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Transpired the manager was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Over System and Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, played a key role in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

An Supreme Authority In Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in industry and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Order: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping 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 once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged while the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin them for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – are in charge.