GUS POYET is certainly not afraid to cause a stir among supporters. Just weeks after raising eyebrows on Wearside for suggesting many of them were living in the past, he followed up Tuesday night’s dreadful home defeat to QPR by launching a further attack on sections of the club’s fans.

But what sort of damage has he done? Has his outspoken assessment of the atmosphere in the stands fractured his own, previously healthy relationship with those paying to watch his team? Only time will tell.

In suggesting that Sunderland’s fans would rather see players “running around” than “trying to pass the ball” after losing 2-0 to struggling QPR, Poyet has lost a lot of his appeal to a number of the Wearside club’s followers judging by the reaction on social media.

His comments were part of a story which spent the day at the top of The Northern Echo’s most popular online stories chart and will have annoyed plenty of other readers of the back page as they ate breakfast on Wednesday morning.

There are those giving him the benefit of the doubt and agree with certain things that the South American has said, but Poyet has been urged to tread more carefully if he wants to stay popular among Sunderland’s support.

He is not past the point of no return just yet, according to long-standing season ticket holder Gareth Barker, who is a producer for the popular Wise Men Say podcast in association with A Love Supreme Fanzine.

“If Sunderland win at Bradford in the FA Cup and beat West Brom then it'll all simmer down again!,” said Barker, who has been a regular since the Stadium of Light opened in 1997.

“People often talk about style and systems, but none of that matters when you're winning. It's only when you're losing that the cracks begin to show. The only way Gus can turn things around now is to start winning.

“People have long memories in football. Even if we have a purple patch, we'll invariably have another bad run of form. If he comments on the support again then he'll be in serious trouble of losing them. I think some have already had enough of him, judging by social media.”

First half goals from Leroy Fer and Bobby Zamora were enough to inflict defeat on a Sunderland side that had provided hope in previous outings against Burnley, Fulham and Swansea City.

But Poyet was understandably frustrated after watching his team lose to a side who had failed to claim a single point in their previous 11 away matches. There were improvements after the restart from Sunderland after he had made adjustments.

Poyet said: “I don’t know if that was football. I don’t define that as football. It was a desperate team running about trying to be nice with the fans.

“You can’t analyse about passing the ball because nobody wanted to pass the ball here. Everybody wanted the players to play the ball forward – to let it bounce and get corners. It was more important to get a corner than make a pass.”

But Barker remains a fan of the Uruguayan and sympathises with him, to a degree. He said: “I don’t understand what he means. I don’t know what he is getting at.

“He speaks English very well but I don’t think his point comes across clearly sometimes and his words are often open to interpretation. That’s why his comments can be interpreted negatively, like they have a couple of times now.

“I personally would criticise fans who boo during games, but when you generalise the whole support with what a few are saying then that’s where there are problems. His critics can pounce on that and have a field day. It started again on Tuesday night. He has to be more careful in the future.”

Barker added: “There is an underlying problem with the club and I don’t know what it is. Poyet has taken on the challenge so it is his responsibility, but the enormity of the job he has to do is starting to take its toll.

“He is saying things he should not be saying. It’s not the fans totally and it’s wrong for him to say that it is. I am a fan who likes to focus on the football because the soap opera surrounding football is tiresome; things like what he has said do not help.”