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Transpired the manager could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered an important European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Authority In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.