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Itbecame clear the manager endured a loss to Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.