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Iturns out the manager could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing 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 Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over System and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire them for playing too much that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.