Di Canio blasts ‘disgusting’ antics

It was about an hour after all the tension had passed, and Tottenham had finally accepted their fate, when Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio (inset) offered more theatre and emotion than had even been on the White Hart Lane pitch.

In a remarkable 24-minute monologue following his team’s 1-0 defeat, the Italian ferociously criticised the attitude in his squad and said it had consequently been a “miracle” to keep them in the Premier League. The mood was brought to a head after a British Sunday paper printed pictures of Phil Bardsley lying down in a casino covered in £50 notes in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The full-back was not named in Sunderland’s match-day party.

“He’s out of my squad,” Di Canio said. “How I can play a player that probably is blurry for three, four days after what’s happened? I want to deliver a clear message that there is no excuse to behave like he did. That is something really wrong. It’s disgusting even to see the image for the club.