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Transpired the manager was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director , after being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for using excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.