other mistake was not having football people at the top of the organisation but the Glazers asset stripping the club and focussing on marketing/merchandise rather than a longer term strategy for player recruitment and succession Badly shown up by Brighton, Brentford, Liverpool, Bournemouth, City
instead of investment they had profit skimming (hence stadium being in such poor nick) instead of coherent medium and long term strategy kept picking very different types of manager who all wanted own players and end up with bloated squad full of misfits, hasbeens or never good enoughs
Have to chip this in too, perhaps if Ferguson hadn't fallen out with the Irish directors over the stud rights of the horse (Rock of Gibraltar?) that they had gifted him, the debacle at Old Trafford may never have happened? Horses have brought down an empire before.
Agree with all of those.