ROY KEANE admits that on the Sunday after a defeat he goes to Mass, puts an extra £20 in the collection plate and asks his ultimate boss to “give us a result”. You sense that the enigmatic Sunderland manager will have prayed long and hard this morning. And emptied his wallet.

The 37-year-old Irishman took charge of his 100th Sunderland game yesterday. Although well into his third year here, he still regards himself as a junior in the managerial ranks. Certainly he has largely enjoyed a charmed existence in his new career.

But this period, in which his men have lost six of their past seven matches, is a real test of their character, and just as crucially, his personal acumen. Not to mention his dedication to the cause.

You wouldn’t wager on him completing his double century. Not here, anyway. His contract expires next summer and he offers no bold assurances about his long-term future — almost the contrary.

“Football’s great when it’s going well,” he said. But Keane knows that it also has that nasty habit of giving you a kicking when you least expect it. Sunderland seem to boast that great triumvirate: an astute chairman; a generous board that has endowed Keane with £80m worth of talent; and an inspirational, if still-learning, manager. A decent start, too. But from late October, when his team lay 10th, decline has set in.

An early-departing follower advised me helpfully: “I hope you’re writing that this is ******* rubbish.” One can only oblige. The supporter was far from alone in his sentiments. The attendance was nearly 5,000 down on Sunderland’s average gate for this season. And that figure is already 3,000 less than last term. Perhaps the absentees were cashing in on that VAT cut awarded by the chancellor. Most likely not.

Bolton Wanderers were hardly the greatest attraction, and after three successive home reverses in all competitions for Sunderland, a fourth was not exactly unpredictable. Maybe the nature of it was, though, as they went meekly to their fate. At the end, this normally fervent crowd was subdued. Not that many had remained to the bitter end. The only sound was the gleeful appreciation of the visiting faithful. Suddenly Keane’s counterpart, Gary Megson, is in serious danger of achieving popularity. While the Wearsiders start having the life squeezed out of them by the hand of relegation jeopardy, Bolton are inhaling the oxygen of mid-table security.

Yet if one expected a raging Keane after a series of aberrations from his men, he remains the sage of Sunderland, readily pardoning his players’ sins, of which there were many.

His captain Dean Whitehead, in particular, was subject to the crowd’s displeasure. But Keane insisted: “Those players have been brilliant for me in the past two or three years.”

He added: “We’re giving teams a helping hand. The goals we’re giving away are very poor; they make it impossible to win football matches. The players lost confidence in the second half.” There was some truth in his words. There has developed an unease about the Black Cats at home. They are more like nervous kittens.

It had begun so propitiously. Steed Malbranque dissected the visitors’ square rearguard beautifully and Djibril Cisse calmly planted the ball beyond keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. The lead lasted six minutes. Keane had restored goalkeeper Craig Gordon and defender Pascal Chimbonda to his team, yet neither covered himself with credit as Matt Taylor, rising above Chimbonda, connected with Gretar Steinsson’s right-wing cross. The header, in off the bar, caught out Gordon, who had strayed off his line.

Soon after, Andy O’Brien’s free kick fell to Gary Cahill, who steered his shot past Gordon. Sunderland thought they had levelled. From Phil Bardsley’s cross, Kenwyne Jones’s powerful header struck the bar.

Cisse followed it into the net, but the effort was ruled out, an assistant judging Jones guilty of pushing.

Sunderland’s sense of grievance could have been compounded, only for Johan Elmander to spurn an opportunity. But Bolton constantly appeared likely to profit further from their hosts’ uncertainty in defence. Elmander did so when he seized on an aberration by Danny Collins and added a third before the break.

Early in the second half Whitehead was caught in possession by Kevin Nolan, who switched the ball to Elmander. The Swede finished with aplomb. Bolton were in the mood for this now. This was becoming fun. It could have been even more embarrassing for Sunderland, Elmander driving past a post when he should have completed his hat-trick.

Keane was spared that ignominy. But he knows things are likely to get worse before they get better. It’s his old stomping ground, Old Trafford, next Saturday.

SUNDERLAND: Gordon 6, Bardsley 6, Nosworthy 6, Collins 5, Chimbonda 5, Malbranque 7 (Tainio 63min), Whitehead 6, Richardson 6 (Leadbitter 45min, 6), Reid 6 (Miller 63min), Cisse 7, Jones 7.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jaaskelainen 7, Steinsson 6, Cahill 7, A O’Brien 7, Samuel 6, Muamba 6, Davies 7, Nolan 7, McCann 6, Taylor 7 (Gardner h-t, 6), Elmander 8 (Basham, 89min).

Keane puts on a brave face

Roy Keane still managed to sound optimistic after his side were booed off the pitch by their own fans yesterday. He said: ‘The fans are going to voice their frustration but the players have to deal with it.’ The 4-1 home defeat by Bolton saw Sunderland slip into the bottom three and Keane, left, admitted: ‘I’m concerned. I ask myself every single day if I am the right man for Sunderland. I might wake up on Monday morning and think I’m the right man. On Tuesday it might be different. Ultimately I’m responsible and I’ve never shied away from that. We have to get back on the training pitch, work hard, and hope for a bit of luck in the coming weeks.’ Keane is now 11-8 favourite with William Hill to be the next Premier League manager to leave his club. Former United teammates Mark Hughes (Man City) and Paul Ince (Blackburn) are priced at 5-1 and 9-1 respectively