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Transpired the manager could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over System & Philosophy

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental 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 delivered from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged 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 is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and later discard him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.