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Tbecame clear the manager was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who 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 ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then bin them for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.