Anyone inheriting the financial situation had an extremely difficult task. I think the big issue with Laporta is it’s quite clear there was no sporting strategy as you said and it still appears that way with the profiles missing in the squad.
All it took was a big banner in Madrid and a reminder of the previous success and it was enough for him to get elected.
It’s not too late for him to turn the situation around, however you’re only as strong as the people around you and in tenure number two he hasn’t found that yet.
He never had a clear plan on the sporting side it seems like and wants to just wing it year by year, keep kicking can down the road with short-term strategies but no long term plan for how we will achieve parity with Madrid or become the top club in Spain again. I do sympathise with how difficult it was when he first came in and it would be difficult to convince the fans we needed time to rebuild and couldn't sign top players at that moment, particularly with how dire things looked after Messi left, but leaders have to make those sorts of tough decisions, and we'd have been better off without the likes of Lewa for example. We could have been trying to sign top young players now.
That said, exactly as you mentioned, it's not too late at all as nothing catastrophic has happened yet and we're still in a decent position to be able to turn things around if a clear and long-term plan is implemented. We have a good squad and a lot of talented young players, finances should resolve within the next couple years etc, and if he wants to save the club, this is the most pivotal time yet. The decisions we make in these few years as we return to being able to spend are going to be vital in any long-term success we have.
So far the recruitment and sporting strategy has seemed poorly coordinated and I don't feel Flick has been hired with a long term project in mind either.