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Itbecame clear the manager could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Order: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.