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Iturns out Ruben Amorim endured losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for playing too much that system. Hire the project manager and then discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.