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Transpired the manager could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over System and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, 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 thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately 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 embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.