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Turns out the manager could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Regarding System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background 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 thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style 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. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for using too much that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.