The lions share must go to Lerner, who was too naive and too trusting of MON's judgement that once that period came to a head, the whole project ground to a stand still. Had MON been smarter and less of an egoist, we could have strolled right into the Champions League, and right now we could be CL regulars with the rest of them. But Lerner put too much faith in O'Neill, and that is down to plain stupidity.
Lambert just inherited the mess and the restrictions, as well as McLeish. They tried and failed, and as awful as they were, they had a tough job under the circumstances.
1.Lerner
2. O'Neill
Nobody else deserves any grief if we go down. Faulkner was just a yes man, Fox got here too late, the managers since MON could only tread the water they were thrown into.