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Turns out the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, this was the director , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. Yet how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role 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 influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later discard them for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.