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Itranspired he was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued by a man with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for playing excessively that system. Hire the process guy and then bin them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.