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Turns out he was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

For example, it was the director , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for using excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later discard him for requiring too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.