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Itranspired the manager was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree 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. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. 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. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails 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 public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.