TOWARDS the end of Sunday’s shambolic FA Cup defeat at Bradford City, there was an unsavoury moment that saw a small group of Sunderland supporters begin fighting amongst themselves in the stand. It was over almost as soon as it had begun, but it was a fitting backdrop for a club that is in danger of tearing itself apart.

On the pitch, things are lurching back towards crisis point after the brief upturn that brought a four-point haul from matches against Burnley and Swansea City. Out of the FA Cup after an abysmal performance at Valley Parade, Sunderland could find themselves back in the bottom three at the weekend if they lose to West Brom and other results go against them.

That would be a blow, although with three months of the season still to go, Sunderland would still be in a better position in terms of the league table than at the same time 12 months ago. In terms of the mood off the pitch, however, things could hardly be more different.

Back then, Sunderland’s supporters were getting ready for the Capital One Cup final. Fast forward a year, and they are directing angry chants at head coach Gus Poyet and booing their players from the field for the second game in succession. Any lingering Wembley feel-good factor has well and truly disappeared.

Clearly, results have played a major role in dictating the shift in mood, and a win on Saturday, followed by decent away displays at Manchester United and Hull City, would repair much of the damage that has been inflicted in the last week or so.

But even if results improve, we have reached a stage where Poyet has to tread exceptionally carefully if he is to prevent his relationship with the Sunderland fans fracturing beyond a point of no return.

It wasn’t a small minority claiming it was “always their fault” in the away end at the weekend, it was a huge swathe of Sunderland’s travelling support. If those chants are repeated at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, comparisons with the Wigan home game that ultimately spelled the beginning of the end for Steve Bruce will be hard to avoid.

It feels as though this has all come to a head very quickly, and the strangest thing about it all is that much of the current crisis has been completely of Poyet’s own making.

The derisory comments about the Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips era that accompanied the stultifying home draw with Fulham were unnecessarily provocative, but rather than rowing back in order to keep the peace, Poyet ratcheted things up another level when he bemoaned both his players’ performance and the attitude in the stands in the wake of last week’s home defeat to QPR.

I was in that post-match press conference, and for all that Poyet has subsequently accused the media of twisting his words, his frustration at what he perceives to be a disconnect between his preferred style of football and the desires of a section of the home crowd was both clear and incontrovertibly spelled out.

Despite what some might believe, there is no agenda to sensationalise or distort things here. Poyet’s conversational style (and in fairness to the Uruguayan, English is not his first language) sometimes makes it difficult to report his comments without the occasional grammatical tweak, but supporters have read his words and made up their own minds about his motives. That is how football reporting is supposed to work.

The two key issues now are why he continues to adopt such a confrontational attitude, and perhaps more importantly, whether a majority of fans are willing to tolerate his approach if results do not improve.

Only Poyet knows the answer to the first question, but there is clearly a desire to protect his players from the full force of the supporters’ displeasure, as well as a deep-rooted frustration at his inability to engineer the kind of results and performances he expected more than a year into his reign.

The methods that brought reasonable success at Brighton are not working on Wearside, and you get the impression Poyet is still not really sure why. Suggesting that he changes those methods, or adapts his playing style, merely causes his hackles to rise. Hence the antagonism that has followed the last two defeats.

There is a theory that is being pushed by some fans that Poyet is actively looking to engineer a way out, but I don’t really buy it. If he wanted to leave, he would do so tomorrow, but for all his failings, the depth of Poyet’s commitment to his Sunderland project should not be in doubt. Aside from everything else, after the messy way in which things ended at Brighton, he knows his career could struggle to recover from another failure.

Yet picking a fight with the Sunderland fans – whether he is consciously doing it or not – is hardly the best way to ensure longevity or create an environment in which it is easy for his players to flourish. Countless examples from history tell you there is only going to be one winner.

So regardless of what happens this weekend, it is time for Poyet to bite his tongue and adopt a much more conciliatory approach. That doesn’t have to mean speaking in platitudes, but it does demand an acknowledgment that some of his recent comments have gone too far and a willingness to ensure that such mistakes are not repeated in the future.

If he wants to talk about playing styles, he should be wary of patronising those who effectively pay his wages. Ellis Short’s thoughts on the current situation remain unknown, but Sunderland’s owner was quick to jettison Bruce when the home support turned against him, and he’s unlikely to be unwilling to take the same decision again.

These are furtive, uncertain times, but Poyet has the power to take at least some of the sting out of the mounting unease. He should bear that in mind the next time he is called upon to open his mouth.