AFTER one of the darkest days in Sunderland’s 138-year history when relegation to League One was confirmed, the ailing club’s manager Chris Coleman described his sadness before claiming he will start work on its revival immediately.

Despite outlining concerns over the uncertainty surrounding the future ownership at the Stadium of Light, Coleman insists he would still love to be the man to lead the Black Cats out of such a frustrating period and through brighter times starting next season.

A 2-1 defeat to Burton Albion on Saturday, the only team who were sitting below Sunderland before the game, meant relegation was confirmed and that third tier football will be played on Wearside for only the second time.

In becoming only the third club to have dropped from the Premier League to League One in successive seasons – and the first to have done so after ten consecutive years in the top-flight – fans are even understandably sceptical about how they will fare at the lower level given Ellis Short’s desire to sell up.

Even with no imminent sale in place, Coleman claims the only way is up for Sunderland and that he will be working straightaway on summer plans despite having two matches remaining against Fulham on Friday and Wolves ten days later.

Coleman said: “Could it get worse? No. I don’t think it could get worse. We know our fate, we are relegated.

“As a player you come and join the club, stay three or four years and move on, as a manager you stay six months, 12 months, two years, you know the drill when you walk in the door. Whatever fate mine is, it’s out of my hands. The club’s fate has been in my hands and our hands, but we never had what was needed and that’s the worst feeling.

“Sitting here is still very raw. I don’t want to vent because it is the wrong time to do it but we haven’t been good enough. All of us have not been good enough. What have I got planned for Friday night? At the minute I couldn’t tell you.

“I will start talking to the players out of contract now, now we know our fate. I will start dealing with them individually. But I look at Blackburn, I went there as manager of Wales in the Championship, they were sliding, it was awful, they were relegated. This year you go there and it is a different place, a positive winning team.

“They lost 12 or 14 players and brought in 10-12 new ones. It can be done. It’s hard to say we will sit here and do that because we are still as sick as pigs, gutted because we have just been relegated and that’s something we never wanted to experience. It’s new to me as manager and an awful feeling.”

By taking a look at the Championship table it is easy to understand Sunderland’s plight, just as the huge swathes of empty seats in the 48,000-capacity Stadium of Light for the majority of this season do too.

Next season the top tier of the Stadium will be closed to home supporters to bolster numbers around the lower ring closer to the pitch, and Coleman hopes the supporters who have remained loyal so far will continue to back them at the lower league.

He said: “My message is to stick with the club. I think they will because they love the club. They will be absolutely devastated, angry, and we have to understand that.

“I would say stick with the club, I know it’s awful, these are tough times, but stick with us and I know they will. They are genuine fans and incredible supporters, they will get better times sooner or later and the times will be better for them.”

There has also had to be acceptance from the boardroom that the decline has not been good enough. A further sign of the problems, though, are that Ellis Short, who has become a detached owner, nor chief executive Martin Bain were credited with making the quote.

“Confirmation of relegation has been the culmination of what has been a demoralising season for everyone,” a Sunderland statement read.

“We began the campaign realistic in the knowledge that with the backdrop of relegation from the Premier League and our financial position, it would be a significant challenge to make an immediate return to the top flight. “However, it was not envisaged nor expected that we would subsequently be facing the prospect of League One football, which makes this position all the harder to take.

“Despite the difficulties we have faced, our fans have been a shining light. They have continued to back the team in their thousands, which has been incredibly humbling to see.

“We are truly sorry that we have not been able to give them the positive outcome such tremendous support deserves. “This is also a huge blow for our staff, who have worked tirelessly throughout the season under testing circumstances and uncertainty. We applaud them for their resilience and dedication; they are fans of the club too and like our supporters, they are hurting.

“Whilst naturally we feel devastated today, there remains a burning desire from within to re-build and re-invigorate the club. As we look at how to best achieve this, it must be recognised that we are in a period of uncertainty in relation to the club’s future ownership and the resolution of this will be the driving factor in how we move forward.

“Sunderland is so much more than a football club. It is an institution that has been at the very heart of its city and community for almost 140 years.

“It is built on a deep-rooted passion that is proudly passed from generation to generation and it is this enduring and unwavering passion that gives us the strength and fortitude we need in times of challenge. It is through the unstinting support of our fans that Sunderland AFC will rise again.”

Such uncertain times have not put off Coleman and he hopes that Short-Bain or whoever any new owner could be gives him the opportunity to turn Sunderland into a promotion winning side.

He said: “I want in anyway. Even if it is with Ellis. There is only one objective now for Sunderland and that’s promotion, we can’t do it now but we can in the next league.

“There’s no stabilising, it’s about bouncing straight back, bang. Whether it is me or someone else, that’s what it has to be. I know what needs to be done, the question is who is here to do it.

“I think there is enough young talent to do this, and this is Sunderland Football Club, no disrespect to League One I think we can still attract good enough players to make a difference and to get us heading in the right direction.

“Even if it is League One, Blackburn have just done it, Wigan … it can be done. The problem is we don’t know who the owner of the club is going to be and that puts doubt into everyone’s mind.

“Until we know for certain who it is going to be, am I the manager, there’s the owner … until we know the plan, that’s only when we can start judging what we can do. I want to be here but I can’t definitely tell you I am going to be. That decision will not be mine. It will be someone else’s.”