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Itranspired Ruben Amorim endured a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Conflict Over System and Ideology

For example, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, 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. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – men like Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Power In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Soccer Order: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to dismiss him for using excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.