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Transpired the manager endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over System & Philosophy

For example, this was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not creating the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.