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Tbecame clear he was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.