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Turns out Ruben Amorim endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one 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 Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.