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Itranspired the manager endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He withstood losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole bruising episode appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual who owed his position largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over System and Philosophy

For example, it was the director who having been part of the leadership that hired 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 formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. 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 prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority In the Throne

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Football Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then fire him for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.