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Transpired he was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Over System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.