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Turns out Ruben Amorim was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System & Ideology

For example, it was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.