It's pretty unclear exactly when and why and to what degree Joe faded out of the picture. There have been reports that he's in ill health and not really capable of managing his own affairs at this point but who knows.The undeniable argument, however, is that it is ultimately "The Lewis Family" who have been here for 25 years refusing to put any funding (of any significant merit) into the club. Joe Lewis has been out of the picture for at least 3 years, coming up to 4 years (he handed it over in 2022).
Very few sentiments seem to recognise this.
I do largely agree though that "The Lewis Family"'s unwillingness to properly fund the club's operations to date has merit as an indication of its likely future behavior despite the change in leadership, that's fair enough.
Daniel Levy, Viv Lewis or the Sultan of Brunei would have a hell of a job on their hands this summer though, the situation is decaying rapidly.