Agree with Beds that Thomas is to blame, not because of the off field antics, but solely for appointment of Austin, should never have been any where near the team once Jimmy left, should have gone at the same time. An awful appointment which killed the season before it had even started.
bit of a strange appointment to Assistant Manager too...….did Jimmy want him?
Hasselbaink came in at the time of the 5USports involvement, so it was probably thought a "big name" would raise the profile, and with it probably came big wages from the money that never materialised anyway. Austins appointment a short time later though seemed to be "club driven" rather than the manager selecting his assistant himself.
Maybe that then led to the club standing by "their man" once Hasselbaink had been removed.
I agree with other posters though...surely he was part of the problem and should have been dismissed at the same time. Keeping him on, and promoting him seemed like the cheap option at the time.