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Itranspired he was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

For example, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing too much that system. Hire the project manager and then bin him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.