PAOLO Di Canio was on Friday (May 20) handed his first crack at football management when he was surprisingly appointed the new boss of recently relegated Swindon Town.

The controversial former West Ham striker has agreed terms on a two-year deal at the County Ground.

Italian Di Canio, 42, was one of eight candidates interviewed for the position by Swindon chairman Jeremy Wray, who consulted Harry Redknapp - the man who brought Paolo to Upton Park at the start of 1999 - before choosing the Italian.

Redknapp told EX: "The Swindon chairman asked me what I thought and I said to him: 'Why not give Paolo a chance?'

"What else would Swindon have done - appoint someone who has been around the block and has maybe been sacked five or six times before?

"Paolo is a fitness fanatic and will make sure all his players train well, too.

"He will create a lot of interest in Swindon as a club and get the town buzzing again."

It is Di Canio's first coaching job in England since he retired from playing in 2008 and but Wray does not view it as a gamble.

"From my point of view you go with the best in whatever you can find," he said.

"I'm far happier to go with someone who has shown those talents as a player and believe he has the capability to carry it through as a manager.

"For me that is a much stronger thing than maybe people who we may have tried and not succeeded."

Di Canio follows Paul Hart as the club's permanent manager, after the former Nottingham Forest and Portsmouth boss left last month following Swindon's relegation from League One.

Former player Paul Bodin was in charge for Swindon's final two games of the season.

Other contenders for the Swindon role were former Germany and Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann, ex-Scotland boss George Burley and former Bristol Rovers boss Paul Trollope, among others.

Di Canio scored 48 goals in 118 appearances for West Ham after joining the Hammers for £1.7m from Sheffield Wednesday in January 1999. He began his career at Lazio, and also played for Juventus, Napoli, AC Milan, Celtic and Charlton.

Di Canio was linked with the vacant manager's role at West Ham following Avram Grant's dismissal after the club's relegation to the Championship but co-owner David Sullivan ruled out an approach because of the Italian's lack of managerial experience.

"The problem with Paolo is, although the fans would love it, I am being realistic and he has no experience whatsoever being a manager," said Sullivan.

"If you look at first-season managers the failure rate is enormous."