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Transpired the manager was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on the executive and seems to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and animal charisma of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Philosophy

For example, it was the director , after having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style of play “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many companies have these guys set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to dismiss him for playing too much that system. Hire the process guy and later discard them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.