Paolo Di Canio practiced cockney rhyming slang naked in West Ham changing room
West Ham United favourite Paolo Di Canio ended up learning English from Neil 'Razor' Ruddock after he ended up practicing cockney rhyming slang naked in the Irons changing rooms
West Ham hero Paolo Di Canio was taught some of his English from Neil “Razor” Ruddock’s lessons in rhyming slang.
But the Italian’s attempt at the local lingo sounded more like actor Dick Van Dyke’s chimney sweep Bert in Mary Poppins, a retired West Ham worker has revealed.
Ex-ground staff Bill Ellis said: “I’d gone to the changing room after they finished training and Paolo was standing naked except for socks in the shower. He was practising some of what he had learnt... it was very funny."
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In his book Claret And True, Bill said he warned the striker not to upset refs with his colourful language. He added: "They might not have taken too kindly to some of his newly learnt phrases."
Clearly Ruddock had a soft spot in his heart to try and help Di Canio out, who arrived at West Ham back in 1999 from Sheffield Wednesday after Harry Redknapp signed him.
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Speaking to Paddy Power back in 2020, Ruddock, who spent two seasons with West Ham towards the end of his career, called the Italian: "A tremendous player."
Ruddock said: "We had some good players – Stuart Pearce, Shaka Hislop in goal, Ian Pearce and Rio Ferdinand at the back, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick coming through, and the likes of Defoe, Ian Wright, John Hartson, Fredi Kanouté, Paulo Wanchope and Eyal Berkovic.
"And there was Paolo Di Canio - he was a tremendous player. He was so good, we had to tell him to stop tracking back. He’d be so competitive he’d keep running around and his legs would be gone after an hour, which was no help to us."
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He added: "In the end, we just said ‘you stay up front, the rest of us will run our b***ocks off, and you can keep scoring winners’. And that’s what he did.
"He used to train like mad too. We’d go down the pub or down the bookies and he’d be training with the youth team in the afternoons.
"You wouldn’t really take the piss out of him though for it. If any other player had done it when you ask were they coming down the pub? you’d have thought ‘f*** off you k***head,’ and get the hump. But Paolo was that good you didn’t mind."