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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to 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 would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.