job on, I want to be there for many years, to build something special. I don’t want to leave a role before I’ve finished my job there. I want to give a group of supporters something to celebrate. I’ve been close to a couple of League Two jobs in the past, but they haven’t been right for me.

I’ve got so many contacts in world football. I’ve played with some of the biggest names, I’m passionate about a certain style, and I want to work with a club who are willing to give their youth players a chance to develop under me. If I come to England, I think people will be surprised with what I’ve got to offer.

I think Roberto De Zerbi is a great example of what an Italian coach can offer a team in England right now. He’s got that Italian influence when it comes to tactics, but he’s also very close to more of a Spanish brand of football and philosophy. I’m the same. It’s not a defence-minded philosophy or system. I want to implement a balanced system, where my players both attack and defend as a unit, similar to how Jurgen Klopp does at Liverpool. De Zerbi’s success with Brighton might mean clubs will be more open to look at someone like myself than they would have been, say, a couple of years ago.