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Turns out the manager endured losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining 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 a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender in Blackburn’s title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Ultimate Power Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy by the directors and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then bin him for taking excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.