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Transpired the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.