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Transpired he was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears 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 in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for using too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.