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Turns out he could survive a loss to Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this entire bruising episode seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Authority In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “will be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have these guys established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged while the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the system coach and then fire them for using excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.