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Transpired Ruben Amorim could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director who being involved in the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style of play “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

A New Football Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far 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 determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later discard them for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.