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Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive an important European final versus a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his friendship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, it was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with ideas and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for playing too much that system. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.