talkSPORT host Jim White said: “Should we expect there to be a fall guy and should we expect it to be Rafael Benitez?
“To get an answer to that question, I got in touch with Farhad Moshiri, who is in the United States at the moment, he wasn’t at the game last night.
“It’s a simple question and, to be fair to him, he got back to me.
“This was my message to Farhad: ‘Can you text me a message to the fans? Do you still back Rafael?’
“He replied: ‘Yes. Football is about crisis one day and glory the following day. Rafael is a good manager and underperformance is largely due to the injuries.
“’Next two weeks, we will get to a full squad and, in the meantime, results will improve.
“’Rafael needs time to have his mark on the squad. He will be supported to add depth to the squad. Managers need time.
“’I have no doubt that we will have a strong second-half to the season’.”