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Iturns out he was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.