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Itbecame clear Ruben Amorim endured a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Over System & Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.