Former Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio never got on with one Black Cats pair during his tenure on Wearside.
Looking at Sunderland’s various managers of the early 2010s period, Paolo Di Canio’s sticks out as an incredibly interesting one, for many different reasons.
The knee-sliding, loud-mouthed Italian spent six months at the Stadium of Light, where he oversaw a memorable win against Newcastle United, but ultimately, his tenure was cut short after a run of questionable results and the clear division in the dressing room.
It was clear that the Sunderland boss was very decisive in his decision-making, with several players falling on the right and wrong sides of such moves by the Italian, including two men that Di Canio named as the ‘most unprofessional players I ever worked with’.
Paolo Di Canio named Lee Cattermole and Phil Bardsley ‘unprofessional’ and made bold Sunderland survival call
In the 2012/13 Premier League campaign, which Di Canio oversaw the latter stages of, Sunderland stayed up with a three-point bumper over Wigan Athletic in 18th place.
Despite the achievement, it was clear that there was division in the dressing room based on Di Canio’s judgement of the squad following his dismissal.
Speaking to The Guardian in January 2014, months after his dismissal, Di Canio disregarded Sunderland duo Lee Cattermole and Phil Bardsley.
“Those two players [Cattermole and Bardsley] were rotten,” he said. “The most unprofessional players I ever worked with. What Bardsley has done in the last year speaks volumes.
“It’s no surprise these players were kicked out of my plans. The reason Sunderland stayed up at the end of last season was because Cattermole was injured and Bardsley played very little.”
What Lee Cattermole thought of Paolo Di Canio
Di Canio clearly speaks about his issues involving both Bardsley and Cattermole, and the latter actually hit back with his own criticism of the Italian after he moved on from Wearside.
Cattermole didn’t hold back with his verdict on Di Canio, suggesting this short stint at the club felt ‘torturous’.
Per The Independent, Cattermole said: “I was very close to leaving a couple of times. For whatever reason, it didn’t happen. The way it was going, I would have left happily. I wasn’t part of the manager’s plans and that can happen in football.
“Yes, it was torturous, but I’ve always been quite confident and I’ve got a lot of experience of managers who have backed me. I didn’t lose confidence over anything he did or the fact he didn’t fancy me. I worked hard with the hope of getting a chance.”
It is safe to say that Di Canio’s tenure at Sunderland wasn’t short of its surprises and troubles. Still, ultimately that short stint saw the Black Cats retain the Premier League status, despite it being done in a fairly unconventional manner.