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Itbecame clear he could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over System & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps 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 contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing too much that system. Hire the process guy and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.