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Turns out the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. If you challenge the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated at his players for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive before him, he has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power In Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the commands of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical football matters, drawing from his previous experience in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels football. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach only to dismiss them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard them for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.