I blame KSE and the failure to purge and start the rebuild last summer. IIRC we were trying to sell before we could buy to raise funds and we had on offer for Martinez and not Leno. As such I don't think the football had anything to do with the decision which was entirely financial.
So far as transfers and contracts go (players and staff), Arteta may have more say/influence as Manager compared to being Head Coach, but the ultimate responsibility is with the TD/GM/quasi DoF = Edu.
IMO the issues re staff quality (such as the GK coach) and decisions, are yet another example of shit-house planning and structure put in place around a rookie manager, and another black mark that should have ideally been sorted last summer, and definitely when the club decided to retain Arteta going into this season.
IMO the issues of last summer (regarding the need to sell before we buy) are being repeated this summer so that we may not have a balanced team fit for purpose, let alone ready to hit the ground running. Likewise IMO the club have not addressed the issues regarding an inexperienced football operations team with a lack of quality staff, and IMO this is impacting our ability to attract the types of players wanted. I don't care that we have signed a guy from The FA who used to be at WBA. He may have a good reputation/relationship amongst the clubs and execs but that means sfa in terms of his connection to players and staff, which IMO is what we lack in terms of our 'project'. We lack any real 'juice'/credibility & even now our transfer targets look all over the shop as if more determined by finances rather than having an actual plan or knowing what we want.
IF Arteta succeeds it will likely be in spite of the club structures rather than because of them, and IMO there is still a long way to go before we sort our shit out on and off the pitch. As things stand I do not expect us to regain top4 as IMO we are not set up to do so on or off the pitch.
Apologies for rant and going off topic.
