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Iturns out Ruben Amorim endured a loss to Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later bin him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.