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Tbecame clear he could survive defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect that United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire them for playing too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later discard them for requiring too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.