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Iturns out the manager endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. 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 standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.