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Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from 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, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.