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Turns out he could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority In Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.