There is only so much a Manager can do.
If you had a peak Alex Ferguson managing Grimsby vs a peak Manchester United team managed by Alan Carr, odds are that Manchester United win 99% of those games.
People keep saying the players did get to 9th in the Premier League, however in that team we had:
Since then, we have recruited appallingly with players form and confidence utterly shot. Fans are on a clear route to toxicity (no blame there given some of the most depressing 24 months of football for us on record - inclusive of having European football taken away from us due to losing our momentum over lockdown) .
There is no easy answer to any of this, except a gradual recycling of players until we can get a spine of 6 or 7 players to start to rebuild the team around. I don't think we have any of that spine yet, except for maybe N'Diaye, Jebbison and an Egan (if he ever hits form again). The rest are either too old to build a side around, not good enough, or the fit just isn't right.