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Transpired he endured defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

For example, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach only to dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin them for requiring too long. And most importantly 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.