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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side 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 departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power In Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability 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 remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for playing too much that system. Hire the project manager and then discard them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.