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Transpired the manager endured a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Soccer Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.