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Transpired he endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over System and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox 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 favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered 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.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to receive.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Better by far to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing too much that system. Hire the project manager and then bin them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.