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Transpired he was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels 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 bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss him for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and then discard them for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.