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Turns out he endured a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire him for using too much that system. Hire the process guy and then discard them for requiring excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.