FOOTBALL fans can be unforgiving enough without being handed extra ammunition.

This defeat had already given the Internet army good reason to voice their concern before they decided to feast on one of Lee Bradbury’s post-match comments.

“We started the game very well,” the Cherries boss told BBC Radio Solent. “For the first two minutes, we were on top.”

Eight minutes later, stunned Cherries were 3-0 down and well out of the game.

The quote became an online hit, while Bradbury was proving far less popular.

A run of five consecutive defeats – with just one goal in six matches – has seen the pressure steadily build.

It is a worrying sequence which has done little to silence the critics who continue to direct their ire at the dug-out – with an increasing number making a case for change.

In the modern media age of social networking and message boards, it is easy for everyone to have a say.

And most of the feedback made for X-rated reading for Cherries as the dissenters came out in force.

These mediums often lend themselves to the more extreme views and whether those opinions represent the majority on the terraces remains to be seen.

But there can be little doubt that Bradbury has plenty to do if he is to convince a number of the Cherries faithful. Unless he can sort out his team’s recent deficiencies – sooner rather than later – the doubters will not go away.

While Cherries have been talking a good game of late, actions speak louder than words.

When it mattered on Saturday, Sheffield Wednesday were deafening and Cherries fell silent.

Amid the din inside Hillsborough, the Owls were the only team making the right noises.

In scoring three times inside 10 minutes, the hosts’ ruthlessness was as impressive as the decibel levels inside the south Yorkshire stadium.

With Bradbury’s men fading and now closer to the drop zone than the top six, only one team in Saturday’s contest looked ready-made for promotion.

Cherries’ alarming dip in form coupled with an unwanted habit of conceding at set-pieces suggests they remain a work in progress.

The Seward Stadium outfit performed well at times but when it counted – in both penalty areas – they failed to match Wednesday.

Revitalised under recently-appointed manager Dave Jones, the high-fliers left Cherries with no answer.

Bradbury pointed to an improved showing after the opening 15 minutes but the damage had already been done.

He said: “It was men against boys for the first 15 minutes. I thought we froze a little bit on the occasion – some of our players.

“But after that, once we had grasped the game, we probably had the better chances. We had four clear-cut chances that you would have expected to score.

“This is the third week in a row I have stood here and said we played quite well, created chances but got nothing out of the game. That has got to change straight away.”

In pre-match interviews, Bradbury had highlighted the Owls’ set-piece prowess and coach Ryan Garry admitted Cherries’ defending of them needed to improve. Both were spot on but the message clearly did not hit home.

Bradbury suggested some of his players had lacked maturity on the big stage – with more than 19,000 turning Hillsborough into a cauldron of noise.

There is no disgrace in losing to a team of Sheffield Wednesday’s stature and calibre but it was the manner of the defeat that left Cherries shell-shocked.

They were caught cold when Michail Antonio seized on Darryl Flahavan’s punched clearance to tee up Danny Batth for a fourth-minute opener.

Chris Lines’s deep corner then went in off Miles Addison and by the time the exciting Antonio had blasted between Charlie Daniels and Scott Malone before hammering past Flahavan, it was game over.

It looked as if the Owls would continue to run riot but, to their credit, Cherries found their feet from the 20th minute, opening up the Wednesday defence with impressive regularity.

The hard-working Wes Fogden failed to convert a dangerous cross from Malone before turning provider to release Wes Thomas, whose effort was well saved by goalkeeper Stephen Bywater.

Thomas rattled the post just before the break before Addison and substitute Matt Tubbs missed late opportunities.

It had been that sort of day for Cherries. It is that sort of season.

Cherries are heading for a safe finish and, at the start of the campaign, there would have been few complaints at that.

After seeing virtually an entire team head for the exit during a tumultuous summer, Bradbury had a major job on his hands to rebuild the squad on a shoestring budget.

A nice guy who took the hard decision to hang up his boots in order to take charge, he did not shirk the challenge.

After an injection of funds in January, Bradbury was given the backing to recruit big-money targets.

But the problem with that level of investment is that supporters clearly now want more than just mid-table – not without justification taking into account the rumoured £1.6m spent by Bradbury in the transfer window.

Expectations have been raised and Cherries need to start living up to them.