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Itranspired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand defeat by lower-league opposition. Survive an important continental showpiece against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to go into a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or leaks out of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the rise of a gilded overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for requiring excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.