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Itranspired he could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach only to dismiss him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.