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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard them for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.