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Tbecame clear he endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing 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 different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the hierarchy 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 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and hire someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become 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 influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.