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Tbecame clear he could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over System and Philosophy

For example, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, 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 Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.