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Itranspired the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’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, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when issued by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. 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 beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players 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 continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard them for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.