Don't matter if you're learning on the job or not as long as the company's culture and strategy is totally off center and the key decision makers are the same, or worse, they interfere where they shouldn't.
You could say that X is responsible for going into a different direction, Y is responsible for coming up with a different sporting plan, etc, but, without knowing the ins and outs, it's guesswork. Maybe the guys there already tried the change and the key decision makers came up with a flat "no" answer.
As we know, to kill the dragon you need to cut off its head. ED is leaving, seemingly the head being close to gone. The question is if he was actually the head or not or if there are any other heads to be cut off, above him.
Articles like the one in the OP should be always taken with a pinch of salt.
The most important thing in an organization is mentality at the top of its structure. No matter how many changes you make at middle level, if the top level has the wrong mentality and a lack of proper culture, it will never work out, especially long term. However, in United's case, we did get rid of ED and appointed two guys in key positions (Murtough and Fletch) which, in 9 out of 10 cases should be seen as a good change at least from the "bringing in fresh blood and a new mentality" angle.
The Atheltic's article is the usual journalism these days, a bit off guesswork, a bit of shit that seems rather logical and a lot of BS. This covers all types of fans, the idiot, the smart and the blind follower so it's good for discussion ; basically, the Athletic spouts some shit around, makes sure to package it properly to look and sound professional and then it sticks with most supporter types.