Kilbane and Co kept in dark at the Stadium of Light

The question, minutes after Kevin Kilbane had been struck on the arm by a penknife, was crass in the extreme. "Do you think it was thrown by a Sunderland fan?" the Republic of Ireland midfielder was asked by an interviewer still, one trusts, trying to live the moment down. Whether it was heard or not, it was obviously ignored.

That was in March on a bitterly cold and bitterly contested night at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tbilisi where the Irish had just beaten Georgia, on a pitch which afterwards glistened with broken glass, to revive their hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal.

A rare moment of joy for Kilbane in a season, indeed in a 12 months, which has tested this most likeable of footballers to the limit. He is now for sale – as are the rest of the Sunderland squad, relegated with the lowest-ever points total recorded in the Premiership. It may turn into a fire sale. With Sunderland a crippling £25m in debt, cutbacks are being made elsewhere as well. It is something that, Kilbane maintains, has hit the players hard too – particularly as they feel they were not made fully aware of how bad the club's finances were.

On his return from the resurgent international trip to Georgia and Albania, Sunderland announced a series of redundancies. "We were not well informed and it was a massive shock to all of us," Kilbane says. "Eighty-three redundancies have been made and that is a lot to cope with." Some took it hard. "The players are all very disappointed because ultimately it is down to what has happened on the pitch. Ultimately, it is going to come down to us."

Such honesty is in keeping with this most unassuming 26-year-old who admits that he, personally, feels a responsibility at a club where his relationship with the fans has been tricky. "A lot of people can be quite bitter towards the players and it has not been a very nice environment," Kilbane says. "We know that people have been talking about the players behind their backs."

And to their faces. After the job cuts were announced it was the turn of the playing staff to be called in by the new manager Mick McCarthy, a man Kilbane knows well, of course, from the national team. "Mick told me he wanted to keep me at the club," says Kilbane. "But he said that every player is for sale and if offers come in then they will have to be accepted. It is very difficult and, I know it is a cliché, but you have to try to carry on and play your football."

The problem, he admits, is that very little football has been played at the Stadium of Light. Kilbane, with his erratic, somewhat ungainly style, has often become the focus of fans' anger. "There is nothing to be gained by thinking about the situation too much," he says. "It is clear to everyone how bad things are." Fourteen successive defeats and no win in five months. "Everyone keeps mentioning this run to us and it's sickening. We're desperate to end it. We want everything laid to rest and a fresh start in August," he says.

Last August was a traumatic enough month. In a friendly after returning from the World Cup a misplaced pass had been greeted with derision by Sunderland fans. He flipped and made a two-fingered gesture. Although he apologised, he was booed during the opening Premiership game and was then subsequently left out by Peter Reid who, until then, had had him as an ever-present. It was thought he had played his last game. Gradually he worked his way back but much of the criticism has persisted. Indeed it was there soon, and unfathomably at times, after he joined Sunderland from West Brom for £2.5m four years ago.

And yet, despite the talk of being up for sale and a reputed offer, since denied, from his former manager at Preston North End, David Moyes of Everton, he wants to stay with the Black Cats in the hope that their luck will turn. "I love playing for Mick McCarthy and that goes without saying," he declares. He is, without doubt, one of the new manager's favourite players, due to his hard work, honesty and commitment. McCarthy would be loath to lose him.

Kilbane's most memorable experience was with McCarthy at last year's World Cup finals. It was Kilbane, of course, who charged in to follow up an Ian Harte penalty against Spain. Had the ball come off his boot and not his shin, he would have been a hero. Minutes later, he himself missed a penalty in the shoot-out and the Irish were going home. Kilbane had also sat beside Roy Keane at the fateful meeting when the former Irish captain had raged at McCarthy. He was the only man between the two.

Still, Kilbane feels, international football has been a release at times. Indeed he has started in the four matches so far for new manager Brian Kerr, another clear admirer, scoring the first goal of his reign with a rare header in the friendly against Scotland. He is already regarded as a core member of the side and may soon make the switch into central midfield. "It was important to win that game," he says, before adding, with particular feeling, "the longer we went without winning a game, the more people would have talked about it."

One feels he has endured enough talk and enough comment this season.