Of course they can. I doubt Liverpool fans, despite having only won one trophy (I think) in a decade have given up hope. Or City fans, or even Spuds fans. Almost every single time a team loses a game they 'look' bad. This whole notion of supporters not complaining as long as the players give their all is a complete phallacy because how many times does a fan of a losing team have that perception when they've lost a game? Liverpool were 3-0 up the other week, seemed to be giving it 'their all' and end up conceding 4 goals in the last twenty minutes. When you lose, you always look beyond terrible and there are no saving graces handed out by fans.