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Tbecame clear he could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view 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 demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation & Ideology

For example, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later discard him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.