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Itranspired the manager could survive defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final versus a particularly poor Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then discard them for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.