CARLOS EDWARDS has encountered the wrath of manager Roy Keane only once inside the last 11 months and, after returning to full fitness, the winger has no intention of experiencing it a second time.
Edwards has cut a frustrated figure around the Academy of Light this season, having been able to play a part in only three of the Black Cats' fixtures since returning to the Premier League.
The right-midfielder has yet to taste defeat. An opening day victory over Tottenham has been followed by draws with Birmingham and, more recently, Newcastle United.
But while Edwards has been recovering from a hamstring injury sustained in August, his team-mates have witnessed the angry side of Keane.
The Irishman is a much calmer character from the one feared during his playing days, although inside the dressing room he has made no attempt to disguise his frustrations after disappointing results.
In the main Sunderland have fared well this season, but points have still been few and far between and, after defeats to Manchester City, West Ham and Wigan, Keane has delivered dressing room dressing downs.
Edwards, though, has not been on the receiving end. And, given how last season's Championship winning campaign went, Keane let off steam only once in that division.
That arrived just 18 days into Edwards' Sunderland career, when he scored the fourth goal in a 4-2 win at Sheffield Wednesday.
Keane, furious at the way Sunderland had allowed the Owls to reduce a three-goal lead to just one, later showed his ruthless streak.
"I remember it and he was totally right at Sheffield Wednesday," said Edwards.
"Anyone who was there knows we were dominant and we took our chances. But then we allowed them back into it and at the end it was like 'what is going on'. He had a right to do that.
"I have been lucky enough not to see that too much. He does say things sometimes but it just happens for the best. He is the manager and he has every right to be furious.
"If we are not doing well as a team it's going to reflect on him because the players are not going to get their throat cut.
"It's the manager who people question whether he is the right man, whether he is picking the right team."
Edwards' return to the Sunderland team against Newcastle ten days ago coincided with a performance that was rewarded with a point, which could quite easily have been all three.
That result and display will count for little if Sunderland do not carry that into their next run of games, when victories are required if they are to avoid dropping into the bottom three.
After this Saturday's trip to Everton, Sunderland face Derby, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Reading before the Boxing Day visit of Manchester United.
Regardless of the outcomes of those games, Edwards believes the manager knows the type of players he will be looking to bring in when the transfer window opens in January.
But the 29-year-old is determined to help Keane approach the post-Christmas sales from a promising position in the Premier League.
"It's his job and he wants the best for the club and he has to make some players unhappy and some happy," said Edwards, who could be given a further run-out in a friendly with Chesterfield this afternoon.
"It's his job to get the best team and give fans something to cheer about. The table says a bit but it's not that we are playing bad football. There have only been a couple of games when we have not played well.
"When he was appointed it was because he has been there and done it. Losing is nowhere near his vocabulary. You could probably count on one hand how many times he had lost as a player."
Sunderland reserves' friendly with Chesterfield is at the Academy of Light at 1pm.