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Iturns out he was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Power In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing 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 proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss them for using excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.