Don't blame him really.
To get an offer two leagues higher, and a probable pay rise, surely most people would jump at the chance if it came to them.
It will be an intriguing summer for the owners and management team. Head coach gone, top players with a year left on their contracts, key players out of contract. I'm sure they must have prepared for these events to happen though, as it fits with their model of improving players, and selling them on.
It's all a bit new though eh? Not sacking managers every season. Not offloading half the squad, and bringing in a truck load every pre-season, and maybe, just maybe, actually getting some compo money for our manager, and possibly for a player or two.
As long as it’s not Kevin Nolan, great.
We need someone who can keep the things IB got right - attempting to play passing football, sometimes succeeding - and improve on the things he got wrong - more intensity, more aggression, more defensive solidity.
Of course, the new head coach will be dependent upon the recruitment team not signing a bunch of lightweight players again as well. Three obvious keywords for Richard Montague and co when looking at new signings: bigger, faster, stronger.
And when they’re looking at stats, here are two areas we always seem to overlook: possession won; and passes made under pressure. Rodri topped both of those in the Premier League this season, so we’re just looking for a level five version of him. Easy!
I’ve not really paid much attention to the EFL since our demise, but it’s interesting to note the number of smallish clubs currently in League 1: FGR, Exeter, Accrington Stanley, Morecambe, Cheltenham, Fleetwood, Cambridge, Burton … all clubs with lower average attendances than us, but clearly doing something right.
Whether you like their chairman or not, he’s very forward thinking, football results and performance have no respect to the number of fans you have or history, their moving forward steadily with good leadership as we went backwards with poor, there’s not a silver bullet very often other than good leadership/ strategy and patience to be in it for the long term.