'˜It's hard to keep the faith' say Sunderland fans as Black Cats have nine lives left

Despondent Sunderland supporters say they expect their club to be playing in League One next season - although the Black Cats still have nine '˜lives' left this season.
Sunderland fans at Saturdays game against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.Sunderland fans at Saturdays game against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
Sunderland fans at Saturdays game against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

Another defeat on Saturday saw Chris Coleman’s side go down 1-0 at Queens Park Rangers - taking their winless streak to nine matches.

The Black Cats remain bottom of the Championship, four points from safety with only nine games of the campaign left, many of them against sides in the top half of the division.

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Goalkeeper Jason Steele was given a red card after handling outside the box not long into the second half before Eberechi Eze struck for QPR to seal the three points.

Paul Dobson, of A Love Supreme fanzine, was one of the 1,500 fans who travelled to Loftus Road to see yet another loss.

He said: “It’s another catalogue of errors that have seen us lose, We are down to the last four fit defenders and Jonny Williams went off injured.

“We don’t want things to be a lost cause but, as some of the lads I was with at the game were saying, we don’t even look at the league table anymore because it’s that depressing.
“Every game right now seems to be a must win, but we aren’t winning any of them.”

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The latest defeat came just a day after Stadium of Light bosses announced they were to close the Premier Concourse section of the ground from next season amid falling attendances.

Paul added: “I can see how doing that makes sense financially even though the money saved will probably be a drop in the ocean compared to the overall debt we have.

“It’s difficult to stay positive right now and keep the faith. It’s important that we as fans do not become apathetic.”

Veteran Sunderland fan George Forster, of Sunderland Supporters’ Association, said he also feels that his side will be playing in the third tier come August.

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“I was able to watch the game and I think we have to start playing two up front,” said George.

“We have to start throwing everything at things because we’ve got nothing to lose.

“We might as well start going gung-ho and attacking teams.

“The players we’ve got are making simple mistakes all of the time.

“A lot of these are experienced players and they should be doing better.

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“Our organisation is losing money that we can’t afford to because we’re getting so few people on the buses to away games these days.

“And how are they going to get any fans coming back when they are in League One?”

Sunderland’s next match is at home to Preston North End on Saturday.