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Iturns out the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power 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 by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.