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Turns out the manager could survive a loss to Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over System & Ideology

For example, it was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.