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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.