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Itranspired the manager endured losing against Grimsby. He weathered an important European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Regarding System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Authority 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, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire 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 analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using excessively that system. Hire the process guy and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.