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Turns out he endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding System and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin them for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.