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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over System and Ideology

For example, it was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss them for using excessively that system. Hire the project manager and later bin them for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.