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Iturns out the manager endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over System and Ideology

For example, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.