Di Canio may follow Burns from Celtic

CELTIC are facing the possible loss of the jewel in their crown, as Paolo Di Canio threatens to quit the club following the sacking of manager Tommy Burns.

The gifted but emotional former AC Milan star dropped the bombshell on the Parkhead fans by hinting that he is on the verge of going back to Italy in anger at the treatment dished out to Burns by club chief executive, Fergus McCann.

Such a scenario would meet with a revolt by the Celtic fans, who have made Di Canio a hero since he joined in a GBP1.2 million move from the Serie A giants a year ago.

McCann has told Di Canio, who has three years left on his contract, that he is going nowhere but it's a split that one of football's most loyal followings - their average attendance of 50,000 has pushed them ahead of even Rangers, into Europe's top ten crowd pullers - is dreading after similar showdowns between McCann and disgruntled stars Jorge Cadete and Pierre van Hooydonk.

Cadete, whose two goals last Sunday took his tally to 32 for the season, is unhappy with his unresolved wage rise claim with McCann while van Hooydonk, who hit 32 last season, has now moved to Nottingham Forest after a year of deadlock over his pay talks festered into resentment which affected his play.

Di Canio says he has a problem with part of his contract and could be attempting to use the Burns situation to apply a little leverage - but there is no doubt that he is deeply upset by the shoddy dismissal of the Celtic manager less than 48 hours before they faced Hibs last Sunday.

Di Canio's response was to score a sensational goal in the 3-1 victory, then tell McCann on live TV that he was wrong to sack Burns.