Question: do you think if the fans had gotten behind Benitez the way they have Lamaprd we'd have been in this mess?
Not a chance. The players would have responded a lot better than they did for a manager hounded by the fans.
I don't think it's quite as simple as that.
On the one hand, a better atmosphere has to be more conducive to good results, so I'll grant you that to a degree, but the fans have only really come together in the last few weeks when we've all realised that this really could be it. I'm not sure it's entirely down to Lampard, although he's much easier to warm to than Benitez, so perhaps there's an element of it.
On the other hand, I saw no variation in tactical approach from Benitez at all. There was nothing that said to me we were seeing him trying things to stop the rot. Lampard, to his credit, has constantly looked for a winning formula in terms of systems and styles. I've at least felt that he's been proactive in searching for a way of playing that would get us better results.
Then there's the fact that Benitez seems to simply be a fairly unpleasant guy who has a long history of falling out with people, so you have to ask yourself whether the players would have been able to get themselves up to the levels we've seen in the last few games if he was still here.
I don't think it's anything like as simple as saying if the fans had backed Benitez the way Lampard has been supported then everything would be sound. You don't preside over the worst run in our entire history just because the fans don't like you. We don't have *that* much influence