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Itbecame clear the manager could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight 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 paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by 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 whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined 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 remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire him for using excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.