If Everton had played their cards right, they wouldn't have needed the scenes they witnessed on Thursday evening to save themselves from relegation.
There were mitigating circumstances which led to the dismal situation the Blues found themselves in, of course. Injuries throughout the campaign, some dreadful refereeing decisions - you know the score by now.
But there's no arguing that Everton's situation was one of their own making. Years of poor decisions came home to roost, and the club were almost severely punished for one of their most recent choices in particular.
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Goodison Park wasn't always the collection of raw positive energy that the last few matches of the 2021/22 season proved. Just look back to the first match in December, for example.
Liverpool made the trip across Stanley Park to face a bitter rival without a win in their last seven matches and starting to plummet like a stone down the Premier League table after a promising start. Even they wouldn't have predicted just how easy they'd find it on that evening, however.
Already there had been protests against Rafael Benitez, who had proven to be a hugely divisive appointment in the first place. Even a strong run of results to begin the campaign wasn't doing much to stem the understandable concern that a lot of Evertonians had at him being in charge of the club.
But that Liverpool game was the final straw. Those decked out in red in the away end were loudly chanting the name of their former boss as Jurgen Klopp's side cruised to victory, while vitriol kicked off throughout the rest of the stadium.
Angry scenes saw the members of the Everton board back into the bowels of the ground from their seats. One particular confrontation with a supporter proved to be the last act of Marcel Brands at the club, which saw him utter the phrase: "Is it only the players?"
That should have been seen as a clear point of no return for a manager who you could make a solid case for never being appointed in the first place. Realistically, many saw Benitez's tenure ending in this fashion, or something very similar.
It was always going to be too big a task for him to turn around the wider fan opinion on himself, and on top of that his tactics were stale and uninspiring to those sat in the stand. We've now seen just how crucial it can be for a manager to have a real connection to those following his side around the country, and Benitez couldn't have been further from that.
However, that Liverpool defeat wasn't his last match. Instead, Everton limped along for another 47 days before they gave their boss his marching orders - in the immediate aftermath of a dismal defeat to bottom-of-the-table Norwich City.
In terms of straight results, those from the outside looking in might point to a couple of perceived highlights. The win over Arsenal directly after the dreadful derby defeat, for example - with wild celebrations for Demarai Gray's spectacular late winner. A hard-fought draw away at Stamford Bridge might be another.
But it wasn't about that for Blues fans. They knew there was no turning back after what had taken place against Liverpool.
Brands left the club shortly after that game as he had lost the power struggle between himself and Benitez. Banners continued to be displayed at matches and protests continued, with seemingly little notice being taken by the board for a long period of time.
That victory over Arsenal, though, was the last in the Premier League for the Spaniard. He took charge of four more matches, only picking up one point in that time.
A dispute with Lucas Digne saw the France international dropped from the squad and he never regained his place back in the side. Just days before Benitez was sacked, the left-back was sold to Aston Villa - with Anwar El Ghazi coming the other way on loan.
Finally, the loss to Norwich made those in charge sit up and take notice. They relieved Benitez of his duties, but some wondered whether the slide could be reversed quickly enough by whoever was chosen to come in.
Time almost did run out. Frank Lampard would no doubt have appreciated a few extra weeks of working with this squad and building this rapport with fans to try and avoid this late escape altogether.
The fact of the matter is, you can't really tell what *might* have happened if things had gone differently. You can't say for certain that supporters would have banded together in the same way, or the side would have picked up extra points earlier on to save themselves.
But there's no doubting it surely would have been a benefit to the new manager to have had more time. How many results even towards the start of Lampard's time with the Blues as it transpired could have been different with him having more knowledge of the task at hand?
Maybe the defeat to Newcastle might not have gone down that way. Maybe the Blues would have been secure in a system before they travelled to face Spurs.
They say hindsight is 20/20, and some of you reading this article might be thinking to yourselves "well it's alright to say this now". But this was patently obvious at the time to anyone who had been in the stadium on December 1st against Liverpool.
A manager can't recover from the fans of his side's biggest rivals singing his name while they cruise to an easy derby victory. How was Benitez meant to turn around the Everton opinion from that point?
Instead, it was Brands who left - kicking off a strategic review which Everton are keen to make clear led to the appointments of both Lampard and Kevin Thelwell. That look ahead to the future, now safety is secured, is promising as long as the results of the review are indeed acted upon in the right manner.
But, you can't help but wonder how much more comfortable things might have been if they had just made the decision 47 days earlier. Would Everton have been safe 47 days earlier? Maybe not.
Maybe some of the things that happened in that span of time might not have taken place, though. Fans could have been saved a lot of anger and despair.
