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Turns out the manager could survive defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, 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 early in his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later discard him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.