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Transpired the manager was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth with the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really creating the food, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for using excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then discard him for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.