The big question for me is whether ETH demanded basically full control in the transfer market. Also whether he was the one who actively didn't want to bother to even meet Rangnick and find out about his experiences and thoughts about things.
If he did, then he has no excuses and has to live or die by the sword (although Murtough also is to blame for agreeing to it). With the new regime and with Ralf being a consultant, I was finally confident we'd learnt the lessons from the past and were going to start moving the right way where the club itself is run properly. The manager, while obviously providing a valued opinion, should not be the main man in building the entire squad. Especially not when first joining; maybe after a few years if he proves he deserves more of a say. Then we got rid of Rangnick and my confidence started dropping, followed quickly by the transfer targets apparently limited only to who the manager knew, and also obviously almost all the squad being given yet another chance.
Alternatively, did ETH walk into a club where the scouting network was terrible and was in the process of being dismantled and rebuilt, leaving him in the position where he had no choice but to take control and go after the players that he had first hand knowledge of? If so, then I feel sorry for him and our terrible position isn't really his fault.
In either case, hopefully we can do enough to get through this season without it going to shit too much, and then by next season our scouting network and decision making will hopefully be refined enough to make the correct decisions.