By Paul Holland
March 17 2003

West Ham United Football Club have pulled the plug on the rumours that midfield dynamo Paulo Di Canio was about to make a move to Reading on loan. However in a strange U-turn, the Biscuit Men boss Alan Pardew was forced to make a public apologies to Glenn Roeder after revealing interests in the former Sheffield Wednesday player on the Reading website.

He said: "I enquired to West Ham about Paolo and they are not interested.

"He's very much a West Ham player and the interest is dead as far as we are concerned.

"I shouldn't have spoken to the press about di Canio, but it was a genuine mistake.

"Glenn Roeder is very upset and has made his feelings clear to me, and I apologise to both Glenn and West Ham."