I'm still supporting him.
I'm still supporting him, because I know logically this season is an abberation. A sick joke. A fluke. The second Darren Bent's goal deflected off a beach ball (a beach ball!!), you knew it was going to a topsy-turvy season. One in which one minute you see a ray of hope, the next you wonder whether the manager should be bringing in a priest to exorcise the ground. It's been one injury plagued mess with minimal on the field leadership and too many players preferring to sulk than accept personal criticism for their own performances or grind it out.
We were four points away from winning the league. Four. Macheda not scoring against Villa and Gerrard's free-kick against Stoke being allowed could have given us the title. And yet for some, the idea we were so close has been forgotten.
It's been a season of short memories on the stands and in the forums with many giving into fickleness and impatience, rather than balanced reflection. Some have let the media that serves the lowest common denominator get to them, rather than building a siege mentality. We've been spoiled by our recent success under Rafa. We weren't a lock to get into the CL before he came. We weren't feared throughout Europe, as we had been under Shankly and Paisley. We weren't closer to the league than we have since we last won it. But under Benitez, we have become that team. But now, it's almost like some fans just want Benitez gone now so they won't have to hear the jibes from their friends or colleagues supporting other clubs.
I'm not promoting a Rafa FC, Rafa is bigger than the club agenda. This is about the core values of the club. The idea we have the most knowledgeable fans in the business. The idea that we give our managers time to craft out a vision. We let them build something, because we know that the best ones are generally the most stubborn, the ones with a crystalline direction. We abandon that now and we might as well go down the road of Newcastle, letting players become bigger than the club and sway the focus. If players don't want to be here that's fine, the door will be open in the summer.
If the supporters don't want to be here, there are other teams.
I personally am not going to let irrationality and short-term emotions override a logical analysis of the events at hand. The season on the face of it looks to be a disaster, but under its pain and frustration are lessons. Lessons we need to learn in order to properly challenge next season. Lessons such as realizing a win is a win. Only through gaining a run of good results can form, consistency and confidence be born. To realize that a myopic focus and a driven mentality is required from fans, manager and players.
People often talk about giving players who have in the past demonstrated quality and success, but are presently suffering on the pitch through a poor spell, a chance to redeem themselves. Why should this only apply to players? Why not Rafa? Does he not at the very least deserve more time. Shankly went seven years without winning anything. Wenger hasn't won anything in five years. Nor has Martin O'Neill. Ferguson took six to win his first title.
Rafa is one of the top managers in world football. The problem is people will only realize this after he is gone.
Give him time. Sing his name. Do not give in to the pathetic media agenda. And most importantly, get behind your team: its players and its manager
