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Turns out Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive an important European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over System and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man 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.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Order: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, 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 have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.