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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating 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 nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? 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. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing too much that system. Hire the process guy and then discard them for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.