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Turns out the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling 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. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring 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 preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and then bin him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.