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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over System and Philosophy

For example, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.