Blackburn Rovers icon, Brad Friedel, has opened up on his time at the club and admitted he saw the ownership issues that would follow.
The American goalkeeper made more than 300 appearances in an eight-and-a-half-year stint at Ewood Park. That coincided with the club's most successful period of the 21st century in the Premier League.
Friedel was a key part of the team that earned promotion from the Championship and stabilised in the top flight. Rovers became synonymous with being a brilliantly run club, punching above its weight.
A huge part of that was replacing their key players, who would inevitably be sold to 'bigger' clubs for lots of money.
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In a wide-ranging interview with new Blackburn podcast, 'They Think It's All Rovers', Friedel heaped huge praise on the Rovers board for the stability and success they helped provide during those golden years.
"To keep the quality of players that we had for, I was there eight and a half years..." he said.
"To go from Matt Jensen, Damien Duff, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Roque Santa Cruz, Craig Bellamy, David Bentley, David Dunn, Tugay, myself. Henning Berg from Man United.
"The list goes on. There was a big turnover of really good players but if a top-quality striker left - and that's normal, you have to balance the books - we always brought another one in.
"We always had goals in the team. So when Duffer was sold, we lost a bit of quality, he was incredible. But we managed to replace. We, I mean Tom Finn and John Williams, they were the two leaders of that. Andrew Pincher, Martin Goodman, Robert Coar.
"It was such a good board. If you asked Graeme Souness, Mark Hughes today, who were there when I was, they'd say it's the best run club they've had in their careers. Either number one or number two for all those clubs they managed.
"I would think they would say that."
However, Friedel admits he saw the train coming down the tracks when The Jack Walker Trust were open to selling the club. With offers on the table from Mark Hughes' Manchester City and Aston Villa, he asked to leave but ensured it was a respectful parting.
"When I was leaving, it was not an easy decision at all," he explained.
"I had a long conversation with John Williams; I had a great relationship with him. I used to ask if we were a selling club and what I meant was, if we sold Santa Cruz, David Bentley, etc, are we going to replace them?
"The answer was always yes. This time, it was completely different because we weren't a selling club, we were selling THE club. When it was unknown who would be the owner and I had Aston Villa and Man City bidding, I had some decisions to make.
"I no longer had the comfort of the stability that board was providing. You've seen what's happened to so many clubs, even a club like Liverpool nearly went into administration. You never know what will happen.
"In the end, I did ask for them to accept the offer. They got me for free, they paid 100K per 100 appearances. It cost them 300K for me, that was it.
"I was 37 years old, they got £2.5million for me. It's good business. I played a lot of games, I didn't miss many and we had a great time doing that. I considered that as me looking after the club as much as possible when leaving. I wanted to leave in a respectful way.
"I made sure the club got a transfer fee which for a 37 year old, I don't think many people get transfer fees. Hopefully, the fans can see why and they understand it.
"Unfortunately, I was proved correct in seeing what was to come. I never hoped it or wished it, I hope they stayed in the Premier League and still were, but there have been a lot of ups and downs since 2010.
"I hope one of these days, they can get back up."
To listen to the full interview with Brad Friedel, click here.
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