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Transpired the manager was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous 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 will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed at his players 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.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using too much that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.