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Transpired he could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after 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 him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

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 walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.