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Itranspired he could survive defeat by Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to view him 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 Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring United’s feted head coach, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Clash Over Formation and Ideology

For example, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to 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. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and wins domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

The Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.