I'm taking Lampard.
Allardyce walked into a job where the squad had goals in it, was in better condition despite the poor summer buys, and had funds to spend in the winter. 54 points was good enough for 8th, and we were coming off 61.
Lampard walked into a squad in dire need of deep surgery, kept us up, fixed the problems we could afford to fix and has us above the zone in a league where even the bottom three are competitive.
Finishing above 60 the prior season was a testament to just how good Carlo is as a manager. Benitez, plus a long-term DCL injury, revealed the squad's true level.
So what if it's ugly? Up is up. We can talk about playing attractive football once we have the funds under league rules to sort the attack out. Right now, it's just grind out points and wheeze over the cut line.
Might Allardyce be better for that purpose now? Maybe. Would he be better for us in the long term? No way.