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Transpired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. Survive an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.