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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized 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 the club to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then fire him for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.