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Itranspired the manager was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.