Paolo Di Canio linked with a shock return to Swindon Town

Six years ago it was all doom and gloom at relegated and managerless Swindon Town. The club were in desperate need of a moment of inspiration, which came in the form of Paolo Di Canio, who surprisingly ventured into management with the Robins for the first time.

Fast-forward to the current day and Swindon find themselves in an almost identical situation after firstly losing their League One status, then parting ways with head coach Luke Williams.

Déjà vu?

Di Canio memorably soared Swindon straight back up to League One after hoisting the League Two title in 2011/12, while in the same debut season he also led his troops to Wembley, where they finished runners-up to Chesterfield in the EFL Trophy final.

But, in February of the following campaign the flamboyant, yet controversial, Italian quit his position with the club up in 6th, citing off-field events as his reason for resigning.

It was undoubtedly a dramatic 21 months at the helm involving scuffles, bust-ups, and fall-outs, but it was a successful and thoroughly engrossing tenure at that.

Post Di Canio Swindon went on to register three consecutive top-8 finishes in the third-tier, but after a 16th place standing last season, they endured a torrid time this term, with their relegation confirmed last month after a defeat to Scunthorpe.

Williams departed on Friday, while it looks like director of football/disappearing act Tim Sherwood has also left, not that his presence was at all felt anyway…

At the time of writing a whole host of gaffers have been thrown into the Next Swindon Town manager market, including Brian McDermott, Neil Redfearn, Kenny Jackett, Martin Allen, and Nigel Adkins, Alan Stubbs and Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink who are all priced at 8/1 (Bet Victor), which pretty much sums things up.

Meanwhile, Di Canio is a tasty 16/1 to return to the club, while Chris Ramsey is a touch shorter at 12/1.

You can envision this one rolling on for some time…

Do any Swindon Town fans out there fancy seeing the 16/1 priced Paolo Di Canio back in the Robins dugout?#STFChttps://t.co/6raqFz1MBA pic.twitter.com/mlSTNU3smM

— The Sack Race (@thesackrace) May 6, 2017