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Transpired the manager endured a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility 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 choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.