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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority 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 reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.