Not content with dubbing some of his former Sunderland players "cowards", Paolo Di Canio has singled out Lee Cattermole, Phil Bardsley, John O'Shea and Steven Fletcher for further criticism.

Cattermole's return to the first team fold coincided with the players' revolt that unseated Di Canio from the manager's chair at the Stadium of Light in September, while Bardsley crossed him on a couple of well documented occasions.

Both players have been rehabilitated under Gus Poyet – with Bardsley's place at right-back seeming slightly more secure than Cattermole's midfield berth – and both have played key parts in helping Sunderland reach the League Cup final.

Di Canio, though, clearly felt they were beyond redemption. "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. Photos of him lying on the floor in a casino covered by £50 notes and laughing at the team losing on the opening day, that's public. 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."

Di Canio believes Sunderland are deeply embroiled in another relegation battle partly because of their "weak" mentality and he used the term two-faced to describe his former captain, O'Shea.

"I don't like people who, when they speak to you, don't look into your eyes," said the 45-year-old Italian who now believes it is his "destiny" to manage West Ham. "He [O'Shea] should say sorry to some of his team-mates for the many times he came into my office to say something unfavourable about them. This is the same person that also came to me when I first took over and said things about [Martin] O'Neill."

Di Canio is still angry with Fletcher after the Scotland striker claimed he did not allow him to laugh or smile in training. "I don't like people fooling around when we're having a serious discussion about strategy," said Poyet's predecessor. "I don't like people who laugh when they keep missing the goal in training or miss a tackle that leads to conceding a goal."

The former Swindon manager insisted he commanded the support of the bulk of Sunderland's squad. "On my phone, I have 14 text messages from players at the club supporting me," said Di Canio.