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Turns out he endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook 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 privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then bin them for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.