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Iturns out the manager endured defeat by lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, laying waste to the team's most promising homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to dismiss them for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then bin them for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.