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Transpired the manager could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? 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. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for using too much that system. Hire the process guy and later discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.