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Transpired he was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Hire the project manager and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.